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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.
Zhengming Zhang, Shuyan He
Nuclear Technology | Volume 160 | Number 2 | November 2007 | Pages 170-177
Technical Paper | Fission Reactors | doi.org/10.13182/NT07-A3890
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Leak-before-break analysis of pressurized vessels and pipes is an important technique to guarantee the safety of reactor pressurized components. This analytical method involves many technical problems that need intensive study. Among these problems, the leak rate of the coolant is far from being well understood. The results of the current leak-rate models may have large errors. Little study has been carried out on the leak rate of gas coolant used in a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR). This paper introduces experimental and theoretical studies on the leak rate of a gas medium. The focus is on the results of the experimental studies. A series of experiments for the leak rate of a gas medium were conducted based on preliminary simulation of the penetrated crack. Systematic data were obtained. The laws of a gas medium flowing through a narrow slit are summarized.