Experimental Actinide Nano-chemistry for the Future of the Civil UK Plutonium Inventory

英国民用钚库存未来的实验锕系纳米化学

• 批准号: MR/X036634/1
• 负责人: Joy Farnaby
• 金额: $ 159.37万
• 依托单位: University of Glasgow
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Fellowship
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=MR%2FX036634%2F1
• 关键词: Experimental; Actinide; Nano; chemistry; Future

In the UK, electricity generation using Nuclear Power is key to energy security and to achieving Net Zero. After six decades of commercial nuclear fuel reprocessing by Sellafield Ltd (SL), the UK has the largest inventory of civil plutonium (Pu) worldwide. The current and future management of the UK's civil Pu inventory by SL on behalf of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is one of the most important challenges presented by nuclear decommissioning. The difficulty and scale of the challenges are reflected in the provision of funding: £2 billion for the retreatment plant, £4 billion for storage until 2120, and £10 billion for future Pu management. The Pu inventory is in the form of actinide oxide AnO2 (An = uranium U, or Pu) or mixed-actinide oxide powders (MOX) and stored in gas-tight packages on the Sellafield site. Research commissioned by SL, undertaken by the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) at Central Lab, has revealed that there is a significant knowledge gap in the chemistry of actinide oxides. The data cannot currently be explained and show that the properties of the AnO2 have changed during storage. This has led to concerns about safety, and how to handle these materials going forward. Moreover, there is an urgent need to establish optimal operating conditions for Pu inventory retreatment and repackaging, which is scheduled to begin in 2027, and to ensure safe and secure inventory storage from 2027 onwards.This knowledge gap results from the complexity of Pu chemistry under industrial conditions, and the difficulty of experimental studies. My insight is that not only are new experimental actinide materials needed, but so are new ways of studying them. This has been developed and informed through my recent secondment at SL, and working closely with key stakeholders (SL, NNL, NDA). The FLF will enable the synthesis of a new class of actinide nanomaterials, with broad application potential in nuclear decommissioning. This Fellowship will provide crucial experimental data on actinide structure and bonding on an atomic level, which has previously only been possible to study theoretically. Catalysis technology will be used to probe and quantify reactivity of actinide nanomaterials with problem industrial contaminants. This is also the first application of knowledge and technologies used in industrial catalysis to address nuclear industry technical challenges. This work is in partnership with SL and NNL and has been designed to generate data directly comparable to ongoing industrial work. Advanced characterisation and reactivity studies will be supported by the development of new spectroscopic tools. Synchrotron and neutron science will be utilised, ultimately in combination with vibrational spectroscopies, and in operando experiments. These studies will be a world-first. The impact of the FLF science will be realised through working in partnership with industrial stakeholders both in the UK (SL, NNL, NDA) and internationally through joint UK/US programmes (Los Alamos National Laboratory) and the European Commission Joint Research Centre (Karlsruhe). The translation of scientific knowledge to meet real end-user needs in nuclear decommissioning is a major goal of the FLF. This will be achieved by contributing to the scientific evidence base, therefore informing safety cases, engineering designs, and ultimately future UK government decision-making on Pu management.

在英国，核能发电是能源安全和实现净零排放的关键。在塞拉菲尔德有限公司（SL）进行了60年的商业核燃料后处理之后，英国拥有世界上最大的民用钚（Pu）库存。SL代表核退役管理局（NDA）对英国民用钚库存的当前和未来管理是核退役带来的最重要挑战之一。挑战的难度和规模反映在资金的提供上：20亿英镑用于再处理厂，40亿英镑用于储存到2120年，100亿英镑用于未来的钚管理。钚库存以锕系氧化物AnO 2（An =铀U或Pu）或混合锕系氧化物粉末（MOX）的形式存在，并储存在塞拉菲尔德现场的气密包装中。SL委托中央实验室的国家核实验室（NNL）进行的研究表明，在锕系元素氧化物的化学方面存在重大的知识缺口。数据目前无法解释，并显示AnO 2的属性在储存期间发生了变化。这导致了人们对安全性以及如何处理这些材料的担忧。此外，迫切需要为钚库存的再处理和再包装建立最佳操作条件，这一工作计划于2027年开始，并确保从2027年起安全可靠地储存库存。我的观点是，不仅需要新的实验性锕系元素材料，而且需要新的研究方法。这是通过我最近在SL的借调以及与关键利益相关者（SL，NNL，NDA）的密切合作而制定和告知的。FLF将能够合成一类新的锕系元素纳米材料，在核退役中具有广泛的应用潜力。该研究金将提供关于锕系元素结构和原子水平上的键合的关键实验数据，这些数据以前只能在理论上进行研究。催化技术将用于探测和量化锕系元素纳米材料与问题工业污染物的反应性。这也是首次将工业催化中使用的知识和技术应用于应对核工业技术挑战。这项工作与SL和NNL合作，旨在生成与正在进行的工业工作直接可比的数据。先进的表征和反应性研究将得到新的光谱工具的开发的支持。同步加速器和中子科学将被利用，最终与振动光谱学相结合，并用于操作实验。这些研究将是世界首创。FLF科学的影响将通过与英国（SL，NNL，NDA）和国际上的工业利益相关者合作，通过联合英国/美国计划（洛斯阿拉莫斯国家实验室）和欧盟委员会联合研究中心（卡尔斯鲁厄）实现。将科学知识转化为满足最终用户在核退役方面的真实的需求是FLF的一个主要目标。这将通过为科学证据库做出贡献来实现，从而为安全案例、工程设计以及最终为未来英国政府关于钚管理的决策提供信息。