The HADES Facility for High Activity Decommissioning Engineering & Science: part of the UK National Nuclear User Facility

Abstract

Research and innovation is key to delivering UK Government’s civil nuclear energy policy, in particular to accelerate reduction in the hazard, timescale and cost of legacy decommissioning and geological disposal of radioactive wastes. To address this challenge, a national centre of excellence, the HADES Facility, has been established to support research and innovation in High Activity Decommissioning Engineering & Science, as part of the wider network of UK National Nuclear User Facilities. Herein, we describe the development of this user facility, the current status of its capability, and functional equipment specifications. The unique capabilities of the HADES Facility, in the UK academic landscape, are emphasised, including: handling of weighable quantities of 99Tc and transuranics; quantitative electron probe microanalysis of radioactive materials; hot isostatic pressing of radioactive materials; and laboratory-based X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy. An example case study of the application of the HADES capability is described, involving thermal treatment of a real radioactive ion exchange resin waste to produce a conceptual vitrified waste form.

Safely probing the chemistry of Chernobyl nuclear fuel using micro-focus X-ray analysis

“…Their compositions, derived from those of real LFCM, are somewhat different from one another, with brown LFCM containing more U and black LFCM containing no Fe (see ESI Table 1 †). For convenience, the materials and preparation of these samples, developed within the HADES facility, 15 and a short description of their similarity to real LFCM, are briey described here. The batched compositions of brown and black LFCMs were based on an average of all analysed samples in the literature, but with additional ZrO 2 added to encourage the crystallisation of zircon (ZrSiO 4 ).…”

Tuning between Proper and Hybrid-Improper Mechanisms for Polar Behavior in CsLn2Ti2NbO10 Dion-Jacobson Phases

“…This research was supported by the HADES/MIDAS facility at the University of Sheffield established with financial support from EPSRC and BEIS, under Grant EP/T011424/1. 66 …”

Synthesis and characterization of iodovanadinite using PdI2, an iodine source for the immobilisation of radioiodine

“…This work utilised the HADES/MIDAS Facility at the University of Sheffield, established with nancial support from UKRI EPSRC and BEIS, under grant EP/T011424/1. 41 The authors are grateful for provision of beamtime at the Spring8 synchrotron, under proposal 2018A3609.…”