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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.
Jihong Chen, Liping Guo, Fengfeng Luo, Tiecheng Li, Yaoyao Ren, Jinping Suo
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 66 | Number 2 | October 2014 | Pages 301-307
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-714
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Single-beam (He+ or H+) and sequential-beam (He+/H+ or H+/He+) irradiation of reduced-activation martensitic steels at 450°C was carried out to investigate helium/hydrogen synergistic effects on the microstructure of the steels. After helium implantation, a very low density of helium bubbles was observed. No void was observed after hydrogen implantation. For the He+/H+ sequential-beam irradiation, the number density of bubbles increased rapidly at low hydrogen dose, and the average size of bubbles increased at higher hydrogen dose. Helium bubbles were also found in the H+/He+ sequential-beam irradiated specimen, but its swelling was smaller than that for the He+/H+ sequential conditions. It was concluded that the effect of hydrogen atoms on the nucleation and growth of bubbles may enhance the diffusion of helium-atom/helium-vacancy clusters. Hydrogen irradiation after helium irradiation can increase the nucleation and growth of helium bubbles, while helium bubbles may enhance the retention of hydrogen atoms to form He-H-vacancy complexes.
