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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.
L. J. Jiang, J. H. Campbell, Y. F. Lu, T. Bernat, N. Petta
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 70 | Number 2 | August-September 2016 | Pages 295-309
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST15-222
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two-photon polymerization (2PP) offers an attractive option for direct writing micron- to millimeter-sized laser target components that support high-energy-density plasma physics research. 2PP was used to deterministically print a number of common targetlike structures including tubes, spatially periodic Rayleigh-Taylor–like surfaces, and low-density foams. The structures were printed using commercially available acrylic photoresins. The elemental compositions are reported for comparison with other polymers used for making target components. A number of foamlike structures ranging in size from tens to hundreds of microns and varying in density from 600 to 60 mg/cm3 were readily printed in times ranging from several seconds to a few hours depending on the size. In addition, direct printing was demonstrated to fabricate graded-density foam comprising 12 individual layers with a vertical density gradient of 600 to 80 mg/cm3. Control of shrinkage and deformation during development and subsequent drying remains a challenge for certain structures and a focus of ongoing research.