Argonne National Lab's New Facility Gives Researchers an Inside Look at Irradiated Nuclear Materials

Equipped with fume hoods, glove boxes, shielded containers, and approved sample containments, the new Activated Materials Lab can safely handle samples with higher radioactivity than previously allowed at the facility.

Staffed with a dedicated team that is responsible for receiving radioactive samples and transferring them safely to the Advanced Photon Source X-ray beamlines for measurements, the lab is able to reduce the turnaround time on user experiments while allowing researchers to focus solely on data collection.

The Advanced Photon Source recently underwent a major upgrade project which enhanced its brightness over 100-fold and built nine new X-ray beamlines, including the High-Energy X-ray Microscope beamline adjacent to the Activated Materials Lab. With enhanced access to upgraded x-ray capabilities, researchers now have the ability to pursue a wider range of experiments.

"By safely enabling higher activity samples at the Advanced Photon Source, this new capability allows for clearer views of how materials change during their time in a reactor, speeding progress toward safer, longer-lasting components," said Brenden J. Heidrich, director of the U.S. Department of Energy's Nuclear Science User Facilities program.