Projects - Fusion CDT

Understanding tritium retention localisation in nuclear fusion fuel systems – materials strand project

Supervisors: Philip Edmondson (lead – University of Manchester), Lee Margetts (University of Manchester) & Steven van Boxel (UKAEA). Nuclear fusion power offers the potential to provide a clean and abundant…

Development of detailed plasma-atom-molecule reaction schemes for modelling divertor gas seeding – plasma strand project

Supervisor: Andrew R Gibson (University of York, lead) and Christopher Ridgers (University of York). Magnetically confined fusion (MCF) devices are one of the major classes of current and future fusion…

Stability requirements for Volume Ignition – plasma strand project

Supervisors: John Pasley (University of York), Luca Antonelli (First Light Fusion). Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is one of the possible approaches to releasing energy via nuclear fusion for power production…

The effect of neutrals on edge turbulence in magnetic confinement fusion devices – plasma strand project

Supervisor: C.P. Ridgers (Main supervisor – University of York) & Q. Xia (Collaborator – Culham Centre for Fusion Energy) & Ben Dudson (Collaborator – Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory). Plasmas are…

Data-driven validation framework for thermal modelling of plasma facing components – materials strand project

Supervisors: Dr Ksenija Dvurecenska (University of Liverpool), Dr Adel Tayeb (UKAEA) In a nuclear fusion reactor Plasma Facing Components (PFCs) are subjected to extreme environmental conditions which induce thermomechanical loads….

Intermittent fluctuation statistics in spherical tori – plasma strand project

Supervisors: Istvan Cziegler (lead academic, University of York), Alsu Sladkomedova (Tokamak Energy scientist, technical). Heat and mass transport in a tokamak plasma is dominated by turbulence. Although significant progress has…

Hydrogen trapping and permeation in metallic and ceramic coatings for fusion powerplant applications- materials strand project

Supervisors: Philip Edmondson (University of Manchester), Hazel Gardner (UKAEA). Future fusion powerplants must maintain tritium inventory to ensure safe and sustainable plant operations. Structural materials in the breeder blanket and…

Experimental investigation of fast transients in the MAST-U Super-X divertor and its relation to the SOL – plasma strand project

Supervisors: Istvan Cziegler (lead University of York), Christopher Ridgers (University of York) & Kevin Verhaegh (lead CCFE). One of the foremost challenges of magnetic fusion energy is allowing efficient power…

Developing and using simulation tools for the tokamak exhaust – plasma strand project

Supervisors: Christopher Ridgers (University of York) David Moulton (CCFE). Mainstream fusion devices necessarily involve the creation of a hot plasma at close to 100 million degrees. This plasma can be…

Development of new reduced activity ferrite martensite steels with higher temperature capability and improved impact properties – Materials Strand Project

Supervisors: Prof Mark Rainforth (lead) (University of Sheffield), Prof EJ Palmiere (University of Sheffield). Fusion power reactors feature a high heat flux loading of the plasma facing components (PFC) referred…

Optimizing the Exhaust Performance via Magnetic Geometry in Advanced Divertors – plasma strand project

Supervisor/s: Dr Kirsty McKay (University of Liverpool), Dr Lingyan Xiang (UKAEA) & Dr David Moulton (UKAEA). Power exhaust at the plasma boundary remains a challenging issue foreseen in fusion reactors,…

Utilising In-Situ High-Temperature EBSD to Observe Phase Transformations in Reduced-Activation Ferritic/Martensitic (RAFM) Steels for Fusion – Materials Strand Project

Supervisors: Ed Pickering (University of Manchester). Reduced-activation ferritic/martensitic (RAFM) steels, such as Eurofer 97, are primary candidate materials for blanket components in future fusion reactors. It is hoped that they…

Studies of laser-produced energetic electrons for alternative inertial confinement fusion schemes – Plasma Strand project

Supervisor: Kate Lancaster (University of York) Ultra-intense laser interactions with matter give us a route to produce some of the most extreme conditions on earth. When these lasers are focused…

Novel heat treatment of Reduced Activation Ferritic/Martensitic steel welds – Materials Strand Project

Supervisors: Dr. Aneeqa Khan, Dr. Anastasia Vasileiou and Dr Ed Pickering (University of Manchester) and Dr. Yiqiang Wang (UKAEA) Structural components in a fusion reactor must withstand the diverse range…

Development of tungsten diamond composites for nuclear fusion applications – Materials Strand Project

Supervisor/s: Aneeqa Khan, Ed Pickering, Paul Mummery (University of Manchester). This project will focus on the development and analysis of tungsten diamond composites for fusion applications, building on existing work…

Alloy Design and Thermomechanical Processing of Reduced Activation Steels for Nuclear Reactors – Materials Strand project

Supervisors: Professors Eric Palmiere and Mark Rainforth (University of Sheffield) The UKs Sixth Carbon Budget set into law the world’s most ambitious climate change target, cutting CO2 emissions by 78%…

Exploring dislocation mobility in the presence of abundant point defects – Materials Strand Project

Supervisor: Christopher Race (University of Sheffield) The materials of a fusion reactor must survive for many years in an incredibly harsh environment. This includes constant bombardment by high energy neutrons,…

Bonding fusion reactor materials – Materials Strand project

Supervisor: Russell Goodall (University of Sheffield) While there are a number of competing reactor concepts, it is certain that any fusion power system will be a complex device, making use…

Processing and mechanical properties of vanadium alloys for fusion reactors – Materials Strand project

Supervisor: Russell Goodall (University of Sheffield) The demands placed on the materials used in a fusion reactor are extreme, both in the levels of performance demanded, and in the breadth…

Tungsten Coatings for Nuclear Fusion Applications – materials strand project

Supervisor/s: Dr Ying Chen and Dr David Hall (University of Manchester), & Dr James Wade-Zhu (UKAEA) The first-wall of a fusion reactor is the primary layer that protects the structural…

The role of neutral baffling in current and future tokamaks – plasma strand project

Supervisors: David Moulton (UKAEA) – main supervisor & Christopher Ridgers (University of York). Dealing with the extreme heat at the edge of a magnetically confined fusion (MCF) device is one…

Developing MAX phase coatings for nuclear fusion – Materials Strand Project

Supervisor/s: Dr Philipp Frankel, Prof Sarah Haigh (University of Manchester). External Supervisor/s: Dr Max Rigby-Bell (UKAEA) Background MAX phases possess an extensive chemical and structural diversity which results in a…

Multiphysics Modelling of High Energy Density Advanced Manufacturing Processes – Materials Strand Project

Supervisor/s: Dr Tom Flint & Dr Ed Pickering (University of Manchester), Dr Pratheek Shanthraj (CCFE). Construction of a fusion reactor will require the joining or additive manufacture (AM) of alloys…

Thermal conductivity measurements in warm-dense and high-energy-density matter – plasma strand project

Supervisor: Nigel Woolsey (University of York) High energy density and warm dense matter science is the study of material properties at extreme high pressures such as those that can occur…

Drive and material imperfections impacting inertial fusion – plasma strand project

Supervisor: Andrew Higginbotham & Nigel Woolsey (University of York). Fusion is the process which occurs at the centre of the Sun and is the source of energy that heats and…

Shock-Augmented Ignition Approach to Laser Inertial Fusion – plasma strand project

Supervisor/s: Nigel Woolsey (University of York), Robbie Scott (STFC-RAL-CLF) Fusion is the process which occurs at the centre of the Sun and is the source of energy that heats and…

The kinetics of heat transport in novel fusion schemes – plasma strand project

Supervisor/s: Chris Ridgers & Andrew Higginbotham (University of York). Fusion offers an attractive solution to low carbon energy production but is difficult to control in the laboratory, primarily because it…

Fuel burn-up in Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) – plasma strand project

Supervisor: John Pasley (University of York) & Dr Alex Robinson (Central Laser Facility, STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory). The inertial confinement approach to fusion involves assembling small quantities of fusion fuel…

Fuel-ion studies in high-performance JET deuterium-tritium experiments – Plasma Strand Project

Supervisors: Marco Cecconello (Durham University), Jacob Ericsson (Uppsala University) The Joint European Torus (JET) is currently the largest tokamak in the world, as well as the only tokamak capable of…

Development of a 2.5 MeV neutron spectrometer for JT-60SA – plasma strand project

Supervisors: Marco Cecconello (Durham University), Anders Hjalmarsson (Uppsala). JT-60SA is the largest superconducting tokamak in the world and it has just recently achieved its first plasmas indicating that it is…

Nonlinear generalised gyrokinetic modelling of electromagnetic turbulence in finite beta plasmas representative of MAST U and STEP – plasma strand project

Supervisor/s – Daniel Kennedy (UKAEA, lead), Alexandra Dudkovskaia (University of York), David Dickinson (University of York) In a tokamak, the plasma (typically anticipated to include deuterium and tritium in a…

Integrated computational risk assessment for fusion materials – materials strand project

Supervisor/s: Joao Quinta da Fonseca and Tom Flint (University of Manchester) The quantification of uncertainty in material behaviour and risk of failure is urgently needed to accelerate the design and…

Development and validation of reduced models for transport in spherical tokamaks – plasma strand project

Supervisor/s: Francis Casson (UKAEA, lead), David Dickinson (University of York). Plasma turbulence acts to degrade the confinement of particles and heat in magnetic confinement devices, such as tokamaks. Worse confinement…

Using multivariate statistical surrogate models of displacement cascades to simulate high-dose irradiation damage – materials strand project

Supervisor: Christopher Race (University of Sheffield) The materials of a fusion reactor must survive for many years in an incredibly harsh environment. This includes constant bombardment by high energy neutrons,…

Atomic scale investigation of fusion radiation effects in silicon carbide – materials strand project

Supervisor: Robert Harrison (University of Manchester) Fusion -specific radiation damage in silicon carbide has not been investigated sufficiently to qualify components for use in reactor . Specifically, transmutation effects in…

In situ analysis of crack fields and crack propagation – materials strand project

Supervisor: James Marrow (University of Oxford) The safety and economic operation of future fusion systems will depend on their tolerance to damage by processes such as fatigue and fracture, These…

Novel Approaches to Investigate Structural Properties of Nuclear Materials – materials strand project

Supervisor: James Marrow (University of Oxford) For nuclear materials, it is important to understand how irradiation and high temperatures affect mechanical properties such as strength and toughness. Neutron irradiated materials…

Computational Time-Dependent Ginzburg-Landau (TDGL) Theory for high fields superconductors in fusion tokamaks (Durham Computational PhD) – materials strand project

Supervisor: Prof. D. P Hampshire (Durham University) Background: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one of the most exciting scientific…

High-Field Superconductors that enable fusion energy tokamaks under strain (Durham Experimental PhD) – Materials Strand Project

Supervisor: Professor D. P Hampshire (Durham University). Background to the PhD Research Project:: The ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) Tokomak that is being built in Cadarache in France is one…