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The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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.
Hiroo Igarashi, Michio Nitto, Fumio Mizumiwa, Katumi Ohsumi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 102 | Number 3 | June 1993 | Pages 287-296
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A17027
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
With the recent increase in the number of operating nuclear plants, the need for automatic collection of water chemistry control data, computer processing, and data assessment and diagnosis are increasing. To fulfill these needs, a water chemistry general management system is being developed. As part of this program, an automatic metal analyzer has been developed, andfunctional verification tests have been conducted at an operating boiling water reactor plant. It is very difficult to automatically sample metal impurities in cooling water since they are usually analyzed after being collected in a filter. With this automatic analyzer, however, metal impurities can be analyzed continuously by ion-exchange chromatography after being heated and dissolved. The measurement results confirm that analysis of iron, nickel, copper, cobalt, etc., is possible at a minimum detection limit of 0.01 ppb. It is possible by this means to construct an in-line automatic analysis system for a nuclear reactor primary system. Used in combination with a water chemistry diagnosis system, this will improve the measures for preventive maintenance employed in nuclear power plants.