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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.
K. P. Singh, A. Prajapati, S. S. Khirwadkar, M. S. Khan, S. Belsare, A. Patel, K. Bhope, P. Mokariya, N. Patel
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 65 | Number 2 | March-April 2014 | Pages 235-240
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-660
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The aim of the work is to develop the fabrication technology of a small curved tungsten (W) macro-brush–type geometry using a vacuum brazing technique. Taking the design concept of the ITER divertor dome, the present mock-up has scaled down more than ten times in size. A feasibility study of the curved brazing was done, and design and fabrication of the special fixture for the curved profile brazing were carried out. The vacuum brazing technique was used to develop the joining of tungsten tiles in the curved profile of a CuCrZr block (heat sink) using silver-free brazing alloy (NiCuMn-37) with a specially designed custom-made fixture (Type 304 stainless steel). Nondestructive testing, particularly the ultrasonic immersion technique, was incorporated to inspect the quality of the brazed joint in the mock-up. The hardness value (HV) measured on the copper alloy was found to degrade from 143 to 46 HV (before and after brazing). The results of the experimental activity and methodology adopted to fabricate the small-sized trial W mock-up are presented and discussed in the paper.