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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.
Min-Joon Park, Sun-Ho Kim, In-Seok Hong, Yong-Seok Hwang
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 43 | Number 1 | January 2003 | Pages 318-321
Field Reversed Configuration and Neutron Sources | doi.org/10.13182/FST03-A11963624
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An RF plasma source has been designed and constructed for a compact neutron generator. The generation of neutrons is based on the D-D/D-T fusion reactions, producing 2.5/14.1MeV neutrons, respectively. The neutron yield of this device depends on the density of D or T monoatomic beams, which can be extracted from low-pressure high-density plasma sources, especially RF-driven plasma sources, such as an ICP (inductively coupled plasma) or a Helicon plasma source. In this presentation, the design of an ICP source with mirror field has been performed arranging targets in coaxial geometry. Plasma targets without any solid target as well as solid targets are arranged in this design for the comparison study and the effects of the mirror field on the plasma properties will be evaluated.