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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.
M. Todosow, H. Ludewig, H. Takahashi, J. Powell
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 20 | Number 4 | December 1991 | Pages 678-682
Accelerator/Reactor Waste Transmutation | doi.org/10.13182/FST91-A11946918
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An initial assessment of several actinide/LLFP burner concepts based on the Particle Bed Reactor (PBR) is described. Core configurations consisting of 72-85 Pu fuelled “driver,” and ~42 actinide loaded “target” PBR fuel elements in a low temperature D2O, or beryllium carbide moderator/reflector are examined. Direct cooling of the HTGR BISO/TRISO type particles by radial flow of pressurized helium gas through the fuel bed allows high power densities (~5 MW/l), and high flux levels (~1.0E16 n/cm2-sec). As a result, up to ~50 % of the actinides in the target elements are burned in a postulated 20 day cycle.
The PBR based actinide burner concept possesses a number of safety and economic benefits relative to other reactor based transmutation approaches. These include a low inventory of radionuclides (~5% of that in a commercial LWR), and high integrity, coated fuel particles which can withstand extremely high temperatures, while still retaining virtually all fission products. This ensures large thermal margins under normal operating conditions, and minimizes the potential source term in postulated accidents. In addition, the pressure tube design and the possibility of on-line refueling offer further potential safety and economic advantages.
