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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.
E. Alves, L. C. Alves, N. Franco, M. R. Da Silva, A. Paúl
Nuclear Technology | Volume 159 | Number 3 | September 2007 | Pages 233-237
Technical Paper | Beryllium Technology | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3870
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The improved mechanical and chemical properties of intermetallic beryllium compounds make them good candidates to replace metallic beryllium in future fusion power plants. Titanium beryllide is a compound with low chemical reactivity, which makes it very attractive for fusion applications. In this work we study the structural stability of titanium beryllides and the oxidation behavior under air annealing. Both high-resolution X-ray diffraction and microbeam techniques were used to follow the evolution of the composition and crystalline phases as well as the microstructure. Beryllium-titanium intermetallic compounds were produced using two alloys with a nominal composition of Be-5 at.% Ti and Be-7 at.% Ti. The as-cast samples show the presence of Be10Ti for the Be-7 at.% Ti alloy, while the Be12Ti phase was mostly found in the Be-5 at.% Ti compound. While the Be-5 at.% Ti alloy reveals large intragrain regions with high concentration of impurities (O, Fe) and Ti depletion, the Be-7 at.% Ti shows a more homogeneous structure. During thermal treatments up to 800°C in dry-air atmosphere, the oxidation occurs preferentially at the beryllium-rich regions. No evidence was found for phase separation during the annealing in vacuum.
