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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.
G. R. Hopkins, E. T. Cheng, R. K. Fisher
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 8 | Number 1 | July 1985 | Pages 1402-1407
Environment and Safety | Proceedings of the Sixth Topical Meeting on the Technology of Fusion Energy (San Francisco, California, March 3-7, 1985) | doi.org/10.13182/FST85-A39963
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The low activation fusion concept has been applied to the diagnostic equipment in a fusion reactor. The components where fabrication from low activation materials is feasible have been identified. Other systems where higher activation elements are required can have their activation reduced by design approaches which include shielding and operation only in low flux regions of the reactor. Some components will not operate in a high flux so activation is not a major concern. This low activation diagnostic equipment study completes a series of low activation studies where all the components in a fusion power reactor have now been evaluated. It is concluded that a completely low activation fusion reactor is feasible with all components meeting the functional requirements. This provides an environmentally benign energy source with a high confidence level in meeting safety criteria in operation, maintenance and waste disposal.