Overview of Idaho National Laboratory's Hot Fuels Examination Facility

The Hot Fuels Examination Facility (HFEF) at the Materials and Fuels Complex (MFC) of the Idaho National Laboratory was constructed in the 1960’s and opened for operation in the 1975 in support of the liquid metal fast breeder reactor research. Specifically the facility was designed to handle spent fuel and irradiated experiments from the Experimental Breeder Reactor EBRII, the Fast Flux Test Facility (FFTF), and the Transient Reactor Test Facility (TREAT). HFEF is a large alpha-gamma facility designed to remotely characterize highly radioactive materials. In the late 1980’s the facility also began support of the US DOE waste characterization including characterizing contact-handled transuranic (CH-TRU) waste. A description of the hot cell as well as some of its primary capabilities are discussed herein