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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.
A. Colombi, M. P. Carante, F. Barbaro, L. Canton, A. Fontana
Nuclear Technology | Volume 208 | Number 4 | April 2022 | Pages 735-752
Technical Paper | doi.org/10.1080/00295450.2021.1947122
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
Radioisotope 52gMn is of special interest for multimodal imaging. Using state-of-art nuclear reaction codes, we study the alternative nuclear reaction route natV(,x)52gMn in comparison with the standard production routes based upon the use of chromium targets. The integral yields of 52gMn and contaminants have been evaluated. The main outcome of this investigation is that the 52gMn yield of the new production route compares favorably with respect to the standard natCr one, and the contamination due to 54Mn is expected to be significantly lower. The study also reveals a large spread in the cross-section data set and points out the need of more precise measurements of the reaction natV(,x)52gMn as well as the need of more refined models in nuclear reaction codes such as Talys, Empire, and Fluka.
