In order to stabilize its final high-activity waste, the Atalante facility plans to vitrify it on the VESPA platform implemented on the C18 shielded line. The glasses produced will be stored in the short term at the ATALANTE facility and are intended to be sent in the medium term to the French disposal facility, at the Bure site.
The calcination vitrification process of the VESPA platform will aim to produce sodium borosilicate glasses as close as possible to nuclear glasses used at the La Hague plant by Orano. These glasses will have to incorporate higher contents of uranium and plutonium (U and Pu) into their vitreous network than the glasses used industrially until now.
Therefore, to validate the proposed domain of chemical composition of the so-called “Atalante” glasses, the candidate will first have to study the limits of incorporation of U and Pu in UOX type glasses.
Once the chemical domain has been determined, a second part of the PhD thesis will be devoted to the study of the kinetics of alteration of glasses of interest under water and thus examine the impact of U and Pu concentrations on their long-term behavior properties.
The profile of the desired candidate is Master 2 level or equivalent in materials science. He/she must be rigorous, organized and present a strong interest in characterization techniques of solids or liquids as well as for the synthesis of materials. Experience in the glass and/or nuclear field would be a plus. This thesis will offer him/her the opportunity to develop skills in numerous characterization techniques and also experience of work in nuclear facility.
Master 2 materials science.