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Thermal Hydraulics
The division provides a forum for focused technical dialogue on thermal hydraulic technology in the nuclear industry. Specifically, this will include heat transfer and fluid mechanics involved in the utilization of nuclear energy. It is intended to attract the highest quality of theoretical and experimental work to ANS, including research on basic phenomena and application to nuclear system design.
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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.
Makoto Osaki, Akira Kanagawa
Nuclear Technology | Volume 85 | Number 3 | June 1989 | Pages 274-284
Technical Paper | Nuclear Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34249
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To examine the performance of the high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter, demonstration tests were performed under several severe conditions. The HEPA filter tested is a 610- × 610- × 292-mm conventional deep-pleat filter, normally used in a fuel reprocessing plant. It was tested under a variety of conditions: in air with concentrated dust (100 mg/m3), at high temperatures (maximum 240°C), in humid air (relative humidity 95% and water mist of 100 mg/m3), in a shock transient (overpressure up to 50 kPa), in a large air flow (pressure drop up to 20 kPa), under severe earthquake conditions (acceleration up to 50 m/s2), and in acid and alkaline mists (6 N HNO3, 5% NaOH, 5% Na2CO3). For reference, the performance of HEPA filters in normal conditions was also measured. The HEPA filter performed efficiently enough, even in such severe conditions as would be encountered in a waste air purification system in the nuclear industry. Some empirical formulas are proposed to express the performance of the filter.
