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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. Phillip Sharpe, W. Jon Carmack, David A. Petti
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 39 | Number 2 | March 2001 | Pages 1066-1070
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST01-A11963385
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Dust and debris were collected from the Nova laser facility in April 1999 to provide evidence of particulate generation and transport mechanisms relevant to fusion power safety analyses. Samples were obtained at specified locations within the Nova chamber with a vacuum filter system, cascade impactors, and metallurgical replicating tape (acetate tape). Average surface mass density of material collected from locations with measured surface area ranges from 3.13 μg/cm2 on the mid-plane vertical surface to 3250 μg/cm2 on the vessel bottom. Estimated total dust inventory is 44 grams. Specific surface area of dust collected from several locations is nearly uniform with an average value of 0.435 m2/g. Particle size distributions of the collected material show a range of count median diameters (CMD) between 0.67 and 1.19 μm with geometric standard deviations (GSD) between 1.63 and 2.76. Mass median diameters for dust collected with the two cascade impactors are 5.26 μm and 8.85 μm. The shape of the volumetric size distribution indicates dust particles of various shapes. Composition analysis performed by energy dispersive X-ray analysis indicated the presence of O, Al, Cu, along with trace quantities of Fe, Au, and Be. Atomic emission ICP analysis also indicated the presence of Si, O, and Cu in dust samples.
