Webinars

Upcoming Webinars

Details of our upcoming webinars and how to attend them are shown below.

Geoscience webinar (Hybrid) – 16th May 2025

Prof Kevin Taylor will host a hybrid Geoscience webinar at the University of Manchester with talks from David Schofield of Nuclear Waste Services and Jingyue Hao of UoM.

There will be the opportunity for in person attendees to remain for refreshments following the webinar.

To register for the event please visit Eventbrite.

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Previous Webinars

Details and recordings of our previous webinars are shown below.

Radiochemistry webinar – 2nd May 2025

Prof Andy Cundy (Uni of Southampton), Will Bower (NWS) & guest speakers took a look at ongoing Radiochemistry research relevant to the NWS RSO. The talks have received very positive feedback and we are happy to be able to present them for you below.

Speakers:

Dr Liam Abrahamsen-Mills (UK National Nuclear Laboratory) – “Revisiting the Fundamentals: Understanding Radionuclide Behaviour”

Dr Liam Abrahamsen-Mills is an environmental radiochemist at the UK National Nuclear Laboratory, specialising in the study and modelling of radionuclide behaviour. He leads UKNNL’s ‘Environmental Radiochemistry’ R&D programme, which delivers experimental and modelling research to support the nuclear industry, including in the field of geological disposal. Liam also provides training in thermodynamic modelling and chemical speciation, and collaborates closely with UK universities through the industrial co-supervision of PhD research.

Jun-Yeop Lee (Pusan National University/University of Manchester) – “Radiochemistry Research in the South Korean Programme”

Jun-Yeop Lee is a Professor (Associate) at Pusan National University and is a Visitor at University of Manchester.

Raphael Margreiter (University of Manchester) – “The Fate of Uranium in Phosphate Cement Leachates”

After a graduate degree in chemistry at the University of Cologne (Germany), Raphael is now a 3rd year PhD student working at the Research Centre for Radwaste Disposal at the University of Manchester, exploring novel phosphate cement as potential backfill material for lower activity Uranium materials.

Shaun Hemming (University of Southampton) – “Applying Electrokinetic Remediation to Difficult-to-Measure Radionuclides at Nuclear Sites”

Shaun is a postgraduate researcher at the University of Southampton, investigating the use of electrokinetic remediation for decontaminating materials at nuclear sites containing problematic radioactive contaminants. His work primarily targets difficult-to-measure radionuclides in materials such as groundwaters, sediments and concretes. Prior to this, he completed a MSci degree in geology (2016-2020) at the University of Southampton.

There were also some questions answered during the Radiochemistry Webinar via the Teams chat. Please see below:

Q. Thermodynamic data for radioelements is notoriously challenging to acquire/collate and typically global consortia come together to co-develop large databases - ThermoChimie being a key example. Where do you feel are the key priority areas for UKNNL, in terms of addressing thermodynamic data gaps to meet UK nuclear industry challenges, in the future?

A. UKNNL has a range of instruments in facilities that we can use to study particularly hazardous elements like the actinides. Being situated on the Sellafield site also means we can import high activity, ‘real’ samples for study. I agree that forming collaborations and consortia is highly valuable, and many of our facilities can be accessed by external users through a range of programs like NNUF, NDA-ARC, Henry Royce, etc. We also work really closely with universities to combine the strengths of different institutes. We’re currently focussing on studying Am at high pH and hope to compare results to the commonly used Cm analogue. (LAM)

Q. What are your thoughts on the long-term stability of the <5nm colloidal material - does it have a propensity to, for example, flocculate into larger clusters for potential filtration elsewhere in the system?

A. According to thermiydnamic stability point of view, it will be feasible to assume that colloidal nanoparticles will aggregate and forms flocculated (or crystallized) ones eventually. I think that it will be usually correct in very long-term timescale. However, there is still large unknown area in the short or intermediate time scale condition, which will be the (early) post-closure period of GDF. As you very well know, due to the decay heat, temperature of near-field of GDF can easily go up to 90 oC, or in some cases, up to 200 oC. In this harsh environment, it is not easy to precisely predict what will be going on under the GDF condition. (JYL)

A. Your U removal rates are very promising - in which system was the removal rate slightly lower and do you have a hypothesis for this?

A. The lowest removal rate was in the fresh system of cement with PFA filler in deionized water. I am currently repeating the experiments to verify the results. Since this was the first experiment I ran in this project part, my methodology (particularly with regards to filtration) wasn’t particularly refined yet, so I assume I had a bit of solid in my sample. So I expect the actual removal rate to be higher than what I’ve shown here. (RM)

Early Career Researcher Network – Careers Webinar – 16th April 2025

The ECR Network led by Luke Townsend of Nuclear Waste Services held a careers focused webinar on 16th April

Following the in-person ECR meeting in January at the NWS RSO Annual Conference, the ECR Network Committee organised a webinar aimed at supporting ECRs in better promoting themselves and their transferrable skills when applying for jobs (academic / industry) and writing fellowship / grant applications.

A wealth of knowledge and guidance was contributed to and provided for the webinar from the following people:

Dr Louise Natrajan, EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow, School of Chemistry, University of Manchester
Dr Kath Rothwell, Defra Research and Development Fellow, Lecturer in Earth and Environmental Chemistry, University of Stirling
Purdey Spooner, Senior Talent Acquisition Manager, Nuclear Waste Services

Please find links to the slides presented at the webinar below as well as a two part stream of the webinar itself:

ECR Network Careers Webinar

CAF Fellowship Summary by Dr Louise Natrajan

Fellowship Questions from Dr Louise Natrajan

How To Sell Your Skills As An Academic by Dr Kath Rothwell

Your Move from Academia into Industry by Purdey Spooner

Early Career Researcher Network

17th October 2024

Hosted by the newly established, at the time, Nuclear Waste Services RSO Early Career Researcher Network.

The event aimed to highlight how NWS integrate academic research into their programmes in support of the safety case for geological disposal of radioactive waste. With relevance to early career researchers and established academics alike, the session showcased the benefits of working with NWS to produce impactful research whilst providing an opportunity to meet and interact with colleagues across NWS and academia.

Speakers:

Matthew Kirby joined NWS as a Research Manager in 2020. His role focusses on understanding the performance of engineered buffer, backfill and seal materials for a UK Geological Disposal Facility. He has a background in geochemistry.

Steph Kape joined NWS in November 23 as the Site Descriptive Model Lead for Copeland. Prior to this she had worked in the oil and gas industry for 27 years, after a PhD in Sedimentology, Structure and Magnetostratigraphy.

Luke Townsend is an NWS Research Manager in Spent Fuel and RSO ECR Network Committee member. Prior to joining NWS in August 2023, Luke worked in academic research in roles investigating a variety of nuclear industry related challenges in the areas of environmental and materials chemistry.

Colin Boxall is a Professor at Lancaster University who holds The LRF Chair in Nuclear Decommissioning & Engineering and is Head of the new LRF Centre for the Safety of Nuclear Energy. He has research interests in the behaviour of the actinides throughout the nuclear industrial fuel cycle and has written more than 160 publications including more than 60 reports for the nuclear industry, including the National Nuclear Laboratory, Sellafield and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

Deploying Digital Frameworks: Manufacturing & Construction Processes

10th October 2024

Hosted by Dr Steve Jones, Professor of Joining technologies: Welding, Brazing and Bonding at the University of Sheffield.

Speakers:

Dr Calum McHugh: Investigating the use of Feature Guided Waves for In-Process Inspection of Welded High-Integrity Disposal Containers

Dr McHugh completed his integrated Masters in Aero-Mechanical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in 2022, including work on simulating highly strained elastomers using Finite Element Analysis and creating a glider simulator for use in the undergraduate syllabus. The PhD work involves using finite element analysis to determine the suitability of using feature guided waves to inspect the welds of containers for the GDF during their manufacture. Feature guided waves are of interest due to their ability to allow for the screening of a long area of interest from a single position, which would reduce the need for slower inspection methods that require moving to obtain similar coverage.

Dr Kristof Bartha: Potential Role of Digital Twins in Seeking Consensus for Geological Disposal Facility Siting

The potential of digital twins for a geological disposal facility extends beyond engineering benefits. Through systematic literature reviews and qualitative data analysis of the expectations of key stakeholders, potential digital twin capabilities, applications, and influences were identified. Based on industry examples and the principles of energy justice, digital twins can be developed to support designers and regulators, as well as facilitate community engagement, as a result building trust and credibility for a geological disposal facility.

Jonathan Eyre: Manufacturing Data Driven Decisions using Digital Frameworks

Jonathan is a Senior Technical Fellow at the AMRC for Digital Twins and HVMC’s Spokesperson for Cyber-Physical Infrastructure. He leads a range of client work and grant funded programmes focusing on digital twins and their key enabling components such as information management, cyber-physical systems bridged with data connectivity and wider digital transformation programmes. He is responsible for research across a range of industrial areas, primarily within manufacturing, to solve specific challenges to enable business value from the adoption of digital technologies.

NWS Research Seminar – DECOVALEX & Coupled Process Modelling

19th September 2024

The understanding and modelling of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) processes in geological systems.

Prediction of these coupled effects is an essential part of the performance and safety assessment of the GDF, as well as a broad range of sub-surface engineering activities.

Particular focus given to the DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against EXperiments) programme, a long running international collaboration, initiated in 1992. This work has yielded in-depth knowledge of coupled THM and THMC processes associated with nuclear waste repositories and wider geo-engineering applications, as well as the suitability of numerical simulation models for quantitative analysis.

Hosted by Prof Kevin Taylor, Professor of Geoscience at the University of Manchester with speakers Alex Bond (Quintessa Limited), Gonçalo Cunha (University of Edinburgh) and Gary Couples (Heriot-Watt University) .

Research in progress webinar: Engineered Barrier Systems

16th November 2023

This session was focussed on the ongoing research in relation to Engineered Barrier Systems. The engineered barriers play an integral role in the GDF by protecting the waste package and the host rock, and by providing a containment function. In this webinar, the impact of temperature from high heat generating wastes on cementitious materials and bentonite was discussed. Guest speakers included Russell Alexander who discussed the use of natural analogues within the GDF safety case.

Research in progress webinar: Advanced Manufacturing

10th October 2023

This event was focussed around the ongoing research in relation to Advanced Manufacturing. Guest speakers included TWI’s Steve Dodds and colleagues who presented snippets from their work on nuclear canister design, manufacturing technologies and the 100,000 year breach assessment modelling they have undertaken. Arij Asad (RSO PhD) and Matthew Riding (FIND-CDT) also present an update on their research.

Research in progress webinar: Gas migration and reactivity in a GDF

24th November 2022

This event was focussed around on-going research relating to gas migration and reactivity in a GDF. We were joined by speakers that are working on gas evolution within a full-scale heater test, experimental understanding of gas migration through low permeability clay-based materials, and the gas migration properties of alternative backfill materials.

Research in progress webinar: Online games and complex decisions

29th September 2022

This event presented some of the latest developments in the use of games to engage a community relevant to a Geological Disposal Facility. Our speaker was Professor Nils Bunnefeld from the University of Stirling. Professor Bunnefeld works at the interface between biodiversity and society combining natural and social sciences to improve our understanding of decision making from local to global levels in relation to natural resource use, climate change, people’s livelihoods and sustainable development.

Research in progress webinar: Mathematical Models of Coupled Processes

23rd June 2022

This webinar included presentations on some of the latest developments in the Mathematical Modelling of Coupled Processes relevant to a Geological Disposal Facility. The keynote speaker was Victor Vilarrasa of the Spanish National Research Council in Barcelona. Victor has over fifteen years of experience in modelling subsurface flow processes, and has previously been a researcher at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), and the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). Presentations were also given by researchers from the University of Manchester, and Imperial College London.

Research in progress webinar: Automation and Autonomous Research

25th May 2022

This webinar included presentations on some of the latest developments in the Automation and Autonomous Research relevant to a Geological Disposal Facility. The keynote speakers were Mike Wilson Chief Automation Officer, High Value Manufacturing Catapult and James Davies from RACE.