IDAHO NATIONAL LABORATORY
The Hot Fuel Examination Facility
The Hot Fuel Examination Facility (HFEF) is equipped with two adjacent highly-shielded hot cells, a main argon cell and a decontamination air cell. The three-story building, part of the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR) National Scientific User Facility (NSUF), also has machining equipment for destructive and nondestructive testing to characterize highly irradiated fuel and structural materials. It has a Neutron Radiography Reactor (NRAD), which is a Training Research Isotope General Atomics (TRIGA). It is capable of X-ray radiography, analytical chemistry for composition and phase structure, transmission electron microscopy. It also includes the Waste Characterization Area (WCA) which processes material destined for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The first irradiated fuel was brought into the facility on June 28, 1972 and was examined 2 days later. HFEF began operating fully on March 31, 1975 to support the Liquid Metal Light Breeder Reactor through post-irradiation and interim-irradation examination. Advanced ceramic and metallic fuels have been developed at HFEF. In 2004 one of the MFC's main activities was the visual examination of transuranic waste.
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