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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.
F. Romanelli, A. Coletti, C. Gormezano, F. Lucci, A. Pizzuto, G. B. Righetti, The FTU Group, The ECRH Group
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 45 | Number 3 | May 2004 | Pages 483-511
Technical Paper | Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) | doi.org/10.13182/FST04-A526
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A conceptual study is presented for a substantial upgrade of the Frascati Tokamak Upgrade (FTU) up to B = 8 T, I = 6 MA, and R [approximately equal to] 1.3 m to study burning plasma (BP) issues in deuterium plasmas operating up to an equivalent DT gain close to Q = 2 in the ELMy H-mode and to Q = 5 with an internal transport barrier (ITB). The effect of alpha particles is simulated by ~1 MeV fast 3He minority heating produced by ion cyclotron resonance heating (20 MW). Thanks to the high-density values ([approximately equal to]4 × 1020 m-3), the FT3 plasmas are characterized by short electron-ion equipartition time (60 ms in the ELMy H-mode scenario) and slowing-down time (44 ms), with respect to the energy confinement time of ~340 ms, a feature characteristic of BP experiments but not always satisfied with present tokamak devices. Advanced scenarios at 5 T with fully noninductive current drive can be investigated with a steady-state current density profile achieved in <5 s. The aim of FT3 is to prepare ITER operation and to provide a test bed for the development of the ITER auxiliary system and diagnostics. Elements of the scientific program are as follows: the investigation of energetic particle collective effects, optimization of H-mode scenarios, development of improved H-mode scenarios and scenarios with ITBs, magnetohydrodynamic and transport studies in ITER-relevant conditions, and study of edge plasma dynamics. FT3 can use all the existing facilities available in Frascati and could be constructed in ~5 yr.
