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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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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.
C.J.Caldwell-Nichols, M. Glugla, S. Gross, R. Lässer, T.L. Le, R.-D. Penzhorn, K.H. Simon
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 617-620
Device, Facility, and Operation | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22662
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe (TLK) is developing processes, devices and measurement techniques for the fuel cycle of fusion reactors. Several tritium processing components from tritium operations of experimental and infrastructure facilities of TLK have reached the end of their useful lives, are no longer useable or are to be reconditioned for future use. These components are in the process of post-service examination to determine the condition of the working materials inside these components and the changes that have resulted from operation with hydrogen isotopes, predominantly tritium. Another important aspect is the preparation of some of these components, particularly metal hydride storage beds, for safe disposal. The results are of importance for the design, operation and particularly decommissioning of components of present and future tritium facilities and processing plants, such as JET and ITER. The activities are ongoing and the results to date are presented together with plans for future work.