products under all reactor and post-reactor conditions. Rolls-Royce would like to develop CPFs for potential use in future applications such as Advanced Modular Reactors and High Temperature Gas Reactors.

Funded by the UK Government, Lancaster University has established a casting rig and capability to fabricate and characterise CPF kernels by a so-called “external gelation route”. This external gelation rig has been used to cast the first uranium oxide TRISO kernels at a university in over 40 years, and has been successfully operated at Lancaster for a number of years. Experience of the rig has indicated issues with process variable sensitivity leading to non-ideal kernel geometries and physical properties resulting in kernel failure during subsequent thermal processing. The proposed PhD project will explore these process variable sensitivities, leading to the identification of optimised process conditions for the reliable fabrication of spherical kernels in the future.

This project is a collaboration between Lancaster University and Rolls-Royce Ltd. Experimental work will be conducted primarily in Lancaster’s UTGARD (Uranium-Thorium beta-Gamma Active R&D) Lab

products under all reactor and post-reactor conditions. Rolls-Royce would like to develop CPFs for potential use in future applications such as Advanced Modular Reactors and High Temperature Gas Reactors.

Funded by the UK Government, Lancaster University has established a casting rig and capability to fabricate and characterise CPF kernels by a so-called “external gelation route”. This external gelation rig has been used to cast the first uranium oxide TRISO kernels at a university in over 40 years, and has been successfully operated at Lancaster for a number of years. Experience of the rig has indicated issues with process variable sensitivity leading to non-ideal kernel geometries and physical properties resulting in kernel failure during subsequent thermal processing. The proposed PhD project will explore these process variable sensitivities, leading to the identification of optimised process conditions for the reliable fabrication of spherical kernels in the future.

This project is a collaboration between Lancaster University and Rolls-Royce Ltd. Experimental work will be conducted primarily in Lancaster’s UTGARD (Uranium-Thorium beta-Gamma Active R&D) Lab