Radionuclide fate in on-site disposal of activation product contaminated wastes

Decommissioning wastes from nuclear reactors will be significant in volume, and will include lightly contaminated radioactive contaminants including isotopes from neutron activation of the infrastructure around the reactor core (e.g. 60Co, Ni-isotopes and 152Eu). Management of these materials is challenging and on site disposal of these lightly contaminated materials is being actively considered. In this project the student will focus on the environmental behaviour of key neutron activation contaminants including Ni-isotopes, 60Co and 152Eu, which are significant at former nuclear reactor sites. Using non-active isotopes, and select experiments with radionuclides, we will explore contaminant speciation in representative cementitious materials with and without iron oxides (from rebar) and under evolving conditions exploring ageing effects and saline intrusion associated with sea level rise. Finally we will explore the impacts of key biogeochemical processes on contaminant speciation and fate to build a picture of contaminant behaviour in on-site disposal scenarios.