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​​​​​​​FUEL FABRICATION, IRRADIATION, CHARACTERIZATION,​ POST IRRADIATION EXAMINATION, PROCESS DEVELOPMENT​​


FASB.pngThe Fuels and Applied Science Building (FASB) is a radiological facility that houses small hot cells, gloveboxes, hoods, and a variety of equipment that supports nuclear energy research and development. This facility is a key part of the fuel development mission of the Materials and Fuels Complex at Idaho National Laboratory. FASB's capabilities include research and development related to nuclear fuel fabrication, used fuel treatment options, nuclear waste management, and other scientific activities.​

The FASB west room contains inert atmosphere gloveboxes used for development of various nuclear fuels, treating waste from glovebox operations, working with corrosive materials and testing equipment that will be used in other facilities. A set of small hot cells houses an irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking system used for evaluating structural material for nuclear light water reactor life extension.

The east room contains material processing areas, a thermal properties laboratory, a sample preparation area and a characterization area that contains electron and optical microscopes and X-ray diffraction X-ray fluorescence equipment.

The building houses laboratory scale fuel fabrication capability for both dispersion and foil bearing nuclear fuel plates, a pyrochemistry glovebox housing a laboratory scale electrorefiner and other furnaces to perform separations experiments. It also has a set of hot cells, including one that houses an irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking system that measures corrosion and crack propagation in nuclear reactor structural materials as part of the light water reactor life extension program.

The building also contains a sample preparation and characterization suite with optical and electron microscopes, thermal properties and other characterization equipment.​

 

Basic Capabilities:

  • Uranium fuel development at all enrichments

  • Materials characterization

  • IASCC testing of irradiated materials

  • Multiple uranium gloveboxes to support fuel development

  • Cobalt-60 gamma irradiator with a radiolysis/hydrolysis test loop

 

Instruments:

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Fuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Fuels%20and%20Applied%20Science%20Building/Inert-radiological%20gloveboxes.aspx
  
Fuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Fuels%20and%20Applied%20Science%20Building/Radiological%20Fume%20Hoods.aspx
  
Solvent test loopFuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Fuels%20and%20Applied%20Science%20Building/Cobalt-60%20Gamma%20Irradiator.aspx
  
Fuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Fuels%20and%20Applied%20Science%20Building/Laboratory-scale%20Molten%20Salt%20Electrorefiner.aspx
  
Fuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Experimental%20Fuels%20Facility/Uranium%20Handling.aspx
  
Fuels and Applied Science Buildinghttps://mfctemp.inl.gov/SitePages/Fuels%20and%20Applied%20Science%20Building/Fume%20hoods.aspx


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