Bardia Hashemi

I completed my bachelor’s degree in Materials Science & engineering at the University of Manchester in 2024. I had the opportunity to find a PhD project that included a Fusion Power CDT amongst the options available. During the course of the next four years, I will be working alongside the UKAEA to provide corrosion/dissolution data for EUROFER-97 (i.e. RAFM Steel) and CuCrZr alloys when exposed under high pressure, high temperature flowing aqueous environments; to be specifically used for EUROPEAN fusion Tokamaks (i.e. ITER & DEMO)

These will be used structural/coolant and fluid-facing alloys respectively, within the breeder blanket and divertor section of the reactor. As the water chemistry specification has not been confirmed yet, my work will aim to support this decision for future Tokamak reactors.

I will be working in close contact with my supervisors at University of Manchester as well as the UK Atomic Energy Authority. The project will include building a prototype and running simulations to obtain corrosion rate data under similar conditions as the Tokamak reactors under development within Europe. Fusion is currently one of the most exciting topics in the world of science and engineering with the hope of commercialization within the next few decades.

Supervisors

• Prof Fabio Scenini
• Dr Nicholas Stevens
• Dr Liberato Volpe