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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.
T. Hayashi, K. Kobayashi, Y. Iwai, T. Yamanishi, M. Nishi, K. Okuno, R.V. Carlson, R.S. Willms, D. Hyatt, B. Roybal
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 34 | Number 3 | November 1998 | Pages 521-525
Fueling and Tritium Handling Technology (Poster Session) | doi.org/10.13182/FST98-A11963665
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A series of planned tritium release experiments into the Tritium Systems Test Assembly (TSTA) tritium processing rooms (3000 m3), were performed under the US-Japan collaboration program at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). These experiments were carried out to acquire data on the behavior of tritium in an actual tritium facility. These experiments were performed safely with no impact on the environment or worker safety using 37 GBq (1 Ci). The results showed that the migration of tritium within the facility was dominated by the residual airflow in the room and reached a uniform value in 30 ~ 40 minutes. After restoring the normal once through ventilation (5 air changes per hour), room tritium levels decreased to background in less than 1 hour. Residual surface contamination was detected (max. 1 Bq/cm2 level). Residual contamination levels were found to be in order of decreasing contamination: linoleum > epoxy coating > acrylic resin > butyl rubber > stainless steel, from soaking results. The surface contamination increase as a result of the tritium release, was reduced to background with the normal ventilation within a few days.