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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.
Takayuki Terai, Satorn Tanaka, Yoichi Takahashi
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 8 | Number 2 | September 1985 | Pages 2143-2148
Blanket and Process Engineering | Proceedings of the Second National Topical Meeting on Tritium Technology in Fission, Fusion and Isotopic Applications (Dayton, Ohio, April 30 to May 2, 1985) | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A24600
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
In-situ tritium release behavior from Li2O powder has been investigated under neutron irradiation at high temperatures. It was found that the chemical form of the released tritium depended strongly on the experimental conditions such as pre-treatment (dehumidification) of the sample and the H2 addition to the sweep gas of helium. Water-soluble component was observed to be a main species from the sample pre-dried in N2 stream at 800°C for 3 days, while water-insoluble component had fairly large proportion on the sample pre-dried for 5 days. In the case of He-4%H2 sweep gas, more than 90% of released tritium was water-insoluble even for the sample pre-dried for 3 days. Tritium recovery rate was also accelerated by H2 addition. These experimental results showed that the oxygen activity of the experimental system essentially affected to tritium release behavior from Li2O sample.
