Deciphering Spent Nuclear Fuel Complex Materials Using Model System and High-Resolution Studies

Datum: 05.02.2026
Uhrzeit: 13:15
Vortragende(r): Gabriel Murphy
Forschungszentrum Juelich
Ort: MPI CPfS
Raum: Seminarraum 1 + 2
Gastgeber: Dr. E. Svanidze

The accelerated shift towards carbon neutrality with an increasing demand for energy sovereignty at high density has cast the spotlight upon nuclear energy in fulfilling these requirements in many nations. Although others have tended towards moving away from nuclear power, such as Germany, there persists a ubiquitous challenge of safely and effectively dealing with spent nuclear fuel arising from legacy, current and future nuclear energy production. Spent nuclear fuel, owing to its heightened radioactivity, chemical complexity and structural variability, has led some to label it as the most complex material in the universe.

Precisely and effectively tackling the challenge of spent nuclear fuel materials science requires a combination of challenging direct studies of irradiated specimens with model system studies of synthesized representative materials. The synergy of these methods, combined with high resolution measurement and theory, enables excellent and relevant understanding unto the behaviour of spent nuclear fuel materials supporting both regulators, implementors whilst generating fundamental radiochemical knowledge. This presentation will subsequently highlight and discuss fundamental experimentally driven efforts to understand and decipher the complexity of (1) Mixed-Oxide (MOX) high burn up spent fuel, used significantly in Germany and Europe, (2) Accident tolerant nuclear fuel (ATF) redox and microstructural performance, seeing rapid take off in north American and French power reactor units and finally (3) potential future generation IV uranium nitride based spent fuel inventories, seen as the successor to UO2.