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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.
P. Mayo, F. Rodenas, J. M. Campayo, A. Pascual, B. Marín, G. Verdú
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 1 | October 2009 | Pages 235-237
Phantoms | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (Part 1) / Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9132
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The development of specific phantoms to study the image obtained by computerized and direct digital radiographic equipment is the objective of this work to characterize the physical properties of the image chain. We have developed a specific phantom, named RACON, that is applied to an acceptance and constancy test to assess the image quality of digital radiographic equipment. This phantom has been designed with different test objects recommended by international and national associations (IEC-61223-2-9, RD 1976-1999) as low-contrast objects varying in diameter and size for threshold contrast resolution, a high-resolution test for the limiting spatial resolution, a dynamic step wedge for the dynamic range of the system, and a homogeneity zone and alignment marks for the position and size of the radiation field. Furthermore, we have developed specific software to analyze automatically and objectively the phantom images. The algorithms are based on digital image processing techniques, and they have been specifically designed for each test object in the phantom. The developed phantom is sensitive enough to the operating conditions of the radiographic digital system, and the automatic image evaluation allows the objective study of the global state of the image system.
