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The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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.
S. E. Soliman, D. L. Youchison, A. J. Baratta, T. A. Balliett
Nuclear Technology | Volume 96 | Number 3 | December 1991 | Pages 346-352
Technical Paper | Material | doi.org/10.13182/NT91-A34595
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Neutron effects on the mechanical properties and the microstructures of borated stainless steel are studied by irradiating three borated stainless steel batches to different radiation levels (from 1 × 1013 to 1 × 1017 n/cm2). Each batch includes samples varying in boron content from 0.25 to 2.01 wt° and manufactured by two different processes: a powder metallurgical and a conventional wrought technique, which meet the requirements of American Society of Testing and Materials Standard A-887 grades A and B, respectively. A total of 50 tensile specimens, 81 Charpy V-notch samples, and 17 metallographic specimens are used for this purpose. In general, the mechanical properties of samples manufactured by both the powder metallurgy and the wrought techniques show almost no change in mechanical properties with fluence. In addition, no evidence of helium effects are observed during the investigation. Further studies on helium formation in this material during irradiation are ongoing.
