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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.
T. Kariya, R. Minami, T. Imai, T. Kato, H. Idei, K. Hanada, H. Zushi, T. Numakura, Y. Endo, M. Ichimura
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 68 | Number 1 | July 2015 | Pages 147-151
Technical Paper | Open Magnetic Systems 2014 | doi.org/10.13182/FST14-848
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
At the Plasma Research Center at University of Tsukuba, development of megawatt gyrotrons is being performed as a collaborative electron cyclotron heating (ECH) study with some research organizations. A 28 GHz 1 MW 1 s gyrotron has been developed to upgrade the GAMMA 10/PDX ECH systems. To improve the oscillation efficiency in high current regions, the magnetron injection gun (MIG) of the 28 GHz gyrotron has been modified. Output power of 1.25 MW has been achieved with this gyrotron. For the first step of the collaborative research between Tsukuba University and Kyushu University, the Tsukuba 28 GHz gyrotron was adapted to the Q-shu University Experiment with Steady-State Spherical Tokamak (QUEST) ECH system, and the plasma heating and current drive effect were demonstrated. We obtained successful results, including an electron cyclotron–driven plasma current of 66 kA in the QUEST plasma experiment. For the next step of the collaborative research, the design targets of a 2 MW 3 s and 0.4 MW continuous wave have been achieved in a design study of a new 28 GHz gyrotron.
