Hydrogen Released from Nuclear Waste and its Consequence of Small Scale Explosion

This PhD project is part of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in SATURN (Skills And Training Underpinning a Renaissance in Nuclear), addressing the critical safety challenge of managing hydrogen gas during the decommissioning of the UK's nuclear legacy sites. The project will develop fundamental understanding of how hydrogen-air mixtures ignite and explode in conditions relevant to the nuclear estate, using state-of-the-art experimental approaches including a spherical combustion vessel and advanced optical diagnostics (Schlieren, PIV) to study flame acceleration, instability, and quenching in stratified mixtures. The research will produce unique experimental data to develop and validate high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) models capable of simulating large-scale explosion scenarios in confined spaces. This will provide crucial insights for safety cases at sites like Sellafield, Dounreay, and Magnox. The project offers opportunity to work at the interface of cutting-edge experimental combustion and computational modelling, directly impacting safe and cost-effective nuclear decommissioning. The studentship is offered through the SATURN CDT, a consortium led by the University of Manchester including leading nuclear research universities in Northern England and Scotland. The program includes technical training in the nuclear fuel cycle and specialist research skills training, delivered in a collegial cohort environment. Students will be supported by close collaboration with industrial partner Sellafield Ltd.