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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.
M. X. Navarro, R. R. Delgado, M. G. Lagally, G. L. Kulcinski, J. F. Santarius
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 72 | Number 4 | November 2017 | Pages 713-718
Technical Note | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1350481
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This technical note describes the use of graphene as a way to protect plasma facing components from erosion, sputtering and diminished plasma performance and to extend component lifetimes in experimental plasma devices. In this work, 30 keV ionized helium is used as a projectile on graphene covered tungsten over a range of fluences. Graphene’s vacancy yield (ID) and natural resonance (IG) are found at ~1350 cm−1 and ~1550 cm−1, respectively. Damage of each sample is quantified using the ID/IG ratio via Raman spectroscopy (RS) at the aforementioned wave numbers. The surface morphology is studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the mass losses are recorded using a high-precision scale. The results from this study are of considerable importance since they indicate that a graphene coating could be an effective candidate for reducing erosion in different PFC materials.
