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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.
A. M. Zhukeshov, Zh. M. Moldabekov, B. M. Ibraev, A. U. Amrenova, A. T. Gabdullina
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 77 | Number 5 | July 2021 | Pages 359-365
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/15361055.2021.1916273
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This paper is devoted to discussing the technical characteristics of pulsed plasma-focus (PF) generators and their features as fusion reactors as an alternative for stationary thermonuclear installations. First, the authors present results of experimental data obtained on the Pulse Plasma Accelerator–30 (PPA-30) and dense PF-4 devices. The pulse discharge current and jumped parameters and the energy distribution along and across the axis on the 31-kJ (at 30 kV and 69 μF) PPA-30 device were determined. It is indicated that plasma already is completely ionized at the kilo-ampere range and its inductance is small. The maximum energy density of the plasma was equal to 230 J/cm2 and a macrofocusing effect was observed. Second, the emission parameters of the PF-4 device were determinate. The neutron yield was equal to about 107 imp/shot. The variation of the axial and radial neutron yield was observed. Further, the problems of neutron yield on PF devices and options for the development of a fusion reactor taking into account other technical capabilities of PF are discussed. It is proposed to develop the design of PF in such a way as to take into account the peculiarities of the interaction of particles with an electric and magnetic field. In this situation, the important indicator is not the temperature of the plasma, but the geometry of the electrode system to provide a directed flow of particles.
