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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.
M. Narula, A. Ying, M. A. Abdou
Fusion Science and Technology | Volume 47 | Number 3 | April 2005 | Pages 564-568
Technical Paper | Fusion Energy - First Wall, Blanket, and Shield | doi.org/10.13182/FST05-A745
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The use of flowing liquid metal streams or "liquid walls" as a plasma contact surface is a very attractive option and has received considerable attention over the past several years both in the plasma physics and fusion engineering programs. A key issue for the feasibility of flowing liquid metal plasma facing component (PFC) systems, lies in their magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) behavior. The spatially varying magnetic field environment, typical of a fusion device can lead to serious flow disrupting MHD forces that hinder the development of a smooth and controllable flow needed for PFC applications. The present study builds up on the ongoing research effort at UCLA, directed towards providing qualitative and quantitative data on liquid metal free surface flow behavior under fusion relevant magnetic fields, to aid in better understanding of flowing liquid metal PFC systems.
