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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.
C. Courtois, J. P. Moncouyoux, E. Revertegat
Nuclear Technology | Volume 115 | Number 2 | August 1996 | Pages 198-207
Technical Paper | Characterization of Radioactive Waste in France / Radioactive Waste Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT96-A35266
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
For many years conditioning processes have been studied and developed in France with the general objective of putting wastes into solid and stable waste forms having good leaching properties and long-term stability. The knowledge of radioactive characteristics of waste enables one to define what will be its final destination (near-surface or geological disposal) and the nature of the required conditioning and package with respect to French regulatory requirements. After waste materials have been treated prior to conditioning, they have to be encapsulated for transport storage and disposal. The main matrices (such as bitumen, glass, cement, polymers) and processes that have been developed in France are indicated. The state of art for each matrix is briefly reviewed taking into account long-term behavior studies. Main advantages and drawbacks are indicated. Recent developments are also briefly reviewed for previous matrices and also for new mineral matrices such as ceramics and molten metal. General consideration is given to the conditioning processes that have been studied and developed up to the industrial level in France.