Next-Generation Low-Carbon Cement Wasteforms for Safe Disposal of Radioactive Waste

This PhD examines fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions in LC3 encapsulants produced from a suite of high and low-grade precursor powders, benchmarked against common PC-based encapsulants. It adopts a new in-situ characterisation approach (including surface-specific techniques, spectroscopic and microstructural characterisation) to investigate mechanisms and kinetics of fluid-particle and particle-particle interactions, and effects on performance.

We will study and reveal the fundamental processes controlling dispersion, fluidisation and reaction of these cements, and design, produce and test novel encapsulant formulations with enhanced performance.

This will allow us to develop next-generation low-carbon cement wasteforms for safe disposal of radioactive waste that will help to protect the wellbeing of society and the environment, and enable clean nuclear energy production.