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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.
Cole Gentry, Ivan Maldonado, Andrew Godfrey, Kurt Terrani, Jess Gehin, Jeffrey Powers
Nuclear Technology | Volume 186 | Number 1 | April 2014 | Pages 60-75
Technical Paper | Fuel Cycle and Management | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-75
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
An investigation of the utilization of TRistructural-ISOtropic (TRISO)-coated fuel particles for the burning of plutonium/neptunium (Pu/Np) isotopes in typical Westinghouse four-loop pressurized water reactors is presented. Though numerous studies have evaluated the burning of transuranic isotopes in light water reactors (LWRs), this work differentiates itself by employing Pu/Np-loaded TRISO particles embedded within a silicon carbide (SiC) matrix and formed into pellets, constituting the fully ceramic microencapsulated (FCM) fuel concept that can be loaded into standard LWR fuel element cladding. This approach provides the capability of Pu/Np burning and, by virtue of the multibarrier TRISO particle design and SiC matrix properties, will allow for greater burnup of Pu/Np material, plus improved fuel reliability and thermal performance. In this study, a variety of heterogeneous assembly layouts, which utilize a mix of FCM rods and typical UO2 rods, and core loading patterns were analyzed to demonstrate the neutronic feasibility of Pu/Np-loaded TRISO fuel. The assembly and core designs herein reported are not fully optimized and require fine-tuning to flatten power peaks; however, the progress achieved thus far strongly supports the conclusion that with further rod/assembly/core loading and placement optimization, Pu/Np-loaded TRISO fuel and core designs that are capable of balancing Pu/Np production and destruction can be designed within the standard constraints for thermal and reactivity performance in pressurized water reactors.