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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.E. Quinn, M.L. Thompson, W.D. Burch, J.J. Laidler
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 605-609
Advanced Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946905
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An approach to balancing the nuclear fuel cycle equation utilizing the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor System (ALMRS) using synergistic components currently under development by the United States Department of Energy is described. These components include the modular, passively safe ALMR design; the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) metal fuel cycle; and the processing of LWR spent fuel to use as startup fuel for the ALMRs. Each of these components will be briefly described along with an overall system perspective, including potential optional approaches. Assessments of beneficial impact of the ALMRS in the United States will be presented based on the United States Department of Energy National Energy Strategy energy use growth scenarios through the mid-21st century. Potential applications in other international energy infrastructures will also be considered. Preliminary evaluation of the economics of this balanced approach leads to the conclusion that the concept is feasible; thus the approach appears attractive from both resource management and overall system economics perspectives.
