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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.
Zhongli Cai, Xifeng Li, Yosuke Katsumura, Osamu Urabe
Nuclear Technology | Volume 136 | Number 2 | November 2001 | Pages 231-240
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT01-A3241
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An understanding of the radiation-induced effects in groundwater is essential to evaluate the safe geological disposal of spent fuel. In groundwater, the bicarbonate ion is the predominant and common anion; this work investigated radiation-induced chemical reactions of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions with steady-state irradiation and pulse radiolysis methods. Aqueous solutions of sodium (bi)carbonate as high as 50 mmoldm-3 were used. The formation of formate, oxalate, and H2O2 were measured under different conditions. A complete set of reaction steps and reliable kinetic data for the radiolysis of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions at ionic strength close to the groundwater were proposed. Kinetic calculations were completed based on the proposed reaction steps and the kinetic data obtained in the present work. The results from the calculation are in good agreement with the experimental results. With these proposed reaction steps and kinetic data, computer simulation can be performed to predict the yield of radiolytic products of (bi)carbonate aqueous solutions as a function of irradiation time and used to evaluate the safety of geological disposal options of spent fuel.
