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This division promotes the development and timely introduction of fusion energy as a sustainable energy source with favorable economic, environmental, and safety attributes. The division cooperates with other organizations on common issues of multidisciplinary fusion science and technology, conducts professional meetings, and disseminates technical information in support of these goals. Members focus on the assessment and resolution of critical developmental issues for practical fusion energy applications.
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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.
J. C. Rivas, A. de Blas, J. Dies, L. Sedano
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 64 | Number 3 | September 2013 | Pages 687-691
Test Blanket, Fuel Cycle, and Breeding | 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/FST13-A19172
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In this work, a model has been developed to calculate the neutron wall loading poloidal distribution in a generic tokamak plasma and vessel geometry on the basis of Monte Carlo simulation. Different neutron source radial profiles corresponding to advanced plasma scenarios have been implemented in this model, using combinations of step and parabolic functions.The model has been validated with data from state-of-the-art simulations of ITER wall loading, and a parametric study has been performed over different plasma geometries and radial profiles to check the variability of the neutron poloidal profile.The results show the effect of the different configurations on neutron wall loading. This model can be used for parametric studies for conceptual design or systems analysis activities.