PHD STUDENTSHIP IN NUCLEAR ENGINEERING / MATERIALS SCIENCE / CHEMISTRY
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
LANCASTER UNIVERSITY
Project Description
The UK’s used nuclear fuel will be sent to a GDF (geological disposal facility) although this is not due to open until around 2075. Until the GDF opens, UK used fuel will be held in interim wet storage in ponds at Sellafield. Fuel cladding (a steel sheath encasing the uranium dioxide fuel pellets) can be breached due to corrosion or damaged during dismantling. Evolution of both the steel cladding & the uranium dioxide surfaces upon consequent exposure to pond water can be considered as corrosion processes and so conveniently studied by electrochemical methods. Using novel fuel simulants (SIMFUELs), we have conducted preliminary electrochemical studies on coupled SIMFUEL-steel samples in pond buffer and found that they may interact in a manner that might promote uranium dioxide corrosion. This suggests that both cladding and pellets of UK used fuel are corroding during wet storage.
This project, a collaboration between Lancaster, Manchester’s Dalton Cumbrian Facility (DCF) and the UK’s National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), aims to develop novel approaches for the early stage detection of conditions conducive to the corrosion of the steel cladding of UK spent fuel during pond storage.
Approaches signalling changes in cladding corrosion risk at early pre-failure stages in real-time are particularly attractive and include use of corrosion electrochemistry measurements and measurement of low concentration changes in key ions in-pond. The project’s objectives are:
1. Development of a novel, remotely deployable sensor for non-destructive, real-time in situ monitoring of cladding corrosion.
2. Demonstration of sensor utility under representative pond conditions, including elevated pH and temperature, and especially under gamma irradiation – the latter also providing a new, fundamental understanding of steel/cladding corrosion in the presence of ionizing radiation.
3. Development of on-line techniques for bulk pond monitoring of key solutions species including chloride (whose ingress is a key fault condition), radiolytic H2O2 (placing an oxidative stress on the cladding) and chromium (released from the cladding in pre-corrosion states).
The project is intellectually challenging and involves well-integrated elements of chemistry, engineering and materials science. The successful applicant will become familiar with techniques needed to tackle major problems in the nuclear industry and be part of large teams within Lancaster’s School of Engineering and Manchester’s Dalton Cumbrian Facility, both of which seek to address industrial problems while maintaining a strong science and technology base.
The appointee will interact with the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL), the UK’s largest nuclear research facility for the conduct of radioactive experiments. There will be opportunities for periods of placement at the NNL’s Central Laboratory in Cumbria.
Entry requirements
Applicants should have a First or Upper Second Class UK honours degree, or equivalent, in a relevant subject such as chemical engineering, nuclear engineering, materials science, chemistry, radiochemistry or related disciplines.
Interview Details
Deadline for applications: 30th November 2022
For further information about this project, contact
Professor Colin Boxall [Email Address Removed], Tel: +44 (0)7814 055964
Please include a CV with your enquiry.
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