2013-2022 TEN-YEAR SITE PLAN - Idaho National Laboratory

3-8
SECTION 3 CORE CAPABILITIES
Justification of Mission Need, Critical Decision-0
for the Advanced PIE Capability in January 2011 1
with Critical Decision-1 activities to be underway
in FY 2012.
The facility will be designed with cooperative
R&D at the core of its mission, with information
technology infrastructure that allows remote
operation and monitoring of equipment from
in-town and off-site locations. A workshop with
U.S. national laboratories, universities, and
industry held in March 2011 to discuss research
community needs for PIE is helping to inform the
detailed design features of the capability. A similar
workshop was held in the summer of 2011 with the
international research community. As IMCL microstructural
characterization capabilities transition to
the new facility, INL will use the IMCL to consolidate
mechanical testing capabilities from the
FASB, HFEF, and IMCL into one location.
In addition, optimum use of MFC radiological
facilities requires modifications to their missions.
The pilot-scale fabrication capabilities currently in
the FASB will be moved to the CESB in FY 2011
through FY 2012. Before the move, the CESB
must undergo electrical power and other utility
upgrades. During FY 2011 through FY 2013,
the mission of FASB will continue to transition
to radiological characterization and mechanical
testing. Remaining capabilities in the EML will
transition to FASB, and the EML will be used as a
general-purpose radiological facility.
3.3.2.3 National Scientific User Facility
As the national hub for nuclear energy research,
INL relies heavily on the intellectual capacity of
the entire nation and the world to make breakthroughs
in nuclear energy technology. Therefore,
1 Letter from Peter B. Lyons to NE-32, Advanced Post
Irradiation Examination (PIE) Capability Project Approval
of Critical Decision (CD-0), Approve Mission Need, Jan 31,
2011.
T E N - Y E A R S I T E P L A N INL
INL must invest in the development of an
operational strategy that allows outside customers
to access the national capability present at INL routinely
and effectively. This strategy must encompass
facility access, material transfers, equipment
operation by visitors and INL users, release of data,
visitor office space, visitor computer networking,
access for non-U.S. visitors, remote operation of
equipment, and research equipment staffing.
In conjunction with the current CAES building, the
proposed new, leased REL would house additional
high-end PIE instruments that parallel capabilities
at the MFC for use by visiting researchers,
enabling them to collaborate in DOE-NE research
programs.
By design, the CAES research facility operates
in the same manner as universities do; in the case
of low risk radiological research, this approach
provides a cost-effective, innovative, and productive
environment for exploring fundamental
science questions and executing basic research
complementary to research at INL facilities. The
NRC license that the CAES holds through ISU
has material quantity limits sufficient for handling
low-activity specimens. These factors make the
CAES an ideal location for state-of-the-art research
equipment. These research tools will be of sufficient
quality to position CAES as a major regional
center for materials characterization that can support
innovative material science studies related to
many technical areas − including, but not limited
to, nuclear energy.
Capabilities in CAES and NSUF at REL will
focus on nanoscale and atomic-level characterization,
where examinations can be completed using
micrograms or nanograms of irradiated specimens
prepared at the MFC. The combined available
NSUF analytical capabilities at REC will include
an atom probe (Local Electron Atom Probe),
aberration-corrected Field Emission Gun Scanning
Transmission Electron Microscope, dual-beam