Unique Chemistry from Radioactive Decay in the Solid-State

澳大利亚是国际核燃料循环的重要成员。它拥有世界三分之一的铀储量，是固定放射性废物技术开发的主要参与者。我们将使用计算机模拟来回答一个非常重要的问题，这个问题很难通过实验来研究：固体中的放射性衰变是如何随着时间的推移改变材料的化学成分的？我们的研究不仅将改善核废料的储存，还将揭示原位化学变化如何创造出传统方法无法制造的新型固体。这些固体可以表现出不同寻常和有用的行为；该项目提供了对这一尚未探索的技术利基的首次调查。

Australia is an important member of the international nuclear fuel cycle. It holds one-third of the world's uranium reserves and is a major player in the development of technology for immobilizing radioactive waste. We will use computer simulation to answer a very important question which is extremely difficult to study experimentally: How does radioactive decay inside a solid change the chemistry of the material over time? Not only will our study improve nuclear waste storage, it will also reveal how in-situ chemical change creates new kinds of solids which cannot be made by conventional means. These solids can exhibit unusual and useful behaviour; this project provides the first investigation of this unexplored technological niche.