Assessment of the behaviour of metallic uranium during encapsulated product evolution

在坎布里亚郡的塞拉菲尔德，大量的废金属铀燃料储存在遗留的池塘设施中，旁边是装有沸石的箕斗和装有部分燃料棒的“比特箱”。有一个紧急活动，以收回和重新包装这些材料，并在这样做的材料已慢慢腐蚀下的一层池塘淤泥（主要是氢氧化镁，含少量铝和铀）将暴露于机械干扰和腐蚀环境的快速变化;特别是考虑到在3立方米的钢储存容器中进行名义上的“干燥”储存的材料的移除。需要进行额外的工作来了解铀腐蚀时，它被包裹在污泥，无论是镁泥或更密集的铀泥。目的本项目将研究铀金属在不同类型的污泥（氢氧化镁和铀污泥）中被封装时腐蚀的基本机制，还将研究金属腐蚀产生的污泥中氢气滞留的机制和程度。博士学位的另一个目标是建立一系列长期腐蚀实验，研究不同的污泥和水的化学性质，模拟现有的潮湿条件，然后材料干燥条件，预计回收到3 M3的存储箱。合作该项目将是最高质量的，利用广泛的专业知识和完善的分析资源，对铀和其他活性金属的研究。学术主管（Scott和Springell）拥有强大的学术记录，发表了大量关于铀冶金和腐蚀的论文，并与塞拉菲尔德和NNL在铀腐蚀方面进行了强有力的合作。该项目将使用最先进的分析方法和途径

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