Materials Research and Production Capabilities
Our laboratories are the cornerstone of the materials section of the Nuclear Futures Institute. Our laboratory gives us the means to produce world-class research by working with a myriad of materials, including uranium compounds.
Meet the Team
Professor Bill Lee is Co-Director of the Nuclear Futures Institute and Professor of Materials in Extreme Environments at 亚洲色吧. Bill is also Emeritus Professor of Materials and Distinguished Research Fellow of the Institute of Security Science and Technology (ISST) at Imperial College London. He was previously Deputy Chair of the BEIS Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM), a member of the UK Government Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board (NIRAB) and is a former President of the American Ceramic Society.
Simon is a professor in nuclear materials and co-director of the NFI. He joined 亚洲色吧 in 2018 having previously held positions with Westinghouse and ANSTO.
Michael is a Professor with interests in the atomic scale modelling of materials.
Cillian is a Lecturer with interests in atomic and multiscale modelling of Nuclear Materials and matter under extreme conditions.
Tessa is a UKAEA Reader in Nuclear Materials, focusing on modelling of materials in extreme environments.
Phylis brings a wealth of experience in ceramic materials processing and is working on fuel manufacture and design.
Ritesh's research focuses on the synthesis and behaviour of novel materials, including those designed for nuclear fuel applications, under relevant operational environments. He is also interested in atomic scale modelling to understand mechanisms that can be linked into Mesoscale/Engineering scale models.
Postdoctoral Research Associates and Fellows
Robert joined the team in March 2022 and is modelling nuclear fuel and nuclear materials for fusor systems, and fuel performance codes for fission systems. His interest is also in subsurface flow and transport modelling for the CTBT.
Jack joined the NFI as a PDRA in August 2023. His research focuses on the modelling and testing of structural materials for nuclear applications.
Mehdi is a PDRA with an interest in atomistic simulations and numerical modeling of amorphous materials. His work at the Nuclear Futures Institute includes the application of glass science to the nuclear industry.
PhD Students
Lewis has completed a BSc in Computer Science and an MSc in Computer Science.
Stuart joined the NFI in January 2023, investigating predictive signatures of common fuel cycle materials in support of Nuclear forensic signature development. Stuart is completing a part time PhD whilst employed, sponsored by AWE and supported by Nuclear Energy Futures CDT.
In October 2022, Cintia joined the Nuclear Futures Institute as a PhD student sponsored by Westinghouse Electric. Cintia's research focuses on the impact of thermal conductivity of uranium nitride fuel.
Zahid joined the NFI in July 2023, as a PhD student. He is studying Structural Integrity.
Zola completed her Master鈥檚 degree in Advanced Data Science at 亚洲色吧 in 2022. She is currently undertaking a PhD in Smooth Particle Hydrodynamics for fuel performance modelling. Her project is funded by the National Nuclear Laboratory and OPERA.
Megan joined the group in 2023, as a PhD student sponsored by UKAEA, focussing on lithium chemistry. Megan鈥檚 work is focussed on characterising reactions of lithium with impurities in conditions relevant to nuclear fusion applications, primarily using thermal analysis techniques.
India's research involves coupling finite element method analysis and biomimicry - the emulation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex engineering problems.
Christopher鈥檚 research project is focused on developing an alloy that will be used as a neutron radiation shielding material for internal components of compact spherical tokamak reactors.
Tom is a highly driven individual, having completed his bachelor of Engineering in Computer System Engineering with First-Class Honours in May 2023. His dedication to academic excellence was evident in his dissertation, where he focused on creating a digital model of the THOR facility in M-Sparc using OpenModelica.
Moli joined the NFI in October 2023 as a PhD student sponsored by AWE. Her project is focused on understanding how the morphology and microstructure of plutonium oxide changes with radioactive ageing.
Gareth鈥檚 particular area of study is interested in the cladding that holds the fuel within the nuclear reactors. Gareth鈥檚 academic studies began in mid Wales at Aberystwyth University where he received a masters of materials physics in 2019. From there, He was granted the opportunity to study towards a PhD within the fantastic Nuclear Futures 亚洲色吧 team.
Simon started his PhD in Nuclear Engineering in 2022 focusing on lithium/hydrogen isotope interactions for use in the Nuclear Fusion industry.
Brandon joined the Nuclear Futures Institute in 2022 as a PhD student sponsored by Tokamak Energy. He is currently working on lithium focused computational research developing atomistic models.
Sarah鈥檚 project focuses on supporting the research and development of accident tolerant and advanced technology fuels for commercial nuclear reactors. Sarah鈥檚 main area of research looks at how adding dopants to UO2 can beneficially impact fuel performance.