NOVEL MATERIALS | MANUFACTURING Lucideon secured UK Government funding to undertake


proof-of-concept trials, supported by organisations including the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA), Nuclear Waste Services (NWS), Sellafield and what was then Magnox, now Nuclear Restoration Services (NRS). The programme focused on waste streams widely


recognised as problematic within the sector, including Magnox sludge simulants, graphite wastes, zeolites and oily wastes. Many of these materials are found not only in the UK but across international nuclear programmes. “We’ve been developing this product first and foremost


to address challenges in the UK, but also to export the technology to address similar challenges around the world,” Abbott says.


One of the principal advantages lies in the ability to achieve more complete encapsulation. Abbott contrasts this with conventional cement systems: “If you’re trying to encapsulate a waste, often if you imagine you’ve got a container full of rocks and you pour cement into it, actually you’re more likely to encase rather than fully encapsulate.” The geopolymer formulation can be engineered to behave differently. “It pours almost like water at first and then it solidifies,” he adds. “It fully penetrates all of those rocks and then you’ve got no air gaps in the middle.” The resulting waste form is incorporated into the


encapsulating material rather than surrounded by it: “The difference between storing waste in concrete versus a geopolymer is that it can become chemically part of the final product,” Abbott says. “Some wastes become structurally part of the final block that you end up with, which is why it’s very stable.” Goodhead emphasises another important advantage of this approach: “They’ve got a higher encapsulation ratio,” he said. “The final product that you’re storing as waste is smaller, relatively speaking, per unit volume of waste.” For repository operators, that translates directly into reduced storage requirements. As Goodhead notes: “Space is money.” In addition, the geopolymer has a lower carbon footprint than conventional cements. “Most people are aware that manufacturing cements contributes significantly to global emissions because of the energy intensity of manufacturing these cements,” Abbott noted. “If we can identify different materials for treating wastes that are better for the environment because they have a lower carbon impact, then that’s a very big benefit too.” Geopolymers represent one route for managing


problematic wastes, but ceramics offer another solution for some of the most challenging materials in the industry. One example is the UK’s plutonium stockpile. The NDA


has established the Plutonium Ceramics Academic Hub, led principally by the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield with industrial participation from organisations including Lucideon. The objective is to support technologies capable of converting plutonium oxide into stable ceramic waste forms suitable for eventual geological disposal. “The focus is addressing the challenges of converting plutonium oxide from its current form into a stable ceramic form that is suitable for deep geological disposal,” Abbott explains. The process differs fundamentally from geopolymer


encapsulation. Rather than surrounding waste with an immobilising matrix, plutonium-bearing materials are chemically incorporated into ceramic products through high- temperature processing routes. As Abbott says: “It’s a high- temperature manufacturing process. You take the material


you want to immobilise and you add it to ceramic materials and process it.” The result is a highly durable waste form designed for


long-term disposal. “The key is it’s not reversible,” Goodhead adds. “Which is what puts it out of action for any other use.”


Emerging applications One emerging application for geopolymers involves the development of radiation shielding materials. Working with Cerberus Nuclear, Lucideon is developing products that could potentially represent a significant broadening of the role geopolymer technology can play within the nuclear sector. The underlying material science remains similar, but the objective shifts given that once a material platform is understood and controllable, opportunities often emerge far beyond its original application. “The concept is using geopolymer formulations with


particular ingredients to develop a novel shielding material,” Abbott explains, adding: “It’s moving beyond encapsulation of waste and looking at novel shielding solutions.” While novel material use in waste management


applications largely focuses on addressing legacy liabilities, advanced ceramics are also expected to play a major role in future reactor systems. For conventional small modular reactors (SMRs), Abbott sees ceramics largely extending existing applications. However, the situation changes with the anticipated developments in advanced modular reactor (AMR) technologies. Many national advanced reactor strategies include significant interest in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors. Such systems demand materials capable of operating reliably at temperatures substantially beyond those encountered in current light-water reactor designs. Abbott states: “I think, for AMRs, where we’re looking at


higher temperature operation, there will be a need to start looking at materials that can survive in those environments. “Ceramics are one of the materials that will likely


play a key role, not only surviving in those harsh environments but surviving for a long enough duration that you’re not consistently needing to do maintenance and replacement of parts.” Molten salt reactor developers are also investigating


ceramic-based solutions. “Certain designers are looking at ceramic composites as part of their structural


www.neimagazine.com | July 2026 | 37


Flash sintering could offer significant benefits over conventional sintering and advantages for future nuclear fuel manufacturing. Source: Lucideon


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