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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.
Om Prakash Joneja, J.-P. Schneeberger, Vijay R. Nargundkar
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 23 | Number 4 | July 1993 | Pages 400-407
Technical Paper | Blanket Engineering | doi.org/10.13182/FST93-A30132
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Integral tritium production rate (TPR) measurements are important in comparisons of calculations to ascertain the suitability of computer codes and cross-section sets used in calculation. At the LOTUS facility, one of the objectives is to make measurements with different types of pure fusion and hybrid blankets and compare the results with calculations. Since the concrete cavity housing the blankets is small, it is of direct relevance to determine the influence of room-reflected neutrons on the integral TPR and, if possible, to reduce this effect by special absorbers. The effects on the TPR of a stainless steel—natural lithium—graphite-reflected blanket due to the concrete structure, B4C filter, and boron-loaded sheets covering the assembly are studied. Calculations are performed by the MCNP Monte Carlo code. Since the room-returned component depends strongly on the composition of the concrete and, moreover, does not correspond to a real blanket situation, it is advisable to compare measurements with calculations for the region where such interference is minimal. A central region measuring 30.15 × 26.25 × 60 cm3 is identified for the purpose of comparison. In addition to calculations for a fully homogenized blanket, the important central blanket region is considered in the form of rods, and the remaining blanket as a homogeneous region, to assess the effect of neutron streaming on the TPR of the assembly. An experiment is done by irradiating several Li2CO3 probes positioned in each tube so that the central region of interest is fully covered. The activity of the probes is measured by the standard liquid scintillation method, and the TPR for the entire region can be derived from the experimental reaction rate data. The complete details of the calculational model and the experimental procedure are provided. Good agreement is found between the calculated and experimental TPRs after accounting for various sources of errors. This suggests that the three-dimensional description of the source and the blanket arrangement employed for the calculations are quite satisfactory.
