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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.
T. Honda, J. Doggett
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 1432-1438
ITER | Proceedings of the Ninth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Oak Brook, Illinois, October 7-11, 1990) | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29543
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The Assembly and Maintenance (A&M) System is the complete set of personnel, equipment, and procedures required to successfully assembly and maintain the ITER components into a reactor capable of operation in the prescribed manner. It is composed of the complete collection of general and special purpose tools and their operating procedures, required for the assembly and maintenance of the ITER device. Included are the reactor specific auxiliary equipment (such has vacuum pumps and heating systems) directly coupled to the reactor and required for its operation. Also included are special facilities, including tools and fixtures, required for preassembly, inspection, disassembly, repair, or testing of components prior to delivery and final assembly. The A&M system operated within an envelope bounded by the plant confinement/containment system. It must have access to all reactor external and internal surface as required to perform its functions. Access to in-vessel components shall be primarily through the four designated maintenance ports located on the machine equatorial plane. Other ports, such as the top vertical port, can be used for maintenance; however, their use shall be limited to less frequent or unplanned operations such as the change-out of internal shielding or blankets, or recovery from an unforeseen event.
