Applications are invited for the position of post-doctoral research associate in the area of nuclear fuel technology.
Accident Tolerant Fuels are a key technology for the future of nuclear power generation. By limiting (or removing) the possibility of a range of nuclear accidents affecting the fuel material the consequences of such accidents are inherently mitigated and the design and operation of plants may be simplified.
Significant effort has been made on the development and testing of uranium nitride as a promising ATF candidate material. It has high uranium density (offsetting increased costs for a more robust and resistant cladding), high thermal conductivity (reducing fuel centreline temperatures) and appears to behave well when irradiated at light water reactor temperatures. However, tests with steam demonstrated that it reacted at too low a temperature to remain viable. This is a key problem for the nuclear fuels community, and an international collaboration between researchers in the Henry Royce Institute at The University of Manchester and colleagues in the United States has been formed to address this challenge.
Work at Manchester has demonstrated that the addition of UB2 to UN significantly increases the performance of the material in steam although the exact mechanism by which this happens has not been confirmed. Work will include an understanding of light element contamination within UN and its effect on the water reaction, as well as the addition of UB2 to UN as a comparison and to develop a potential future fuel form.
The post will be based at the Nuclear Fuel Centre of Excellence (NFCE) within the Henry Royce Institute, and work as part of a collaboration with The University of Texas at San Antonio, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Boise State University.
You will be responsible for the experimental design, manufacture and testing of novel composite fuel materials, particularly UN and UB2 composites. This will involve working within inert atmosphere gloveboxes at NFCE for powder handling, material synthesis (via chemical reduction or arc melting), cold pressing and reductive and/or vacuum sintering. The material produced will be characterised using a range of analytical techniques, including electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, particle size analysis etc. Thermophysical analysis will also be required, in order to predict fuel performance and drive improvements in later stages of the project.
The applicant will have experience in materials science characterisation and be comfortable working with radioactive materials and a demonstrated track record in working within a research group, developing ideas and driving future experiments.
What you will get in return:
As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status. All appointments are made on merit.
Our University is positive about flexible working – you can find out more here
Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.
Please note that we are unable to respond to enquiries, accept CVs or applications from Recruitment Agencies.
Any recruitment enquiries from recruitment agencies should be directed to People.Recruitment@manchester.ac.uk.
Any CV’s submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.
Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:
Name: Joel Turner
Email: joel.turner@manchester.ac.uk
General enquiries:
Email: People.recruitment@manchester.ac.uk
Technical support:
https://jobseekersupport.jobtrain.co.uk/support/home
This vacancy will close for applications at midnight on the closing date.
Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.
