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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.
Jean-Luc Pettier
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 2 | August 1996 | Pages 178-191
Technical Paper | Characterization of Radioactive Waste in France / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35264
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Nondestructive examination methods are particularly useful in characterizing radioactive waste. Radiographic examinations combined with tomodensitometric examinations (scanner) using a gamma-ray photon source make it possible to conduct exhaustive testing of the physical homogeneity of a low- or medium-activity waste package. These methods provide original experimental data for the following purposes: (a) preliminary characterization of packages for approval of the treatment process, (b) quality control of the produced packages (production control at the producer’s site and counterchecks by the waste control organism), (c) examination of packages, and (d) activity computation codes based on the emergent activity. The selection criteria, the physical principles, and the originality of the tool and some of its applications are described.
