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Division Spotlight
Radiation Protection & Shielding
The Radiation Protection and Shielding Division is developing and promoting radiation protection and shielding aspects of nuclear science and technology — including interaction of nuclear radiation with materials and biological systems, instruments and techniques for the measurement of nuclear radiation fields, and radiation shield design and evaluation.
Meeting Spotlight
ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
Standards Program
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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February 2025
Latest News
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.
Jintae Hong, Kwang-Jae Son, Jong-Bum Kim, Jin-Joo Kim
Nuclear Technology | Volume 207 | Number 6 | June 2021 | Pages 790-800
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2020.1832417
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
According to the development plan for the Korea Space Launch Vehicle, a performance verification satellite will be installed in the launch vehicle in 2021. In addition, three payloads, including a small electrically heated thermoelectric generator (ETG), will be developed and installed in the satellite. In particular, a small ETG has been developed by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute for the purpose of evaluating the characteristics of the ETG in the space environment prior to the development of a radioisotope thermoelectric generator for lunar missions. In this study, shock and vibration tests were carried out to check whether the ETG can endure the launch environment of the spacecraft. In addition, a thermal cycle test and a thermal vacuum test were conducted to check whether the ETG maintains its performance, even at drastic temperature changes, which can be applied to the ETG in space. Finally, a periodic performance test was carried out to measure the degradation level of the small ETG.