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Fusion Science and Technology
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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.
J. D. Gordon, D. H. Berwald, B. A. Flanders, J. K. Garner, S. C. Mortenson, J. F. Parmer, C. A. Sink, J. C. Yu, K. L. Agarwal, S. Dharmarajn, N. M. Ghoniem, N. J. Hoffman, J. R. Bilton, B. E. Kirstein
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 4 | Number 2 | September 1983 | Pages 1233-1238
Blanket and First Wall Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST83-A23026
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A new, two-zone tandem mirror blanket designed for the dual applications of high efficiency electricity production or process heat for synthetic fuel production is presented. The blanket is self-sufficient in tritium production, delivers 46% of the blanket energy at 900 to 1000°C, meets guidelines for near-surface burial of radioactive wastes and couples to a power cycle that has a net efficiency of 44%. The design is based on a new concept of a dilute mixture of a solid breeder with a high temperature material that extends the temperature range of the breeder. The low temperature zone is Li17Pb83 cooled while the high temperature zone is cooled with helium.
