Diamond: Academic Innovation in Support of UK Radioactive Waste Management
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DIAMOND: Academic Innovation in Support of UK Radioactive Waste Management. Neil C. Hyatt1, Simon R. Biggs,1 Francis R. Livens3 and James C. Young.2 1
Department of Engineering Materials, The University of Sheffield, Mappin Street, Sheffield, S1 3JD, UK. 2 School of Process, Environmental and Materials Engineering, The University of Leeds, LS2 9J2. UK. 3 Department of Chemistry, The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL. UK. ABSTRACT The background and planned research activities are outlined for a new UK research consortium focused on Decommissioning, Immobilisation And Management Of Nuclear-wastes for Disposal (DIAMOND). This consortium is the first integrated trans-disciplinary and multiinstitution academic research network in the UK, focused on nuclear waste management. INTRODUCTION Several reports have defined a new policy framework for management UK radioactive waste legacy, resulting from the 60 years civil nuclear fission activities [1-5]. The overall cost of waste treatment, packaging and storage, together with decommissioning and remediation activities, for which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) are currently responsible, is estimated at £70 Bn [6, 7]. Geological disposal of radioactive wastes, in a mined repository, is now accepted by Government as the “best available approach” for long term management of the UK nuclear waste legacy, supported by a “robust programme of interim storage”, as recommended by the Committee for Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) [3-5]. It is recognised that academic research and development will play a pivotal role in reducing the cost and timescale of the UK clean up and decommissioning programme [8]. Furthermore, public confidence in nuclear waste management and disposal depends crucially on rigorous peer review of academic understanding, data and models that underpin long term predictions of wasteform behaviour and evolution of the disposal environment [3, 9]. The research challenge is compounded, however, by a critical nuclear skills shortage: it is estimated that the UK nuclear defence, power, and clean up industries require >15,000 new degree level professionals in the next 15 years - excluding potential demand from new nuclear build, repository construction and renewal of the nuclear deterrent [10]. Recognising that “integration of [academic expertise in] biological, environmental, and physical sciences together with engineering” was essential to “stimulate novel ideas/approaches in nuclear waste management”, the UK Engineering and Physical Research Council launched a “Call for Research Proposals in the area of Nuclear Waste Management and Decommissioning” in September 2007 [11]. The successful consortium, DIAMOND, was a was awarded £4.3 M (through competitive peer review), to deliver a four year national research and training programme in radioactive waste management across the Universities of Leeds, Loughborough, Manchester and Sheffield, and University and Imperial Colleges, London. This consortium is the first integrate
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