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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.
E. Salpietro
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 608-614
Overview | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29413
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The ITER fusion research has always enjoyed a level of international collaboration unusual in other scientific areas. In 1987 under the auspices of the IAEA the representatives of the world's four major fusion programs developed a detailed proposal for ITER Conceptual Design Activities that will end in December of 1990. The ITER joint activities started at Garching (FRG) in May 1988 and are now close to completion. The conceptual design being produced takes into account the scientific knowledge derived from the operation of the tokamaks around the world and upon technical know-how flowing from the extensive technology R&D programs of the four partners. The ITER Concept is characterized by a double null plasma configuration, plasma current of 22 MA, the use of superconductors for the magnetic system, full remote maintenance of device, capability of producing most of the tritium needed for it's operation and having steady state operation as an ultimate goal. Completion of the engineering design as well as feasibility demonstration is expected by 1995. Construction should start by 1996 and operation by 2003.