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Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
Colin Judge: Testing structural materials in Idaho’s newest hot cell facility
Idaho National Laboratory’s newest facility—the Sample Preparation Laboratory (SPL)—sits across the road from the Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF), which started operating in 1975. SPL will host the first new hot cells at INL’s Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) in 50 years, giving INL researchers and partners new flexibility to test the structural properties of irradiated materials fresh from the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) or from a partner’s facility.
Materials meant to withstand extreme conditions in fission or fusion power plants must be tested under similar conditions and pushed past their breaking points so performance and limitations can be understood and improved. Once irradiated, materials samples can be cut down to size in SPL and packaged for testing in other facilities at INL or other national laboratories, commercial labs, or universities. But they can also be subjected to extreme thermal or corrosive conditions and mechanical testing right in SPL, explains Colin Judge, who, as INL’s division director for nuclear materials performance, oversees SPL and other facilities at the MFC.
SPL won’t go “hot” until January 2026, but Judge spoke with NN staff writer Susan Gallier about its capabilities as his team was moving instruments into the new facility.
L. El-Guebaly, T. Huhn, A. Rowcliffe, S. Malang, ARIES-ACT Team
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 3 | September 2013 | Pages 449-454
ARIES | Proceedings of the Twentieth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (TOFE-2012) (Part 2) Nashville, Tennessee, August 27-31, 2012 | doi.org/10.13182/FST64-449
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Research has been conducted to find the optimal steel to use in the vacuum vessel (VV) of ARIES power plants. The VV should meet several design criteria, including activation and fabrication requirements. Seven different types of steel were examined in order to determine which steel would be the best candidate for the ARIES VV. The main concerns are related to activation, properties under irradiation, and fabrication of a sizable VV. Steels generating high-level waste (such as 316-SS) were excluded from possible material choices. As a VV material, there is the necessity for a carefully controlled the post-weld-heat-treatment at ~750°C after assembly, welding, and rewelding. For this particular reason, the F82H FS is not suitable for the ARIES VV. The newly developed 3Cr-3WV bainitic FS meets the activation requirements and has the potential to satisfy the fabrication requirements for the ARIES VV. It is recommended for further consideration because of several advantages over other candidate steels.
