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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. R. Welch, D. B. Harris, George H. Miley
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 7 | Number 3 | May 1985 | Pages 334-344
Technical Paper | Experimental Device | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A24554
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Double-peaked energy spectra of deuterium-deuterium protons have been observed from laser implosion experiments at the University of Rochester. These spectra have been used to study implosion dynamics. The energy and broadening of the two peaks relate to distinct burn phases, shock coalescence, and compression. Data are obtained by unfolding the spectra. Using a model for changing target ρR conditions, the proton energy loss and the broadening of each peak determine the fuel compression and temperature for each burn phase. An ion temperature for the shock phase is determined from thermal broadening. The compression peak's energy broadening and separation from the shock peak is fit to an adiabatic temperature model. Preliminary data suggest that temperatures during both burns are 20% below that predicted by an extensive simulation code. Compressions are also lower than predicted.