Welcome to the Centre for Radiochemistry Research
The Centre for Radiochemistry Research (CRR) was established in 1999 in a partnership with BNFL. It is unique in the UK, forming a national focus for radiochemistry research, and we are primarily interested in the chemistry of the radioactive elements, particularly Tc and the transuranic elements. Our research activities link closely to many aspects of the nuclear industry, from process chemistry to decommissioning, waste management and environmental impact. The CRR’s research programme is funded by the nuclear industry (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority), the UK Research Councils (EPSRC, NERC), the European Union, and the UK Government (Homeland Security). The Centre is part of the University of Manchester Dalton Nuclear Institute. We are also members of the European Union ACTINET-I3 network and the NERC BIGRAD consortium.
The Centre works closely with the new Research Centre for Radwaste and Decommissioning (RCRD).
For the latest CRR news, please click here
The Centre for Radiochemistry Research undertakes research in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, including fundamental science relevant to process chemistry, waste management and reducing environmental impact. We currently have three research programmes:
- Environmental Radiochemistry
- The Chemistry of Nuclear Waste Disposal
- Actinide Coordination Chemistry
Facilities
The Centre includes recently refurbished radiochemistry labs opened in 2001 and specialist hot lab facilities with spectroscopic and analytical equipment for radioactive samples. These facilities are unique in the UK, and allow us to work with gram quantities of uranium and thorium and even milligram amounts of neptunium and plutonium.
Within these state of the art radiochemistry laboratories there is a range of dedicated spectroscopic and radioanalytical equipment including controlled atmosphere facilities; equipment for thermal and elemental analysis; UV/vis/nIR and IR/Raman spectrometers, with fibre optic dipping optrodes for in situ measurements; electrochemical equipment for cyclic voltammetry and controlled potential coulometry; a 400MHz NMR spectrometer; and comprehensive radioanalytical facilities including alpha-spectroscopy, low background liquid scintillation counting and low background gamma-spectroscopy. We also have access to an ICPMS facility suitable for the analysis of transuranium elements.
CRR Staff
There are 5 staff in the Centre:
- Dr Nick Bryan, Centre Director
- Professor Francis Livens, Academic Director, Dalton Nuclear Institute
- Dr Sarah Heath, Reader in Chemistry
- Dr Louise Natrajan, EPSRC Career Acceleration Fellow
- Dr Stephanie Cornet, Nuclear FiRST DTC teaching Fellow
Their interests cover all aspects of radiochemistry
In addition, Dr Clint Sharrad (RCRD and CEAS) is an associate member of the Centre.
Collaborations
The Centre has strong national and international links and collaborations with universities and research organisations around the world, including the Universities of Oxford, Leeds, Sheffield, Loughborough and Plymouth, Imperial College, INE and ITU Karlsruhe (Germany), UC Berkeley (USA), CEA (France), and the ESRF. The Centre was a founding partner in ACTINET, the European Network for Actinide Sciences, and has a representative on the Governing Board of its current incarnation, ACTINET-I3. We have strategic partnerships with the UK Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) and National Nuclear Lab (NNL).
In 2009, we were awarded £7.1 million by EPSRC to host a national centre for doctoral level training in nuclear fission science and technology. The Nuclear FiRST Doctoral Training Centre, which is a partnership between the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield, aims to underpin UK Energy and Defence strategies. For more information about this partnership, please click here.