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The Irradiated Fuels Examination Laboratory (IFEL), Building 3525, was designed and constructed in 1963 to permit the safe handling of increasing levels of radiation in the chemical, physical, and metallurgical examination of nuclear reactor fuel elements and reactor parts. A two-story building with a partial basement, the IFEL is classified a Category 2 nuclear facility.
Capabilities
• Receipt and handling of irradiated materials
(fuel or nonfuel in shielded casks)
• Capsule disassembly
• Nondestructive and destructive testing of irradiated materials
• Full-length light water reactor
fuel post-irradiation examination
• Repackaging of spent nuclear fuel
• Packaging and shipment of irradiated materials
(on-site and off-site)
• Examination and testing activities such as metrology;
metallographic sample preparation by sectioning, grinding,
and polishing; optical and electron microscopy; gamma
spectrometry; and other physical and mechanical properties
evaluations as needed
• Safety testing of high temperature gas reactor (HTGR) fuel
• Automated sorting and analysis of HTGR fuel particles using
gamma spectrometry
• Testing grid pinching and lateral constraint effects on spent
nuclear fuel during transportation
