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Robotics & Remote Systems
The Mission of the Robotics and Remote Systems Division is to promote the development and application of immersive simulation, robotics, and remote systems for hazardous environments for the purpose of reducing hazardous exposure to individuals, reducing environmental hazards and reducing the cost of performing work.
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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.
C. C. Scheffing, K. Jagannadham, M.-S. Yim, M. A. Bourham, J. C. Farmer, J. J. Haslam, S. D. Day, D. V. Fix, N. Y. Yang
Nuclear Technology | Volume 156 | Number 2 | November 2006 | Pages 213-221
Technical Paper | Radioactive Waste Management and Disposal | doi.org/10.13182/NT156-213
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
A feasibility study of applying titanium-nitride (TiN) coating onto waste package surfaces was performed as part of efforts to enhance the long-term performance of high-level waste packages. The hypothesis examined in the study is that a successful TiN coating would provide an effective mass-transport barrier thus preventing corrosion. In the present work, single-layer TiN and multiple-layer TiN + Ti, TiN + Ti + TiN, and ZrO2 + TiN were deposited on Type 316L stainless steel substrates. The coated samples were tested for corrosion properties in different types of water using polarization and weight loss tests. Results of corrosion testing are presented and discussed.
