Design and Development of the ISHA-1 Capsule for Irradiation Experiment in the INL Advanced Test Reactor

As interest grows for new nuclear reactor designs for the future of clean energy production, so increases the interest and need for nuclear fuels and material testing. Testing new forms of nuclear fuel for the future occurs at the Idaho National Laboratory at the Transient Reactor Test (TREAT) Facility and the Advanced Test Reactor (ATR). Irradiation experiments require custom design, precision components, and custom fabrication to meet the needs of both the experiment and safety requirements at the ATR. The Irradiation System for High-throughput Acquisition – 1 (ISHA-1) capsule is being assembled and tested as a semi-universal drop-in capsule that can facilitate the irradiation of both fissile and structural materials in a variety of positions in ATR. One of the design goals of the ISHA-1 Capsule is to provide a proven experiment encapsulation that can be used for varied experiment types, reducing the need to design and fabricate new components for future experiments. This capsule is designed to hold nuclear fuel experiments as well as non-fueled material for testing. Several different ongoing irradiation tests are currently utilizing the ISHA-1 capsule design. Design considerations and assembly process development are presented.