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Materials Science & Technology
The objectives of MSTD are: promote the advancement of materials science in Nuclear Science Technology; support the multidisciplines which constitute it; encourage research by providing a forum for the presentation, exchange, and documentation of relevant information; promote the interaction and communication among its members; and recognize and reward its members for significant contributions to the field of materials science in nuclear technology.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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The Standards Committee is responsible for the development and maintenance of voluntary consensus standards that address the design, analysis, and operation of components, systems, and facilities related to the application of nuclear science and technology. Find out What’s New, check out the Standards Store, or Get Involved today!
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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.
Th. U. Kaempfer, Y. Mishin, J. Brommundt, J. Roger, E. Treille, and N. Hubschwerlen
Nuclear Technology | Volume 187 | Number 2 | August 2014 | Pages 131-146
Technical Paper | Thermal Hydraulics | doi.org/10.13182/NT13-80
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Numerical simulation of multiphase flow and transport processes forms an important base for the assessment of deep geological repositories for radioactive waste. The finite volume simulation code TOUGH2-MP with its EOS7R equation-of-state module is a good starting point for large-scale simulations of the relevant processes, including solute transport of radionuclides, in and around a geological repository. On this base, we developed the equation-of-state module EOS75Rx that contains optimizations and specific extensions allowing for a much more efficient treatment of the problem at hand. First, hydrogen, which is formed by corrosion of waste containers and by radiolysis of organic wastes, replaces air as the main component of the gas phase. Second, an arbitrary number of variably long decay chains with branching can be considered. Third, solubility limitation and associated precipitation of chemical elements are modeled. Finally, a bug fix related to the source terms has been implemented. The new TOUGH2-MP EOS75Rx module has been validated using unitary tests and benchmark problems for the single- and two-phase flow and transport of radionuclides through porous media and soils. Its performance has been demonstrated by a large-scale, three-dimensional simulation of the performance of a generic deep geological repository in clay host rock.
