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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.
J.R. Last, E. Bertolini, M. Huguet, P.L. Mondino, P. Noll, L Sonnerup, C. Bell, T. Molyneaux
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | March 1989 | Pages 267-274
Results from Current Large Fusion Experiment | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A39714
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
JET was designed for a plasma current of 5 MA and has operated successfully at that level. To enable JET to produce meaningful DT plasmas, it is necessary to upgrade the machine performance.1 The paper describes the effects on the poloidal and toroidal magnet systems of increasing the plasma current to 7 MA. It has not been necessary to increase the toroidal field but operation at higher plasma current increases the torque loading on the coils. In the case of the poloidal coils an increased flux swing is required so the magnetising current has been increased by 50%. Effects considered include magnetic forces and mechanical and thermal stresses in the coils. Modifications to the coil system and improvements to the power supplies that enable the new performance to be achieved are described. It is concluded that a 7 MA plasma current is feasible.
