About Us:
The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has established the Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub at the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield (PUMaS), focused on underpinning the development of ceramic materials and technologies for the safe and secure disposition of the UK’s inventory of plutonium. This represents one of the most significant challenges facing the UK’s programme of remediation and restoration of the Sellafield site, expected to be complete in the next century.
The PUMaS hub will support ~20 PhD students along with research staff, creating a vibrant and dynamic research environment with PhD cohort training, skills and networking events built into the PhD programmes. As a member of the PUMaS hub you will be based within state-of-the-art facilities such as the Henry Royce Institute, the UK’s centre for advanced materials science, giving access to and training on leading materials science and engineering techniques.
Your PhD will include industrial supervision from either NDA, Sellafield Ltd. or Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to provide focus on tackling industrially significant issues with regards to the safe and secure disposition of the UK’s inventory of plutonium and this will permit exchange of your work directly to the industry partners. Furthermore, there will be extensive opportunities to travel and attend conferences and meetings within the UK and internationally as well as collaborate with our academic and industry partners – accessing national or international facilities, for example at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL), Diamond Light Source (DLS) or the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).
About your Project:
The immobilisation of Pu within a zirconolite matrix (CaZrTi2O7) fabricated by hot isostatic pressing is a feasible route towards the ultimate disposition of separated civil Pu. In order to develop a technical basis for this approach it is necessary to further understand the phase chemistry with respect to Pu surrogates and neutron absorber (NA) additives with a view to identify, and subsequently avoid, compositional ‘cliff-edges’ that could potentially destabilise the zirconolite phase in favour of parasitic and/or detrimental ancillary phases e.g. perovskite. Moreover, the effect of impurities or decay products contained within some subsections of the Pu inventory (e.g. Cl, C, Am) and subsequent effect on product quality (phase assemblage, relative zirconolite yield, density, composition, surrogate oxidation state and NA distribution) must be assessed by routine in-house techniques (XRD, SEM) and advanced characterisation (EPMA, XAS) to establish a reasonable processing envelope for impurity concentrations (i.e. required dilution factors). This project aims to (1) identify a route to fabricate homogeneous CaZrTi2O7 using a process that could feasibly be produced at scale, (2) systematically characterise the impact of neutron poison concentration in a ‘realistic’ simulant system on microstructure and physical properties and (3) establish impact of impurities on zirconolite product quality.
For this project you will be based at the University of Sheffield within the Immobilisation Science Laboratory (ISL) research group, a leading expertise in radioactive waste management comprising a team of experienced researchers and experimental officers, who will provide user training, supervision and support. The ideal candidate for this project is someone with a 1st or 2:1 BSc or MSc (or equivalent experience) in the following subjects: materials science, chemistry, chemical engineering, physics. This project is suited towards a candidate with a strong experimental background and will involve a substantial campaign of independent and laboratory work and contribution towards group projects. The project will utilise the HADES facility, established with investment of £1M by UKRI EPSRC and the University of Sheffield, in new state-of-the-art materials processing and characterisation equipment, to enable higher throughput research and work with high radionuclide inventories. The Facility incorporates prior investment of c. £8M in laboratory refurbishment, space, and equipment within the MIDAS facility and allied Royce Institute, to provide a single point of user access. HADES is accommodated within 500m2 of high-quality radio-materials chemistry laboratories, with state-of-the-art equipment and instrumentation for materials formulation, processing, characterisation and performance assessment.
More information on these facilities can be found at:
· https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/royce-institute
· https://www.nnuf.ac.uk/hades
· https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/royce-institute/case-studies/contributing-towards-nuclear-waste-management
Expectations and Rewards:
During your PhD you will be expected to:
- Work with and support the PUMaS Hub and ISL research groups
- Have a sound work ethic allowing you to manage your project with an independence.
- Provide regular updates and technical outcomes to your industry supervisor at NDA, SL or NWS and present updates at annual NDA and NWS conferences
- Attend and present at both local and international conferences.
- Partake in graduate teaching, supervision or training of MSc/MEng students
- Be able to obtain baseline security vetting (BPSS)
There will be many rewards:
- Working as part of a large and experienced team across the cohorts will ensure a supportive environment and that you will always have someone to help.
- Opportunities to develop training and skills in a range of technical areas including radioactive materials handling, state of the art materials manufacturing, characterisation and testing equipment
- Flexible and hybrid working is supported.
- Receipt of a competitive, tax-free stipend.
- Numerous opportunities for local and international collaboration and travel.
- Opportunities to develop a range of non-technical skills (presentation, organisation, leadership) through bespoke training programme of the Hub.
Please see this link for information on how to apply: https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/cbe/postgraduate/phd/how-apply. Please include the name of your proposed supervisor and the title of the PhD project within your application.
