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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.
Richard J. Colchin, John D. Galambos, Paul L. Goranson, Steven P. Hirshman, Phillip H. Edmonds, John R. Uglum, Jr.
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 31 | Number 3 | May 1997 | Pages 350-369
Technical Paper | Magnet System | doi.org/10.13182/FST97-A30838
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Recently, there have been several proposals to build low-aspect-ratio or spherical tokamaks with plasma currents in the range of 1 MA. These low-aspect-ratio tokamaks employ conventional engineering, except in the central core, which contains the central toroidal field conductors and an ohmic heating solenoid (if present). To achieve low aspect ratios, these components must be engineered to the limits of stress and thermal properties. Solutions are found for the steady-state cooling of the toroidal field conductors. The solenoid, which must be high performance to produce the flux swing required for a 1-MA plasma current, cannot be cooled steady state. The mathematics and procedures necessary to study these issues are given.