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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.
P.J. Maziasz, A.F. Rowcliffe, M.L. Grossbeck, G.E.C. Bell, E.E. Bloom, D.C. Lousteau, A. Hishinuma, T. Kondo, R.F. Mattas, D.L. Smith
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 19 | Number 3 | May 1991 | Pages 1571-1579
Material and Tritium | Proceedings of the Ninth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (Oak Brook, Illinois, October 7-11, 1990) | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A29565
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
New data on radiation-induced hardening, low-temperature creep and potential susceptibility (sensitization) to aqueous corrosion have been obtained on various heats of austenitic stainless steel (including type 316) irradiated at 60–400°C to 7–13 dpa. The data were obtained from spectral-tailoring reactor experiments, whose radiation-damage parameters are similar to those in the proposed International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) first-wall (FW) and blanket design. Austenitic stainless steels were found to increase significantly in strength at 60–330°C, to have higher irradiation-creep rates at 60°C than at 200–400°C, and to show radiation-induced changes in electrochemical properties at 200–400°C. These data on several radiation-induced property changes suggest that type 316 steel may be an adequate material for the FW of ITER. However, there is definitely a need for new data on fracture-toughness and on fatigue behavior below 400°C, as well as more data on irradiation-creep and effects of irradiation on corrosion properties, to better define temperature and dose dependencies for more detailed design analyses. Cold-working should remain an optional as-fabricated condition for the FW of ITER. Many properties of SA and CW 316 become similar after irradiation at 60–400°C. The higher initial yield-strength of CW 316 will allow higher design stress and elastic strain limits.
