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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.
R. E. Olson, G. A. Chandler, M. S. Derzon, D. E. Hebron, J. S. Lash, R. J. Leeper, T. J. Nash, G. E. Rochau, T. W. L. Sanford, N. B. Alexander, C. R. Gibson
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 35 | Number 2 | March 1999 | Pages 260-265
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.13182/FST99-A11963934
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
We describe designs of hohlraums and capsules for both ignition (∼1–10 MJ) and high yield (up to ∼200 MJ) Z-pinch driven indirect-drive ICF concepts. Two potential Z-pinch hohlraum configurations – 1) the “static wall” or “on-axis” hohlraum; and 2) the “imploding liner” or “dynamic” hohlraum – are considered. Both concepts involve cryogenic, DT-filled capsules (∼2–4 mm in diameter) with Be or CH ablators (O, F, and Cu are currently being considered as dopants). Both types of hohlraums involve a Helium and/or CH foam fill. In the static wall hohlraum concept, the ICF capsule is isolated from the x-ray generation region. Advantages in the areas of capsule drive symmetry and diagnostic access might be gained from this arrangement. In the dynamic hohlraum, the ICF capsule has a direct view of the stagnation radiation. The potential advantage would result from the higher x-ray intensity and larger total capsule absorbed energy.
