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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.
D.K. Sze
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 775-779
Blanket and First Wall Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A22954
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The thermal effect of a loss of flow accident and afterheat to the MARS blanket are investigated. The temperature response of the first wall, as well as the whole blanket, is calculated with a finite difference method. For a loss of flow accident, the plasma has to be quenched within 10 to 35 seconds, beyond which loss of the first wall may occur. Active cooling will be required for the blanket for afterheat within the first day after the plasma is shut off. After the first day, the reflector will provide a heat sink for passive cooling of the blanket.