UTGARD Laboratory
A uranium dioxide pellet electrode prepared in UTGARD Laboratory
© Lancaster University 2020
A postdoctoral researcher prepares a radioactive liquid sample for analysis
© Lancaster University 2020
Reflecting the fuel used in the UK’s current Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) and Light Water Reactors (LWRs), and to be used in new build LWRs, UTGARD Phase II will focus on oxide SIMFUELs – although, with an eye to future fuel cycles, this will include Mixed Oxide (MOX) and ThO2-based fuels. This new facility is designed to extend and interact with Lancaster’s existing radiochemical lab for open sources, UTGARD, creating an effective synergistic single R&D facility and enabling research in the following themes:
1) Development of new, advanced sintering routes for the fabrication of SIMFUELs with porosities, fission product loadings, and defect microstructures that better simulate those of real spent nuclear fuel (UTGARD Phase II).
2) Behavioural studies of advanced SIMFUELs, as well as those prepared using conventional techniques, under a range of conditions relevant to the back end of the fuel cycle – including wet/dry interim storage, geological disposal and new reprocessing routes (UTGARD Phase I).
For all fabrication methods in theme 1, samples of each simulant created by UTGARD researchers and, with permission, by external users will be retained on-site, so creating a library of well characterised SIMFUELs for use by external researchers who do not wish to create their own materials.
Design sketch of UTGARD Phase II Laboratory space attached to the existing UTGARD
© Lancaster University 2020
Constructed in 2016, UTGARD laboratory is a ~120 m2 process chemistry laboratory for work on β/γ active fission products, uranium, thorium and low level alpha tracers.
UTGARD Phase II involves an extension to the existing UTGARD Laboratory, generating a further ~40 m2 of new laboratory space. As with the existing laboratory, UTGARD Phase II will be rated to the highest level of university open source radiation protection, allowing for the handling of a wide variety of radioactive isotopes for use in SIMFUEL manufacture.
UTGARD Phase II
A selection of equipment that will go in UTGARD Phase II
Clockwise from top left: © Struers Ltd. 2020; © Struers Ltd. 2020; © Netzsch Holding 2020; © Nabertherm GmbH 2020; © Anton Paar GmbH 2020
The equipment for UTGARD Phase II has been carefully chosen to allow complete end to end fabrication of oxide SIMFUELs:
For SIMFUEL powder precursor preparation:
- A single user licence for the FISPIN fuel depletion code, for calculation of target SIMFUEL compositions as functions of burnup and cooling time.
- A powder cabinet-isolated planetary ball mill (Retsch) and particle sizer (Horiba) for control and measurement of the size of SIMFUEL precursor powders that have been purchased or fabricated using UTGARD’s synthetic facilities.
For sintering of SIMFUEL precursors into pellet form:
• An up to 100% hydrogen tube furnace (Nabertherm) for conventional sintering of green pellets prepared using existing powder presses.
• A spark plasma sintering (SPS) system for advanced binder-free field assisted rapid sintering studies.
• A modified dilatometer (Netzsch), both for monitoring pellet densification during sintering and for the study of the new and novel route of flash sintering.
For post-sintering sample preparation and characterisation:
• A mercury porosimeter (Anton-Paar) to assess pellet porosity post-sintering.
• A powder cabinet-isolated diamond saw and grinding and polishing machine (Struers) for sample preparation.
Negative pressure containment box in UTGARD Phase I
© Lancaster University 2020
UTGARD Phase I
© Lancaster University 2020
UTGARD Phase I
© Lancaster University 2020
