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The division was organized to promote the advancement of knowledge of the use of particle accelerator technologies for nuclear and other applications. It focuses on production of neutrons and other particles, utilization of these particles for scientific or industrial purposes, such as the production or destruction of radionuclides significant to energy, medicine, defense or other endeavors, as well as imaging and diagnostics.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
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Fusion Science and Technology
February 2025
Latest News
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.
S. Kumar, C. S. Viswanadham, S. Bhattacharya, S. B. Roy, K. Bhanumurthy, G. K. Dey
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 65 | Number 2 | March-April 2014 | Pages 199-204
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-650
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
India is a partner in ITER and plans to test its lead lithium ceramic blanket test blanket module. This component is embedded with a large number of cooling channels of different profiles and, therefore, is a challenging component to fabricate. Cooling channel reconstruction by employing high-power laser welding provides a promising scheme to fabricate this component. Cooling channel reconstruction was demonstrated in American Society for Testing and Materials A387 Gr91 steel using high-power CO2 laser welding. A scheme for fabrication of scale models of different subcomponents, like the first wall (FW) and inner back plate, and assembly of the two subcomponents employing the cooling channel reconstruction scheme was demonstrated. The steady-state temperature field around the weld joint was computed using the welding and heat treatment simulation solution package SYSWELD. These weld joints were characterized for microstructure at different length scales, microhardness, and room-temperature tensile properties. This paper presents the scheme used for cooling channel reconstruction and the results of the weld joint characterization. The scheme for fabrication of the scale model of the FW, the inner back plate, and joining of the two subcomponents using the cooling channel reconstruction approach is also described in this paper.
