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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.
R. A. Lefebvre, P. Miller, J. M. Scaglione, K. Banerjee, J. L. Peterson, G. Radulescu, K. R. Robb, A. B. Thompson, H. Liljenfeldt, J. P. Lefebvre
Nuclear Technology | Volume 199 | Number 3 | September 2017 | Pages 227-244
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2017.1314747
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
To understand the changing nuclear and mechanical characteristics of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) or used nuclear fuel (UNF) and the different storage, transportation, and disposal systems at various stages within the waste management system, different types of analyses are required. These analyses require the use of assorted tools and numerous types of data. Using the appropriate modeling and simulation (M&S) parameters and selecting from the diversity of analytic tools to conduct SNF analyses can be a tedious, error-prone, and time-consuming undertaking for analysts and reviewers alike. A new, integrated data and analysis system was designed to simplify and automate performance of accurate, efficient evaluations for characterizing the input to the overall U.S. nuclear waste management system—the UNF-Storage, Transportation & Disposal Analysis Resource and Data System (UNF-ST&DARDS). A relational database has been assembled to provide a standard means by which UNF-ST&DARDS can succinctly store and retrieve M&S parameters for specific SNF analysis. A library of various analysis model templates is used to communicate M&S parameters for the most appropriate M&S application. A process manager facilitates performance of actual as-loaded, assembly-specific, and cask-specific evaluations. Interactive visualization capabilities facilitate data analysis and results interpretation. To date, UNF-ST&DARDS has completed (1) explicit depletion and decay analysis of every fuel assembly (~245 000) discharged from commercial U.S. reactors through June 2013, with 13 cooling time steps (results include isotopic compositions for 142 isotopes, and radiation and thermal source terms); (2) SNF radiation dose rate evaluations at 1 m for all the fuel assemblies discharged through June 2013; and (3) criticality, shielding, thermal, and containment analyses of hundreds of loaded casks. UNF-ST&DARDS also provides various automated report generation capabilities with dynamic figure and table update capabilities based on changes to the Unified Database.
