Research on particle shape is extremely important to many industrial applications such as pharmaceuticals, biopharmaceuticals, human health products and speciality chemicals. For example, for pharmaceuticals, the morphology can affect important properties such as dry powder density, cohesion, and flowability, that can have major impact on a company's ability to formulate drug particles into finished products. Moreover, crystal morphology can affect drug dissolution, potentially affecting formulated product bioavailability and, in extreme, resulting in a companies loss of the license to making the drug product. However, despite the availability of various Process Analytical Technology (PAT) instruments for measuring other properties of particulate systems, there have been no effective on-line instruments capable of providing real-time information on particle shape during the processing of particles in unit operations such as crystallisation, precipitation, granulation and milling. In the past few years, on-line high speed imaging has shown to be a very promising PAT instrument for real-time measurement of particle shape on-line which has resulted in the development of some new instrumentation products just released to the market such as the PVM (Process Vision system) of Lasentec (uk.mt.com), the PIA (Process Image Analyser) of MessTechnik Schwartz GmbH (www.mts-duesseldorf.de), the ISPV (In-Situ Particle Viewer) of Perdix (www.perdix.nl) in Netherlands, and the On-line Microscopy systems of GlaxoSmithKline, some of which incorporate a probe design which allows easy access to a processing reactor vessel. However, all these techniques are essentially limited in that they can only provide 2D information of the particle shape. Hence, this proposed research aims to develop a new instrument Stereo Vision Probe which can directly image the full 3D shape of particles within a practical processing reactor. This basic mode of operation is based on the mathematical principle that if the 2D images of an object are obtained from two different angles, the full 3D particle shape can be recovered. The potential impact on research capability and industrial applications is predicted to be major but the proposed research will focus on the development of the Stereo Vision Probe and the 3D construction method from the two 2D images obtained from two different angles. The testing of the system will be mainly via the use of a variable temperature crystallisation cell.

ENTENTE "European Database for Multiscale Modelling of Radiation Damage" aims to design a new European experimental/modelling materials database to collect and store pedigree data on radiation damage of RPV steels, according to FAIR (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reusability) principles. The project can be seen as three interconnected blocks: DATABASE Design - Multi-disciplinary teams (materials scientists, engineers, software developers) for the definition of new effective data formats suitable for microstructural and modelling data, and interfaces needed to ensure interoperability. - Interface the SOTERIA platform with the ENTENTE database so that experimental data and metadata could be retrieved and post processed in order to correctly parametrize modelling tools ADVANCED experiments/models - Microstructural characterization, linked with appropriate models, by means of advanced (S)TEM techniques, APT, -XRD and in-situ TEM for mapping the radiation induced defects and associated strain-stress fields - In-depth analysis of segregation and structural, chemical nature and strength of grain boundaries to study hardening and non-hardening embrittlement INNOVATIVE data analysis and hybrid models - Simulation tools that enable the description of radiation damage up to space and time scales that are comparable with those reached in experiments on RPV steels. Accelerated physically informed fracture laws with a reasonable predicting capability on heterogeneous microstructures. - First application of ICME (Integrated Computational Materials Engineering) approaches to enable virtual studies of alternative neutron embrittlement scenarios -Machine learning and artificial neural networks approaches to support atomistic modeling as well as to predict hardening and/or embrittlement Target data will be those generated during previous EURATOM projects (LONGLIFE, PERFORM, SOTERIA, TAREG, PHARE) on RPV steels.

Green rust is an iron oxyhydroxide mineral phase which forms in natural soils under reducing conditions. In addition, this mineral is an important product of iron metal corrosion in permeable zero-valent iron barriers, which are a novel remediation technology being used to decontaminate groundwaters of radionuclide, toxic metal and organic contaminants. Green rust generally consists of minute particles - nanoparticles - that have a very high surface area which gives them the ability to absorb a high concentration of species from solution. The formation of green rust can occur via both abiotic and biotic pathways forming a mineral structure containing both the reduced and oxidised forms of iron i.e. Fe(II) and Fe(III). The high surface area and presence of reduced iron within its structure make green rust an important reducing agent of both inorganic (e.g. uranium) and organic (e.g. tetrachloroethene) species within reducing and sub-oxic environments. This is particularly important for contaminant species which can be immobilised during such a reduction process (e.g. chromium). However, despite the hypothesised importance of green rust in natural and contaminated systems the contribution of green rusts to the biogeochemical cycle of iron has so far not been quantified. This is primarily due to the highly reactive nature of green rust, which means that the mineral breaks down within minutes when in contact with air. The characterisation of this phase has therefore been problematic using conventional analytical techniques. The aim of this project is to obtain quantitative data on the kinetics and mechanisms of GR formation and oxidative transformation using state-of-the-art in situ synchrotron-based techniques. In conjunction with this we will examine how the speciation i.e. oxidation state and nature of binding to the mineral, of trace elements (e.g. U and Cr) changes as the mineral particles growth and then transform during oxidation. By application of novel synchrotron based techniques we will be able for the first time to monitor these reactions in situ. This will provide high quality novel data on the reactions and also minimise the need to prepare the material for off-line analysis, which may cause oxidation artefacts to occur. During the project we will answer the following questions: 1. How does green rust nucleate and grow? 2. What controls the transformation of green rust to Fe3+-oxyhydroxides during oxidation? 3. What determines the speciation of trace elements associated with green rust as it forms and transforms during oxidation? 4. How do biogenic processes affect green rust formation and trace element speciation? 5. Under what environmental conditions does green rust form and how does this effect trace element and contaminant mobility in the environment? The first 4 objectives will consist of extensive experimental studies examining green rust under a variety of conditions analogous to those found in the natural environment. To answer question 5, the data from the experimental programme will be incorporated into geochemical computer modelling packages which will allow us to predict how green rust behaves in both natural system and contaminated land scenarios. For example, it will allow us to perform modelling under the conditions that green rust will form within a simulated nuclear waste repository so we can quantify the affect this phase will have on the mobility and bioavailability of uranium.

Over 95% of used nuclear fuel is uranium and plutonium, which can be recovered and reused. However, because used fuel is intensely radioactive, this requires very complex processes. These processes can also be adapted to the separation of high hazard materials from the residual radioactive wastes, to simplify radioactive waste management. However, industrial reprocessing of used fuel primarily relies on a 50 year old solvent extraction process (Purex), which was originally developed for much simpler fuels. As a result, modern fuels can prove difficult to reprocess. We will therefore explore two different approaches to nuclear fuel separation in parallel, one based on the established Purex technology and the other on a much more recent development, ion selective membranes (ISMs). ISMs are porous, chemically reactive membranes which can bind metals from solutions then release them again, depending on conditions, thus allowing highly selective separations.In the solvent extraction system, we will focus on a common problem in solvent extraction, third phase formation, and on separation of a group of long lived, high hazard waste isotopes (the fission product technetium and the minor actinides). With the ISMs, we will first prove their utility in uranium/plutonium separation, then extend these studies to the minor actinides. Throughout, we will work with the elements of interest, rather than analogues or low activity models and in realistic radiation environments. In both strands of the project, we will explore the underlying physical and chemical processes then, building on this understanding, we will develop a series of quantitative models, building from phase behaviour to unit operations and finally to process flowsheet models. We wil use the resulting models to explore different options for fuel reprocessing, based on scenarios defined with our industrial partners.