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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.
R. Lässer, D.K. Murdoch, R.-D. Penzhorn
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 621-625
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/FST41-621
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The present design of the ITER mechanical forevacuum system foresees the use of Roots pumps with pumping speeds of 4200 and 1200 m3/h. Commercial Roots pumps on the market are not tritium compatible. They require one or more of the following modifications: i) replacement of elastomer O-rings by metal seals, ii) minimisation or elimination of leaks along the rotating shafts and iii) only use of tritium compatible materials. This paper presents the possible application of ferrofluidic seals to avoid gas flows between the pumping and the oil filled volumes. Tests were performed with ferrofluidic seals for different rotational shaft speeds up to 1500 rpm and for various pressure differences up to 100 kPa. The results with the ferrofluidic seal were very encouraging showing very small leak rates under Roots pump relevant conditions. To verify the performance of ferrofluidic seals under realistic conditions a tritium compatible Roots pump having a pumping speed of 250 m3/h and using ferrofluidic and metal seals is being constructed.
