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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.
T. Hayashi, T. Suzuki, S. Konishi, T. Yamanishi, M. Nishi, K. Kurita
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 41 | Number 3 | May 2002 | Pages 801-804
Hydride and Storage | Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Tritium Science and Technology Tsukuba, Japan November 12-16, 2001 | doi.org/10.13182/FST02-A22695
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Assuming a practical use in ITER facility, rapid recovery and supply of tritium to accommodate pulsed plasma operation cycle with minimal inventory was tested. For this purpose, tritium will be supplied from heated bed with vacuum pump while heat of reaction is supplied externally. For recovery, hydriding reaction occurs at elevated temperature spontaneously. Kinetic behavior of the bed at the temperature around 300 degree-C was studied, and practical operation was successfully demonstrated. Isotopic composition change due to the difference of equilibrium temperature was concerned in supplying mixture, but the effect was found to be negligible. For rapid accountancy, ITER requirement of accuracy (± 1%) was demonstrated by 25 g tritium storage ZrCo bed with “In-bed” gas flowing calorimetry. It was revealed that the accuracy is affected by the surrounding temperature, that could readily be controlled for better measurement. Thus technology and experience on storage and transport of large amount of tritium, that are inevitable in fusion tritium facility such as ITER Tritium Plant have been established by Japanese research facility and industry.