• Peter C. Burns
• Thomas Albrecht Schmitt
• Jeremy Fein
• Edward Maginn
• Lynne Soderholm

• Rod Ewing
• Udo Becker

• Alex Navrotsky
• William Casey
• Mark Asta
• Niels Jensen

• Christopher Cahill

• Jie Lian

• William Weber

• David Hobbs
• Ann Visser
• Tracy Rudisill

• William Weber

• May Nyman

Research Theme Lead Contacts

Theme 1: Complex Actinide Materials - Alex Navrotsky

Theme 2: Nanoscale Actinide Materials - Peter C. Burns

Theme 3: Actinide Materials Under Extreme Environments - Rod Ewing

Lead - Alex Navrotsky

Theme 1 will look at U4+ and U6+ materials. Differences in oxidation states and coordination requirements of uranium and the other actinides lend complexity to the substitution of higher actinides into uranium phases.

Fluorite-related Materials

Theme 1 will examine the extraordinary complexity of actinide oxide fluorite-structured materials. This is essential for nuclear fuels, and is the most common nuclear waste from the once-through fuel cycle. Other sub projects include actinide-containing fluorite solid solutions with zirconia and surface structures and interactions with aqueous solutions.

Actinyl Compounds

Theme 1 will also look at actinyl compounds in higher oxidation states. In situ time-resolved studies of hydrothermal synthesis of actinyl materials, in situ ligand synthesis of hybrid materials, and examining redox processes in hydrothermal synthesis of actinyl materials are the focus of this project.

Theme Participants

Various groups throughout the EFRC will be collaborating with Dr. Navrotsky on many of these projects

Mark Asta, Niels Jensen, and Udo Becker will be collaborating to model the fluorite systems.

Thomas Albrecht-Schmitt, Peter Burns, and Chris Cahill will be synthesizing most of the actinyl materials for examination by the Navrotsky group.

Rod Ewing and Jie Lian will be examining these materials in extreme environments.