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Asked by anon-305882 on 9 Dec 2021. This question was also asked by anon-305883, anon-305858, anon-305868.
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Luke Townsend answered on 9 Dec 2021:
My research is important as it aims to protect the people, animals and plants (known as the biosphere) and the environment, from radioactivity. I have previously worked on understanding what might happen a long, long time into the future (10s to 100s of 1000s of years) to our radioactive waste if we bury it deep underground in something known as a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF). Right now, I’m working on what is happening to the radioactivity in the environment that came from the Fukushima disaster back in 2011.
Both these sets of work are important and are very timely as we are currently looking to build a GDF in the UK and the radioactivity from Fukushima has now been in the environment for over 10 years so we need to understand what it’s doing and how to clean it up!
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Caroline Roche answered on 9 Dec 2021:
I don’t do research myself, I help others to do theirs. One of my projects was to help create a control system that could sort, package and store nuclear waste safely. It was important to work out the best method so it could be done remotely and limit exposure to the workers. Especially how best to recover the system if something goes wrong.
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Tom Ross answered on 9 Dec 2021: last edited 9 Dec 2021 10:20 am
It will affect where and how the UK’s geological disposal facility (a big facility for storing nuclear waste) will be constructed.
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Olivia Amy Douglas answered on 9 Dec 2021:
I am currently involved in supporting research into emerging technologies for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. This means that I am looking at new pieces of equipment/methods that can be used to take down the nuclear sites around the country that are no longer in operation (e.g., Sellafield). This is to help make this process as swift and safe as possible for everyone involved which will give better value for the tax payer and also ensure that no on is harmed in the process- something that is extremely important! Some of the things that come up in the research are use of drones and robotics/artificial intelligence which can be pretty cool to learn about!
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Iona Murdock answered on 9 Dec 2021:
My research helps to prevent nuclear accidents which protects the public and the environment
Comments
Alex commented on :
I research a type of nuclear fuel which is incredibly strong so it is safe to use in space ships or in power stations closer to people. This is really important so you can make heat for factories or near cities without needing to burn gas or oil. It is also useful for making lots of hydrogen for fuel cell cars, or for cleaner burning than natural gas.