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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.
John T. Gill, Daniel B. Hawkins, Clifford L. Renschler
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 21 | Number 2 | March 1992 | Pages 325-329
Safety; Measurement and Accountability; Operation and Maintenance; Application | doi.org/10.13182/FST92-A29765
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Zeolite-based tritium lamps are a possible alternative to traditional tritium gas tube light sources. Rare earth luminescing centers may be ion-exchanged into zeolite matrices. Close proximity of tritium atoms to the rare earths can be provided by highly tritiated water sorbed within the pore structure of the zeolite aluminosilicate matrix. Zeolites are optically clear and radiation stable. Light outputs up to 2 W/cm2, with good stability, are shown here for tritiated water-loaded zeolites. Procedures for obtaining light sources are presented and results are discussed. The possible use of these luminescent materials as process monitors for the tritium content of zeolite absorption columns is also proposed.