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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.
Peter Hofmann, Mario Enrique Markiewicz, José Luis Spino
Nuclear Technology | Volume 90 | Number 2 | May 1990 | Pages 226-244
Technical Paper | Matetial | doi.org/10.13182/NT90-A34417
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The chemical reaction behavior of B4C absorber material with stainless steel 1.4919 (Type 316) and Zircaloy-4 is studied in the 800 to 1600 C temperature range. The reaction kinetics for both systems can be described by parabolic rate laws. Above 1000°C, the reaction zone growth rates in the B4C/stainless steel system are about two orders of magnitude higher than those in the B4C/Zircaloy-4 system. The compatibility specimens are quickly and completely liquefied at temperatures ≥1250°C for the B4C/stainless steel reaction couples and temperatures ≥1650°C for the B4C/Zircaloy-4 reaction couples. In both reaction systems, liquefaction occurs below the melting points of the components.
