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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.
H. Andrews, S. Phongikaroon
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 4 | April 2021 | Pages 617-626
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1776538
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
This study sets out to demonstrate the capability of using electrochemistry and laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) for concentration prediction of multiple species in a molten salt system at 773 K. Samples contained UCl3 ranging from 0 to 10 wt%, GdCl3 ranging from 0 to 5 wt%, and MgCl2 ranging from 0 to 1.5 wt%, with LiCl-KCl eutectic salt as the remainder. Multivariate models were produced using semi-differential cyclic voltammograms (SDCVs) and normalized spectra acquired from LIBS. The SDCV model best predicted UCl3 levels, while the LIBS model best predicted GdCl3 and MgCl2 concentrations. A third model was developed by fusing the SDCV and LIBS signals. This model predicted UCl3 well and predicted GdCl3 and MgCl2 better than previous models. This model was then evaluated by using blind samples. The model predictions correlated well with inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy measurements, passing a t-test at a 95% confidence level.
