Research Associate in Nuclear Fuel Technology - Manchester, United Kingdom - The University of Manchester

The University of Manchester

Verified Company

Manchester, United Kingdom

3 weeks ago

Posted by:

Tom O´Connor

beBee Recruiter

Description

Applications are invited for the position of post-doctoral research associate in the area of nuclear fuel technology.

Accident Tolerant Fuels are a key technology for the future of nuclear power generation.

By limiting (or removing) the possibility of a range of nuclear accidents affecting the fuel material the consequences of such accidents are inherently mitigated and the design and operation of plants may be simplified.

Work at Manchester has demonstrated that the addition of UB2 to UN significantly increases the performance of the material in steam although the exact mechanism by which this happens has not been confirmed.

Work will include an understanding of light element contamination within UN and its effect on the water reaction, as well as the addition of UB2 to UN as a comparison and to develop a potential future fuel form.

The post will be based at the Nuclear Fuel Centre of Excellence (NFCE) within the Henry Royce Institute, and work as part of a collaboration with The University of Texas at San Antonio, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Boise State University.

You will be responsible for the experimental design, manufacture and testing of novel composite fuel materials, particularly UN and UB2 composites.

This will involve working within inert atmosphere gloveboxes at NFCE for powder handling, material synthesis (via chemical reduction or arc melting), cold pressing and reductive and/or vacuum sintering.

The material produced will be characterised using a range of analytical techniques, including electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, particle size analysis etc.

Thermophysical analysis will also be required, in order to predict fuel performance and drive improvements in later stages of the project.

The applicant will have experience in materials science characterisation and be comfortable working with radioactive materials and a demonstrated track record in working within a research group, developing ideas and driving future experiments.

What you will get in return:

Fantastic market leading Pension scheme
Excellent employee health and wellbeing services including an Employee Assistance Programme
Exceptional starting annual leave entitlement, plus bank holidays
Additional paid closure over the Christmas period
Local and national discounts at a range of major retailers

As an equal opportunities employer we welcome applicants from all sections of the community regardless of age, sex, gender (or gender identity), ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation and transgender status.

All appointments are made on merit.

Our University is positive about flexible working - you can find out more here

Hybrid working arrangements may be considered.

Any CV's submitted by a recruitment agency will be considered a gift.

Enquiries about the vacancy, shortlisting and interviews:

Name:
Joel Turner

General enquiries:

Technical support:

**Please see the link below for the Further Particulars document which contains the person specification criteria.