Assessment of the behaviour of metallic uranium during encapsulated product evolution

在坎布里亚州的Sellafield遗址，相当数量的废金属铀燃料被储存在遗留的池塘设施中，旁边是装有沸石的料斗和含有部分燃料棒的‘钻头箱’。回收和重新包装这些材料是一项紧迫的工作，在这样做的过程中，在池塘污泥(主要是氢氧化镁，含有较少的铝和铀)下缓慢腐蚀的材料将暴露在机械干扰和腐蚀环境的快速变化中；特别是考虑将这些材料移至3立方米的钢质储存容器中。需要额外的工作来了解当铀被包裹在污泥中时的腐蚀速度和机理，无论是镁泥还是密度更高的铀泥。本项目将研究铀金属被包裹在不同类型的污泥(氢氧化镁和铀泥)中时发生腐蚀的基本机制，并研究金属腐蚀产生的污泥中氢气滞留的机制和程度。PHD的另一个目标是建立一系列长期的腐蚀实验，调查不同的污泥和水的化学成分，并模拟现有的湿条件和材料干燥条件，预计将回收到3M3储存箱。合作该项目将是最高质量的，利用铀和其他活性金属研究的广泛专业知识和成熟的分析资源。学术主管(Scott和Springell)拥有坚实和可靠的学术记录，发表了大量关于铀冶金和腐蚀的出版物，并与Sellafield和NNL在铀腐蚀方面进行了强有力的工作合作。该项目将使用尖端分析方法和方法。

At Sellafield site in Cumbria, significant quantities of spent metallic uranium fuel is stored in legacy pond facilities alongside skips containing zeolites and 'bit-bins' containing parts of fuel rods. There is an urgent activity to retrieve and repackage these materials and in doing so materials which have been slowly corroding under a layer of pond sludge (predominantly Magnesium hydroxide with lesser quantities of Aluminium and Uranium) will be exposed to mechanical disturbance and a rapid change in corrosion environment; especially considering a removal of the material for notional 'dry' storage in 3 cubic metre steel storage containers.Additional work is required to understand the rates and mechanisms of uranium corrosion when it is encapsulated in sludge, both magnesium sludge or much denser uranic sludge. ObjectivesThe project will investigate the fundamental mechanisms by which uranium metal will corrode when encapsulated in sludges of different types (Mg-hydroxide and uranic sludges) also examining the mechanisms and extent for hydrogen gas hold-up in the sludge, produced by metallic corrosion. A further objective of the PhD will be the establishment of a series of long-term corrosion experiments that investigate different sludge and water chemistries and simulate both existing wet conditions and then material drying conditions expected for retrieval to 3M3 storage boxes.CollaborationThe project will be of the utmost quality, drawing upon extensive expertise and well-established analytical resources for research on uranium and other reactive metals. The academic supervisors (Scott and Springell) have strong and established academic track records with numerous publications on uranium metallurgy and corrosion, as well as strong working collaboration on uranium corrosion with both Sellafield and the NNL. The project will use cutting edge analytical methods and approaches