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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.
L. R. van Loon, W. Hummel
Nuclear Technology | Volume 128 | Number 3 | December 1999 | Pages 359-371
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT99-A3037
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The formation of water-soluble organic ligands by radiolytic and chemical degradation of several strong acidic ion-exchange resins was investigated under conditions close to those of the near field of a cementitious repository. The most important degradation products were studied and their complexing properties evaluated.Irradiation of strong acidic cation exchange resins (Powdex PCH and Lewatite S-100) resulted in the formation of mainly sulfate and dissolved organic carbon. High-performance liquid chromatography analysis indicated the presence of oxalate, contributing to 10 to 20% of the organic carbon. The identity of the remainder is unknown. The presence of oxalate as a complexant is consistent with results from earlier work. Complexation studies with Cu2+ and Ni2+ showed the presence of two ligands: oxalate and ligand X. Although ligand X could not be identified, it could be characterized by its concentration ([X]T ~ 10-5 to 10-6 M), a deprotonation constant (pKH ~ 7.4 at I = 0.1 M), and a complexation constant for the NiX complex (log KNiX ~ 7.0 at I = 0.1 M).In the absence of irradiation, no evidence for the formation of ligands was found.
