Decommissioning, Immobilisation and Storage soluTIons for NuClear wasTe InVEntories (DISTINCTIVE)

英国政府通过其最新的能源白色文件，仍然致力于将核能作为未来30 - 50年甚至更长时间内能源生产能力的重要组成部分。最近公布的《核工业战略》（2013年）明确描述了政府在这一时间轴内对“新建”电站和延长现有机组寿命的愿望。公众接受这一新的建设方案的一个核心组成部分仍然是需要证明我们有能力安全管理和处置遗留核作业产生的高、中放射性废物。这显然与正在进行的公众对核能态度的研究有关，这些研究一再表明，接受这项技术与安全清理和处置任何废物的可行途径直接相关。在“核工业战略”中，与“废物管理和退役”的需要有关的明确里程碑这些技术大多依赖于未来10 - 20年的进一步研究和技术发展。事实上，该战略的中心目标是“在政府、工业界和学术界采取联合的核研发方法，以造福英国经济并确保供应安全”，以及“将英国工业确立为废物管理和退役的全球领导者...... ".很明显，因此，有一个实质性的，当前的和真实的需要进一步研究的广泛领域的核废料支持这一战略。这个财团解决了广泛的领域的核废料和退役汇集了关键的工业合作伙伴和领先的学术研究人员从11个英国领先的研究密集型大学。拟议的研究是多学科的，涵盖了与这个重要行业相关的基础和应用主题。该联盟包括30个独立的研究项目，分为四个主题，即：乏燃料、氧化钚和燃料残留物、遗留池塘和筒仓废物以及结构完整性。该联盟的所有成员都是该领域的主要研究人员。他们来自不同的背景和经验，但都有创新和解决核领域相关问题的记录。该联合体以EPSRC以前在同一领域资助的一个方案为基础，并巩固了该方案的工作，该方案被称为“钻石”（供处置的核废料的退役、固定和管理，EP/F055412/1）。重要的是，这一新提议吸引了来自更多大学的研究人员，并增加了该小组的多学科性质。所有参与的研究小组都有通过基础和应用研究以及咨询活动支持核工业的良好记录。与我们早期的财团一样，这里的一个关键目标是进一步扩展和发展与核废物管理行业需求相关的英国相关学术技能基础。重要的是，我们将通过支持尖端研究来做到这一点，这些研究有可能为更好地（更安全和更便宜地）管理遗留和未来的核废物提供新的和创新的途径。

The UK Government, through its most recent Energy White Paper, remains committed to Nuclear Power as an important part of the energy generation capacity over the next 30 - 50 years, and possibly beyond. The recently published 'Nuclear Industrial Strategy' (2013) describes clearly the Governments aspirations for both 'New Build' power stations and the life extension of the existing fleet within this timeline. A central component of public acceptance for this new build programme remains the need to demonstrate our ability to safely manage and dispose of high- and intermediate-level wastes from the legacy nuclear operations. This clearly links to on-going studies of public attitudes to nuclear power which repeatedly show that acceptance of this technology is directly linked to having viable routes for the safe clean-up and disposal of any wastes arising.Within the 'Nuclear Industrial Strategy' clear milestones associated with the needs of "waste management & decommissioning" are provided and most of these rely upon further research and technical developments being delivered over the next 10 - 20 years. Indeed, central objectives for the strategy are "To have a joined up approach to nuclear R&D across government, industry and academia which serves to benefit the UK economy and ensures the security of supply" and "To establish the UK industry as a global leader in waste management and decommissioning ...". It is clear, therefore, that there is a substantial, current and real need for further research in the broad area of nuclear wastes supporting this strategy.This consortium addresses the broad area of nuclear waste and decommissioning bringing together key industry partners and leading academic researchers from 11 of the UKs leading research intensive universities. The research proposed is multi-disciplinary in its scope and covers both fundamental and applied topics associated with this important industry. The consortium includes 30 separate research projects clustered into 4 major themes, viz.: Spent Fuels, Plutonium Oxide & fuel residues, Legacy ponds & silo wastes, and Structural Integrity. All members of the consortium are leading researchers in this field. They come from a diverse array of backgrounds and experience, but all with a track-record of innovation and problem solving of relevance in the nuclear field. This consortium builds upon and consolidates the work of a previous EPSRC funded programme in the same field, known as Diamond (Decommissioning, immobilisation and management of nuclear wastes for disposal, EP/F055412/1). Importantly, this new proposal draws in researchers from a larger group of universities and increases the multi-disciplinary nature of the group. All participating research groups have a strong track-record of supporting the nuclear industry through basic and applied research as well as consultancy activities. As with our earlier consortium, a key aim here is to further extend and develop a relevant academic skill base in the UK associated with the needs of the nuclear waste management industry. importantly, we will do this by supporting cutting-edge research that has the potential to provide new and innovative pathways to better (that is safer and cheaper) management of both legacy and future nuclear wastes.