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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.
Yoshiaki Oka, Sei-Ichi Koshizuka
Nuclear Technology | Volume 103 | Number 3 | September 1993 | Pages 295-302
Technical Paper | Fission Reactor | doi.org/10.13182/NT93-A34852
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The concept of a super critical-pressure, direct-cycle light water reactor is presented. Its feasibility is assessed by a study of its neutronic and thermal-hydraulic design. The system pressure is 250 bars. The coolant density decreases continuously in the core, and the coolant is fed directly to the turbines. This eliminates the recirculation system, steam separators, and dryers. The diameter of the reactor pressure vessel is smaller than that of a pressurized water reactor (PWR), and the vessel wall is not very thick despite the high pressure. The required core flow rate is about one-eighth that of a PWR. There are only two coolant loops in a 1145-MW(electric) reactor, and the turbines are smaller than those of a light water reactor. These features greatly simplify the reactor plant. The thermal efficiency is improved 19% over that of a PWR.
