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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.
H. Y. Khater, R. T. Santoro
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 30 | Number 3 | December 1996 | Pages 1528-1532
Safety and Environment | doi.org/10.13182/FST96-A11963167
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Two-dimensional biological dose rates were calculated at different locations outside the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) design. An 18° sector of the reactor was modeled in r-Θ geometry. The calculations were performed for three different pulsing scenarios. This included a single pulse of 1000 s duration, 10 pulses of 1000 s duration with a 50% duty factor, and 9470 pulses of 1000 s duration with a 50% duty factor for a total fluence of 0.3 MW˙a/m2. The dose rates were calculated as a function of toroidal angle at locations in the space between the toroidal field (TF) coils and cryostat, and in the space between the cryostat and the biological shield. The two-dimensional results clearly showed the toroidal effect, which is dominated by contribution from the activation of the cryostat and the biological shield. After one pulse, full access to the machine is possible within a few hours following shutdown. After 10 pulses, full access is also possible within the first day following shutdown. At the end of the Basic Performance Phase (BPP), full access is possible at any of the locations considered after one week following shutdown.