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Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.
B. F. Picologlou, C. B. Reed, T. Q. Hua, L. Barleon, H. Kreuzinger, J. S. Walker
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 15 | Number 2 | March 1989 | Pages 1180-1185
Blanket Liquid Metal MHD | doi.org/10.13182/FST89-A39853
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Results of experiments on the concept of flow tailoring, the use of salient features of MHD flows in strong magnetic fields to create desirable velocity profiles in the coolant ducts of the first wall and the blanket, are reported. Proof-of-principle testing of flow tailoring has been chosen as the first joint activity on liquid metal MHD between Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Kernforschungszentrum Karlsruhe (KfK) because flow tailoring offers the possibility of significant improvement in blanket design and performance. The joint tests are conducted at ANL's ALEX facility on a test article fabricated at KfK. A 3-D MHD thermal hydraulic code developed at ANL is used to demonstrate the increased thermal performance of first wall coolant channels with flow tailoring. Sample results of detailed measurements of velocity and voltage distributions are compared to theoretical predictions provided by analytical tools developed at ANL with the collaboration of the University of Illinois.
