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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.
Francesco D’auria, Nenad Debrecin, Giorgio Maria Galassi
Nuclear Technology | Volume 109 | Number 1 | January 1995 | Pages 21-38
Technical Paper | Nuclear Reactor Safety | doi.org/10.13182/NT109-21
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Uncertainty methodology based on accuracy extrapolation (UMAE) is outlined. This methodology is suitable for evaluating the uncertainty in the prediction of transient scenarios in nuclear reactors when carried out by thermal-hydraulic system codes. It is based on the extrapolation of the accuracy resulting from a comparison between code results and relevant experimental data obtained in small scale facilities. A simplified diagram of the UMAE is compared with a similar one derived for the code scaling, applicability and uncertainty evaluation (CSAU) previously proposed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A few results related to the full application of the UMAE to a small-break loss-of-coolant accident in a pressurized water reactor, including core uncovery, are also reported.