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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.
Yasuhiko Fujii, Makoto Okamoto, Hiroyuki Kadotani, Hidetake Kakihana
Nuclear Technology | Volume 86 | Number 3 | September 1989 | Pages 282-288
Technical Paper | Nuclear Fuel | doi.org/10.13182/NT89-A34296
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The equilibrium time for production of enriched uranium and the effective neutron multiplication factor keff are calculated for ion-exchange uranium enrichment based on the U(IV)-U(VI) electron-exchange reaction process. Experimental data are shown to fit well with the calculated equilibrium time curve. It is concluded that under the assumed process operating conditions, as much as 10 yr would be required to attain 50% 235U enrichment of the product starting with natural uranium feed. The keff calculations indicate that the U(IV)-U(VI) exchange system reaches the critical state at a production enrichment grade of 61% 235 U in anion-exchange systems. From the safety viewpoint, however, it is suggested that the product enrichment grade of the process be limited to 11% or less.