Nuclear Energy Futures CDT Research Projects
Applications are invited from candidates who have an interest in the PhD projects listed below.
Please note that part-time study is not available this year. Please refer to our programme page under the heading 'flexible learning' for further information.
The list of projects available is not exhaustive, although the projects listed below have preference: they have funding agreed and are available immediately.
Applicants who cannot find a suitable project listed should discuss their preference with the CDT admissions panel; although we will do our best, there is no guarantee we can find an appropriate supervisor or funding. Similarly, candidates are welcome to apply and be put on a mailing list informing them when new projects become available.
Please note also that project supervisors may require more specific qualifications and backgrounds to suit the skills and experience needed by the PhD research project. These should be listed on the project descriptions - if not please enquire with the supervisor directly.
Due to the sensitive nature of the research being carried out, some projects may require you to be a UK national. These should also be listed on the project descriptions - if not please enquire with the supervisor directly.
Specific research topics will be agreed with candidates when an offer is made.
Project details
A framework for modelling groundwater flow in heterolithic sedimentary sequences
Title: A framework for modelling groundwater flow in deep heterolithic sedimentary sequences
Description: The management of risk associated with the deep disposal of radioactive material in an underground Geological Deposal Facility (GDF) is based on the multiple barrier concept. One of these barriers is the geosphere or the geological environment of the host and surrounding rock formations. Therefore, understanding the movement of groundwater in these formations and its effect on radionuclide transport is vital to the development of operational and post-closure safety cases. The Mercia Mudstone Group (MMG) is currently being considered as a potential host rock for a GDF. This formation, however, has not been investigated to the same extent as other potential host rocks. There is a need, therefore, to develop hydrogeological models of the MMG and adjacent rocks in the North East Irish Sea Basin (NEISB). This
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Prof Adrian Butler (IC), Dr James Lawrence (IC) and Prof Matt Jackson (IC)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Nuclear Waste Services
Essential candidate background/skills: A first class or good 2:1 honours degree in a geoscience or engineering or an equivalent discipline. The candidate should have a strong maths capability and a desire to understand rock properties and their controls on groundwater flow.
Desirable candidate background/skills: A knowledge of hydrogeology and sedimentology, combined with understanding of specific laboratory testing. Some knowledge in coding (esp. python or matlab) would also be advantageous.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
A framework for sensitivity/uncertainty analysis for fast-spectrum MSRs
Title: A framework for sensitivity/uncertainty analysis for fast-spectrum MSRs
Description: The analysis of Molten Salt Reactors (MSRs) during steady or transient states requires addressing unique multi-physics challenges, which are not found in any other reactor concept with solid fuel. The challenges relate to the coupling between thermal-hydraulic/fluid dynamics, neutronics, inventory control and species distribution. The modelling complexity makes uncertainty quantification challenging. The aim of this work is to develop an uncertainty quantification method which is suitable for use in the frame of molten salt reactor design. A specific focus will be put on evaluating the coupled term of uncertainties stemming from the movement of delayed neutrons precursors inside the reactor.
Institution: Bangor University
Supervisor(s): Dr Marat Margulis (Ba) and Prof Eugene Shwageraus (Cambs)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and NAAREA
Essential candidate background/skills: : A high 2:1 or first in mechanical engineering, physics or mathematics. Other disciplines will be considered.
Desirable candidate background/skills: A knowledge of fluid dynamics and heat transfer. A hands-on experience with CFD codes such as OpenFoam, Fluent, codeSaturn etc.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Ageing of plutonium oxide powders: evolution of physical properties
Title: Ageing of plutonium oxide powders: evolution of physical properties
Description: Nuclear Forensics is the science of determining the identity, history and origin of nuclear or other radioactive materials, and as such is a critical component of security and safeguards controls. Through the characterisation, analysis and interpretation of their properties, nuclear materials can be linked to the processes by which they were produced and through which they have assumed their current form. This PhD project presents an exciting opportunity to investigate how these nuclear forensic signatures of plutonium dioxide evolve as a result of radioactive decay and ageing processes, through the use of multiscale modelling and simulation techniques.
Institution: Bangor University
Supervisor(s): Dr Simon Middleburgh (Bangor), Dr Michael Rushton (Bangor) and Dr Matthew Gilbert (AWE)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and AWE
Behaviour of welded joints in high temperature reactors
Title: Behaviour of welded joints in high temperature reactors
Description: Welded joints are one of most safety critical locations in a reactor structure. They are often prone to damage after decades of operation and can be considered one of the life-limiting factors in the UK’s advanced gas cooled reactors. This is because of the complexities involved in a weld including the residuals stress, varying microstructure and their complicated geometry. The aim of this project is to identify the criticality of the stress concentration created at the interface of a welded joint through advanced experimental techniques such as Digital Image Correlation and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. The key results are expected to be included in the integrity assessment procedures the engineers use day to day to evaluate the fitness for service of reactor components.
Institution: University of Bristol
Supervisor(s): Prof Chris Truman (UoB), Prof Mahmoud Mostafavi (UoB), Dr Marc Chevalier (EdF Nuclear Generation)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and EdF Energy
Essential candidate background/skills: Candidates should have an good undergraduate degree in engineering, physics, mathematics or an equivalent discipline.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Critical experiments to unravel metal corrosion
Title: Critical experiments to unravel metal corrosion
Description: Corrosion damage phenomena such as pitting or stress corrosion cracking are a major concern for the nuclear industry. From atmospheric stress corrosion cracking of dry store canisters to ageing degradation of water reactor components. Predicting these phenomena is challenging, from both engineering and scientific perspectives. However, there is an opportunity now to develop a new generation of physically-based models that can resolve the physical mechanisms and thus deliver reliable predictions over space and time scales of interest. These models build upon the success of phase field algorithms, which enable (for the first time) to simulate explicitly the nucleation of pits, the pit-to-crack transition and the subsequent crack growth. The coupling of phase field models for corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking with multi-physics finite element analysis has enabled predicting pitting and stress corrosion cracking over very large time scales. Its potential in bringing down maintenance and fitness-for-service assessment has been demonstrated in offshore engineering and the aim of this project is to extend this success to the nuclear energy sector.
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Emilio Martínez-Pañeda (ICL), Dr Mark R. Wenman (ICL), Dr Giuseppe Scatigno (EDF Energy)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and EdF Energy
Determination of thermal ageing mechanism(s) in LWR primary circuit
Title: Determination of thermal ageing mechanism(s) in LWR primary circuit
Description: This project will use advanced microscopy to understand the changes in microstructure of the steel reactor pressure vessel (RPV) at Sizewell B (SZB) under long-term thermal ageing in-service. SZB is a Light Water Reactor with aspirations to generate low carbon electricity beyond 2050. To demonstrate safe operation for Long Term Operation (LTO), degradation of primary circuit pressure boundary components must be understood and accounted for when modelling normal/fault scenarios. The project will aim to fulfill several key objectives, such as causes of embrittlement, effects of pre-stress on the ageing process and microstructure, and possible comparison with radiation effects.
Institution: University of Bristol
Supervisor(s): Dr Tomas Martin (UoB), Dr Mariia Zimina (UoB) and Luke Hanna (EdF Energy)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and EdF Energy
Essential candidate background/skills: Candidates should have an good 2.1 or first undergraduate degree in engineering, physics, mathematics or an equivalent discipline.
Desirable candidate background/skills: It would be beneficial for the student to have an understanding of microstructure of metals and/or electron microscopy, but training will be provided.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Please note that the successful candidate with join the CDT as an associated student, which means you will not be directly funded by the CDT but will follow the CDT programme. Please enquire with the supervisor or Project Manager for further details.
Evolution of nanostructure and properties in nuclear graphite with irradiation damage
Title: Evolution of nanostructure and properties in nuclear graphite with irradiation damage
Description: Nuclear-grade graphite is becoming increasingly important in nuclear fission reactors as moderator and structural materials. They are not only used in large quantities in the current UK AGRs, but also to be used in several types of GenIV reactors worldwide including HTGR, VHTR and MSR. In all these above applications, we need to understand better the nano-/microstructure and multiple length-scale thermal/mechanical properties of nuclear graphite due to irradiation damage. There are many different grades of graphite, for instance, the UK AGRs are using medium grained Gilsocarbon graphite but they are no longer reproducible and for GenIV designs, new graphite materials have to be designed and produced but many of them have finer grains. The question is how well do these fine grain graphite work and will we be able to directly apply our accumulated knowledge on historical grades? As the operation conditions get harsher can we simply linearly extrapolate the known envelope? To answer these questions and to support the long-term safe operation of our nuclear fission reactors as well as underpin the exploration of physics science in general, we need to foster next generation of experts in nuclear graphite.
Institution: University of Bristol
Supervisor(s): Dr Dong (Lilly) Liu (UoB), Prof Martin Kuball (UoB), Kevin Ammigan (US FermiLab) and Frederique Pellemoine (US FermiLab)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and US Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory
Essential candidate background/skills: First class or 2:1 honours in Materials Sciences, Physics, Mechanical Engineering or a related subject; ability to work within a team; passion for nuclear science.
Desirable candidate background/skills: Experience in materials characterisation; good communication skills; experience of contributing to a resarch article.Nationality restrictions: UK national only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Experiments to create a predictive model to unravel corrosion damage in steel
Title: Experiments to create a predictive model to unravel corrosion damage in steel
Description: The student will conduct standardised and novel experiments to gain new insight into corrosion processes in stainless steels. The work will involve mechanical and electrochemical testing, as well as the use of a wide variety of materials characterisation techniques (SEM, EBSD, XCT, etc.). There will be opportunities to use state-of-the-art synchrotron science facilities to explore new corrosion measurement techniques. The student will join an active team working in tackling corrosion problems from theoretical, experimental and computational perspectives. The position will ideally suit a student with hands-on attitude with knowledge of materials science and/or electrochemistry/corrosion processes.
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Mark Wenman (IC), Dr Emilio Martinez-Paneda (IC) and Dr Giuseppe Scatigno (EdF Energy)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and EdF Energy
Essential candidate skills/background: First Class Degree in Materials Science, Physics, Engineering, or a related subject. Excellent written and verbal communication.
Desirable candidate skills/background: Evidence of conducting hands-on experiments of mechanical and electrochemical nature and materials characterisation. Willingness to work as part of a team and to be open-minded and cooperative both internally and with external project partners.
Nationality restrictions: None
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Galling-resistant Co-free hardfacings for light water reactors
Title: Galling-resistant Co-free hardfacings for light water reactors
Description: Galling, or adhesive wear, is a phenomenon that occurs, for example, in the mating surfaces of valves. Galling-resistant materials such as Stellites using a Co-Cr matrix with a high fraction of carbide precipitates that provide hard, non-adhesive areal coverage. Unfortuantely, the wear debris activates in the reactor core, giving rise to an operator exposure challenge, moptivating the development of Co-free hardfacings. Understanding how these corrosion-resistant iron-based hardfacings behave is a characterisation challenge. Understanding the phase metallurgy is the first challenge, then understanding the galling behaviour and particularly the stress-induced transformations and corrosion scales.
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Prof David Dye (IC), Prof Daniele Dini (IC) and Dr David Stewart (R-R)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Rolls Royce Plc
Nationality restrictions: UK nationals only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Micro-Stress Contour Method
Title: Micro-stress Contour Method
Description: Manufacturing processes often introduce locked-in stresses, namely residual stresses, in the fabricated parts. These stresses can cause distortion and cracking, induce damage, influence function, and potentially reduce a product’s lifetime through premature failure. The effect of residual stress on the integrity of nuclear power plant structures is of serious concern. Amongst experimental residual stress measurement technique, the contour method has received increased popularity since it was invented around 2000. The main aim of the proposed project is to advance the contour method of residual stress measurement to micro-scale.
Institution: The Open University
Supervisor(s): Dr Foroogh Hosseinzadeh (OU), Dr Richard Moat (OU) and Dr Ho Kyeom Kim (OU)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and The Open University
Essential candidate background/skills: A good 2.1 or equivalent with a background in Solid Mechanics, Materials Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering or Physics. Experience of finite element modelling and programming in Matlab, Python or similar platform.
Desirable candidate background/skills: An enthusiasm for laboratory work.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Modelling and simulation framework for nuclear reactor physics and shielding
Title: Modelling and simulation framework for nuclear reactor physics and shielding
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Matthew Eaton (ICL)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Rolls-Royce Plc
Essential candidate background/skills: A first class or good 2:1 honours degree in mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science or materials science.
Desirable candidate background/skills: : Software development, numerical methods, modern Fortran, python, or C/C++, nuclear physics/engineering. However full training will be provided
Nationality restrictions: UK nationals only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Modelling and simulation of transient nuclear criticality excursions
Title: Modelling and simulation of transient nuclear criticality excursions
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Matthew Eaton (ICL)
Sponsor(s): Sellafield Ltd and Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)
Multi-dimensional Eigenstrain Reconstruction Method
Title: Multi-dimensional Eigenstrain Reconstruction Method
Description: The manufacturing processes used to make high performance parts for high integrity structures for nuclear power systems inherently introduce locked-in residual stresses at both the macro-scale and micro-scale. These stresses can cause distortion and cracking, induce damage, influence function, and potentially reduce a product’s lifetime through premature failure. Thus, there is a driver for modelling manufacturing and surface treatment processes to predict the surface state of material including the residual stress field. Prediction of residual stresses requires sophisticated and time-consuming computer modelling, extensive and expensive characterisation of material properties and the use of appropriate validation procedures. One approach to overcome the inadequacy of measurement techniques is to implement reconstruction methods. These methods are based on utilising limited measurement data to reconstruct the complete residual stress field that are compatible with both measurements and elasticity theory. The main aim of the proposed project is to advance the Eigenstrain Reconstruction Method to provide 2D maps of multiple components of the stress tensor.
Institution: The Open University
Supervisor(s): Dr Foroogh Hosseinzadeh (OU) and Dr Ho Kyeom Kim (OU)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and The Open University
Essential candidate background/skills: A good 2.1 or equivalent with a background in Solid Mechanics, Materials Engineering,
Mechanical Engineering or Physics. Experience of finite element modelling and programming in Matlab, Python or similar platform.
Desirable candidate background/skills: An enthusiasm for laboratory work.
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Nuclear reactor physics burn-up/depletion algorithms
Title: Nuclear reactor physics burn-up/depletion algorithms
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Matthew Eaton (ICL)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Rolls-Royce Plc
Essential candidate background/skills: A first class or good 2:1 honours degree in mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science or materials science.
Desirable candidate background/skills: : Software development, numerical methods, modern Fortran, python, or C/C++, nuclear physics/engineering. However full training will be provided
Nationality restrictions: UK nationals only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Radiation induced heating modelling within nuclear reactor physics simulations
Title: Radiation induced heating modelling within nuclear reactor physics simulations
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Matthew Eaton (ICL)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Rolls-Royce Plc
Essential candidate background/skills: A first class or good 2:1 honours degree in mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science or materials science.
Desirable candidate background/skills: : Software development, numerical methods, modern Fortran, python, or C/C++, nuclear physics/engineering. However full training will be provided
Nationality restrictions: UK nationals only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Shared and distributed memory parallel pre-conditioning and acceleration algorithms for neutron transport
Title: Shared and distributed memory parallel pre-conditioning and acceleration algorithms for neutron transport
Institution: Imperial College London
Supervisor(s): Dr Matthew Eaton (ICL)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and Rolls-Royce Plc
Essential candidate background/skills: A first class or good 2:1 honours degree in mathematics, engineering, physics, computer science or materials science.
Desirable candidate background/skills: : Software development, numerical methods, modern Fortran, python, or C/C++, nuclear physics/engineering. However full training will be provided
Nationality restrictions: UK nationals only.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Structure-aware aerial repair system
Title: Structure-aware aerial repair system
Description: The use of drones to monitor and repair nuclear facilities is an area of increasing interest in order to reduce the risks associated with working at height and in high-risk environments. This is also of importance in the area of Nuclear Fusion, where large concrete bio shields and similar structures (as well as smaller components such as in-situ sensors or services) will need to be inspected and repaired. To collect the data and conduct repair operations with drones, there is a need to endow the system with compliant extensions and tools. The Flight Lab at University of Bristol hosts custom systems developed in house that can provide the platform development, physical interaction tools and the material support. The subsystems developed at the University of Bristol will be used to monitor of the nuclear facilities and conduct repair actions.
Institution: University of Bristol
Supervisor(s): Dr Basaran Bahadir Kocer (UoB), Guy Burroughes (UKAEA/RACE) and Emil Jonasson (UKAEA/RACE)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and University of Bristol with support from United Kingdom Energy Authority/Remote Applications for Challenging Environments (RACE)
Essential candidate background/skills: A good 2.1 in a relevant scientific or engineering discipline; proficiency in C++ or Python; ability to work in a team and take on responsibility; ability to work interdisciplinary
Desirable candidate background/skills: MSc degree in Robotics, Aerospace, Mechanical, Mechatronics or a related discipline; familiar with ROS and robotics applications; familiar with design and 3D printing; previous experience of labs and robotics works
Nationality restrictions: None.
Suitable for part-time/flexible study: No.
Using artificial intelligence to predict and validate nuclear data
Title: Using artificial intelligence to predict and validate nuclear data
Description: Nuclear data, such as cross sections and reaction products, underpins all of nuclear science and technology. Even the most complex and concisely written nuclear data analysis tools can be unreliable and untrustworthy if they use old or un-benchmarked nuclear data. Common problems encountered in nuclear data are missing and conflicting data and large and untrustworthy uncertainties. The best way to tackle these problems is via targeted experiments. However, nuclear data experiments are complex, expensive and the lifecycle time to plan, perform and analyse the results is relatively long. Hence, the current approach involves the use of statistics and theory in conjunction with experiments. To date, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) in the field of nuclear data evaluation has not been fully explored. Hence, this project aims to explore whether or not it would be advantageous to use AI/ML in conjunction with other nuclear data evaluation methods to assist and enhance the evaluation process.
Institution: University of Cambridge
Supervisor(s): Prof Eugene Shwageraus (Cambs) and Dr Lee Morgan (AWE)
Sponsor(s): EPSRC and AWE