Katie Gilmour
Investigating MX80 bentonite clay for nuclear waste storage.
Email: k.gilmour2@ncl.ac.uk
Supervisors
- School of Engineering
- School of Natural and Environmental Sciences
Project description
Nuclear waste storage is a global problem. Countries across Europe and North America are developing designs for deep geological disposal.
The UK concept currently employs steel waste canisters. These are buried up to 700m underground with MX80 bentonite clay acting as a buffer and backfill. This buffer will be subject to heat and pressure changes throughout the 100,000 year lifespan of the repository. It must adjust to these conditions to ensure radionuclides remain sealed.
This project will improve our understanding of the microbial community behaviour of MX80 bentonite when used for deep geological disposal. It is possible that microbial activity could impair the function of MX80 as a barrier. Conversely, some microbial activity could promote the multi-barrier design. We will investigate changes to the integrity of the clay. To do this, we will carry out microbial community analysis, biomineralisation studies, and long-term incubations.
The project uses a multidisciplinary approach to tackle the problem of microbial interactions in clay. We will use classic geomicrobiological techniques combined with geotechnical testing and a range of geoscientific tools.
Interests
- geomicrobiology
- applied STEM subjects
- geochemistry
- geotechnics
- multidisciplinary approaches
Qualifications
- BSc (Hons) Microbiology (University of Dundee, 2013-2017)