PhD Studentship: HALEU Criticality Modelling for Deconversion Process Design and Safety

Application deadline: All year round
Research theme: Nuclear Engineering
How to apply: https://uom.link/pgr-apply-2425

This 3.5-year PhD project is fully funded; students who are eligible to pay tuition fees at the Home rate are eligible to apply. The successful candidate will receive an annual tax-free stipend set at the UKRI rate (£21,805 for 2026/27) and tuition fees will be paid. We expect the stipend to increase each year. The start date is October 2026.

We recommend that you apply early as the advert may be removed before the deadline.

This project focuses on improving the understanding and safety assessment of High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) processing, with particular emphasis on the deconversion stage where uranium hexafluoride gas is transformed into solid uranium compounds for use in advanced nuclear fuels. Next-generation reactor technologies, including advanced modular reactors, often rely on the use of HALEU fuels.

A central challenge in handling HALEU is ensuring criticality safety, which involves understanding and controlling neutron behaviour in uranium-containing systems to prevent unintended criticality. The project will use advanced computational methods, including Monte Carlo neutron transport codes, to model criticality behaviour in deconversion process conditions. It will investigate how temperature, material distribution, powder accumulation, phase changes, and chemical processing conditions impact neutron multiplication during deconversion operations.

The successful candidate will develop detailed criticality models representing industrial equipment and operating environments. These models will be used to improve understanding of safety margins and inform the design and operation of future UK fuel cycle facilities. The work will directly support safer and more efficient nuclear technologies and contribute to improved approaches for assessing criticality safety in complex industrial systems.

The project offers opportunities to collaborate closely with the United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory and engage with specialists working on advanced fuel cycle technologies. Visits to laboratory and industrial facilities are expected to form part of the research experience.

Importantly, the skills developed during this project will be highly transferable to industry, including uranium deconversion, nuclear fuel manufacturing, and criticality safety more broadly. The computational modelling and Monte Carlo simulation skills gained are widely sought after across the nuclear sector and beyond, providing strong career pathways in both industry and research.

We welcome applicants from a wide range of backgrounds, including nuclear engineering, physics, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, materials science, mathematics, and related disciplines. Experience in computational modelling is beneficial but not essential, as training will be provided throughout the project.

This is an opportunity to contribute to nationally important research at the forefront of nuclear innovation while developing advanced technical skills in reactor physics, criticality safety, and computational modelling.

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 Olga Negri - olga.negri@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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