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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. Northall, J. P. Knowles
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 71 | Number 3 | April 2017 | Pages 246-250
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2016.1273710
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The 3He release from partially loaded uranium tritide samples with varying isotope compositions has been monitored over a 6.7 year period. A normalizing treatment for the 3He released that allows the data to converge to a common trend is discussed. The samples exhibited an early release proportion of ca 5% and an onset of accelerated release at ca 0.24 He/U. It is concluded that 3He is only accumulated within the uranium that reacted during loading and the presence of hydrogen and deuterium influences 3He release.
