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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.
M. Brugger, P. Cennini, A. Ferrari, E. Lebbos, V. Vlachoudis
Nuclear Technology | Volume 168 | Number 3 | December 2009 | Pages 752-757
Heavy Ion Transport | Special Issue on the 11th International Conference on Radiation Shielding and the 15th Topical Meeting of the Radiation Protection and Shielding Division (PART 3) / Radiation Measurements and Instrumentation | doi.org/10.13182/NT09-A9301
Articles are hosted by Taylor and Francis Online.
The n_TOF facility, a spallation neutron source, uses a pure lead target to produce neutrons with a 20-GeV proton beam extracted from the CERN Proton Synchrotron. After 4 yr of operation and [approximately]3 yr of cooling, the present spallation target is damaged and was moved to its provisional storage place in the n_TOF service gallery and will be later transferred to a Swiss repository. In this study, to deal with the removal and storage of the lead target, detailed isotope production and residual dose rate calculations were performed with the FLUKA Monte Carlo code. The study further includes a detailed analysis of three-dimensional residual dose rate fields around the target and through the installation pit. It addresses critical design parameters for the new target and successfully compares the simulation results to recently available measurement data. FLUKA allows residual dose rates to be calculated using two different approaches: a one-step approach that simultaneously takes into account production and decay (built-in) and a two-step approach that allows for flexible geometries between the isotope production and sampling of the decay products (customized). This work shows the clear advantage of performing Monte Carlo calculations prior to interventions and waste disposal and the importance of a detailed description of all the installation components, a complete chemical composition inventory, and a correct irradiation profile.
