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Latest News
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. W. Crippen, E. L. Alfonso, N. G. Rice, C. Kong, M. McInnis, S. Felker
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 73 | Number 2 | March 2018 | Pages 285-292
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2017.1391661
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Capsule fill tube assemblies (CFTAs) consist of an ablator capsule and fill tube via a laser-drilled funnel hole. This hole tapers from 17-μm diameter at the outer surface of the ablator capsule to less than 5-μm diameter on the inside of the capsule over approximately 200 μm of wall thickness. Demand for better understanding of the fill tube perturbation during the capsule implosion has driven advancements in the fill tube design. Engineering efforts have been made on hydrodynamic growth radiography assemblies (HGRs) using multiple tube-design variations, including alternative angles, depths, sizes, and location with engineered defects to showcase fill tube effects during an implosion. Testing has shown that these CFTAs and HGRs have survived all fabrication and transport to and from General Atomics (GA) to Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These assemblies have also passed cryogenic testing at GA. An overview of alternative CFTA designs, fabrication methods, and developments is presented.