PhD Studentship: Advanced Materials Processing for Disposal Mixed Oxide Nuclear Wasteforms

Application deadline: 31/03/2026

This 4-year PhD studentship is fully funded by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and open to Home (UK) students. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£20,780 for 2025/26; subject to annual uplift), and tuition fees will be paid.

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has established the Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub (PuMaS) at the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield.

PuMaS will support around 20 PhD students, alongside a team of research staff, to create a vibrant, cohort based research environment. Students will benefit from:

• dedicated cohort training and skills development
• networking and collaboration opportunities
• access to cutting edge facilities within the Henry Royce Institute, the UK’s centre for advanced materials research

Your PhD will also include industrial supervision from experts at the NDA, Sellafield Ltd., or Nuclear Waste Services (NWS). This ensures your research addresses real industrial challenges and provides direct pathways for your work to inform UK nuclear decommissioning strategy.
You will also have opportunities to attend national and international conferences, network across the nuclear materials community, and collaborate with leading research partners — including facilities such as the UK National Nuclear Laboratory (UKNNL), Diamond Light Source (DLS), and the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF).

Disposal Mixed Uranium and Plutonium Oxide (DMOX) ceramics are a promising candidate wasteform for the disposition of the UK’s plutonium stockpile. Historically, two industrial scale powder processing routes have been used for mixed oxide (MOx) fuel manufacture, both approaches rely heavily on milling — typically ball milling — to reduce particle size, mix powders, and achieve the necessary powder flow behaviour, pellet microstructure, and homogeneity.

However, novel milling technologies, such as Resonant Acoustic Mixing (RAM), offer the potential for:

• faster and more homogeneous blending
• improved powder flow behaviour
• reduced processing times
• enhanced quality and reproducibility

In addition, the choice of powder feedstock, including the source and characteristics of UO₂, can have a profound impact on final pellet quality.

This PhD will build fundamental understanding of powder processing and milling routes for DMOX manufacturing, with four key objectives:

• Evaluate the feasibility and develop methodologies for acoustic milling of surrogate and active powders.
• Develop and compare pellet fabrication techniques using conventional and novel milling methods.
• Assess how powder feedstock characteristics influence milling performance and pellet quality.
• Perform comprehensive rheology and materials characterisation to assess the viability of acoustic milling for mixed oxide applications.

As part of this project, you will be based at the University of Manchester in the Nuclear Fuels group with access to state-of-the-art nuclear laboratories within the Henry Royce Institute and National Nuclear User Facilities (NNUF) working with Lucideon Ltd. You will utilise (where necessary), radioactive materials handling facilities, materials manufacturing techniques and characterisation techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) to study the materials at the microscale and nanoscale) as well as access to National and International facilities, for example for synchrotron based experiments

Applicants should have, or expect to achieve, at least a 2.1 honours degree or a master’s (or international equivalent) in a relevant science or engineering related discipline.

To apply, please contact the main supervisor, Dr Robert Harrison - r.w.harrison@manchester.ac.uk. Please include details of your current level of study, academic background and any relevant experience and include a paragraph about your motivation to study this PhD project.

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