(SATURN CDT) Robust Structural Validation of Plutonium and Minor Actinide Wasteforms: Bridging Parametric Asymmetry through Bond Valence Analysis and Spectroscopy

About the Project

Saturn_Nuclear_CDT

Background and hypothesis

The United Kingdom holds the world's largest inventory of separated civil plutonium, alongside significant quantities of minor actinide and fission product wastes from decades of nuclear power generation and reprocessing. Placing this material safely and permanently beyond reach is one of the most consequential long-term challenges facing UK science. The preferred route is immobilisation within a durable ceramic wasteform prior to geological disposal - but a wasteform that performs well in the laboratory must also be rigorously characterised at the atomic scale if it is to underpin a credible safety case for a facility designed to remain stable for tens of thousands of years.

This project addresses a specific and largely unrecognised gap in how actinide wasteform materials are structurally validated. Bond valence sum (BVS) analysis is a widely used crystallographic tool that checks whether the bonding geometry around an atom is physically consistent with its expected charge state. It is fast, automated, and requires nothing more than a crystal structure file - but it is only as reliable as the reference parameters it uses. The lead supervisor's recent work has demonstrated, for the first time at database scale, that those parameters are frequently inadequate or absent even for well-studied materials. For actinide systems the situation is demonstrably worse, and the consequences for structural quality assurance in the waste form community have not previously been quantified.

You will develop and validate the crystallographic tools needed to close this gap, working across ceramic synthesis, synchrotron X-ray diffraction and spectroscopy, and scientific computing. The project brings together complementary expertise at Sheffield - in crystallographic methodology and nuclear materials synthesis - and at the University of Manchester, where advanced X-ray spectroscopy of actinide systems provides independent experimental ground truth. Your work will produce both new fundamental understanding of actinide bonding in candidate waste form phases and open-source tools that the community can use directly. The practical impact is clear: better-validated structural data means greater confidence in the safety case for geological disposal of the UK's nuclear legacy.

You will develop a broad and distinctive technical skill set spanning solid-state chemistry, ceramic synthesis, synchrotron methods, Raman spectroscopy, and Python-based scientific computing. You will have regular access to Diamond Light Source and will be embedded in an active research group with strong links to the NDA Plutonium Ceramics Hub, Nuclear Waste Services, and Sellafield. As part of the SATURN CDT you will join a cohort of nuclear-focused researchers from across the consortium, with access to the full programme of specialist training, industry engagement, and international facility visits.

If you are drawn to research that sits at the intersection of crystallography, materials chemistry, and computation- and that addresses a real, unsolved problem with direct relevance to the UK's nuclear waste management programme - we would like to hear from you.

About SATURN

This PhD is based with the SATURN Centre for Doctoral Training. SATURN is made up form a consortium of NW Universities that include Manchester, Bangor, Leeds, Liverpool, Lancaster, Sheffield and Strathclyde. The ethos of the programme is to recruit students from across STEM and give them the necessary skills and training to become a subject matter expert in the nuclear sector in either industry or academia. You will be recruited with a cohort of other researchers all looking at nuclear- focused research but from across the breadth of the sector. Your training will include an introduction to nuclear course, as well as opportunities to do a deep dive in the areas that really interest you. You will also have the opportunity to broaden your experience and skills by visiting internationally relevant facilities, having an industry secondment, undertaking leadership training, and involving yourself in outreach and public engagement activities. If this sounds like the sort of opportunity that you are looking for, we would love to hear from you.

Nuclear Boot Camp (Months 1 - 3)

The Bootcamp is based in Manchester. For any of our students based at partner institutions, SATURN can offer you accommodation in Manchester and cover the cost.

Eligibility

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

Before you apply

We strongly recommend that you contact the supervisor(s) for this project before you apply. For informal enquiries, please contact Dr Nik Reeves-McLaren (nik.reeves-mclaren@sheffield.ac.uk)

Projects are subject to funding confirmation

How to apply

Please complete the Enquiry Form to express your interest. We strongly recommend you contact the project supervisor after completing the form to speak to them about your suitability for the project.

If your qualifications meet our standard entry requirements, the CDT Admissions Team will send your enquiry form and CV to the named project supervisor.

Our application process can also be found on our website: here If you have any questions, please contact SATURN@manchester.ac.uk