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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.
Bin Liu, Huasi Hu, Tiankui Zhang, Xingyin Guan
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 66 | Number 3 | November 2014 | Pages 405-413
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST13-775
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Parameters of fusion reaction history play an important role in inertial confinement fusion diagnosis. Two types of detectors, named gas Cherenkov detector (GCD) and gamma reaction history (GRH), have been well applied for measurement of fusion reaction history due to their fast responses and capacities for setting the threshold. This study was carried out in two stages. First, simulation of some components of the GRH system was carried out with Geant4. Second, an optimization method by combining a genetic algorithm with the Geant4 code was established and applied to the optical reflectors of the GRH system. The optimization process was focused on 16.7-MeV gamma rays with a threshold of 12 MeV. An optimal time response of 5 ps and an efficiency at the receiving surface of 2.2661×10−2 Cherenkov photons/incident 16.7-MeV gamma ray were obtained at 1.9158 atm of CO2 pressure and a temperature of 20°C.
