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Operations & Power
Members focus on the dissemination of knowledge and information in the area of power reactors with particular application to the production of electric power and process heat. The division sponsors meetings on the coverage of applied nuclear science and engineering as related to power plants, non-power reactors, and other nuclear facilities. It encourages and assists with the dissemination of knowledge pertinent to the safe and efficient operation of nuclear facilities through professional staff development, information exchange, and supporting the generation of viable solutions to current issues.
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ANS Student Conference 2025
April 3–5, 2025
Albuquerque, NM|The University of New Mexico
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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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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.
Mirco Karl Grosse (KIT), Teun van Duijnhoven (KIT/FONTYS Univ of Applied Sciences), Martin Steinbrueck, Chongchong Tang, Sarfraz Ahmed, Uta Gerhards, Ingo Juergen Markel, Hans Juergen Seifert (KIT)
Proceedings | 2018 International Congress on Advances in Nuclear Power Plants (ICAPP 2018) | Charlotte, NC, April 8-11, 2018 | Pages 590-597
Stacked couples of silicon carbide and Zircaloy-4 discs were annealed for 1 h in nominal inert atmosphere (6N Ar) at temperatures of 1200, 1400, 1500, 1550, 1575 and 1600°C. Strong interactions between silicon carbide and Zircaloy-4 occurred at temperatures of 1500°C and above. The width of the influenced zone exceeds 1 mm at 1550°C. A pronounced layer structure was found consisting of Zr-Si intermetallic compounds with different stoichiometry, the Zr-Sn intermetallic phase Zr2Sn and sub-stoichiometric ZrC1-x. The six different layers formed at temperatures of 1500°C and above contain these phases in diverse concentrations. At temperatures of 1575 and 1600°C, the discs welded together. This paper gives a detailed description of the results of the post-annealing examinations and an analysis of the interaction between the two materials.
