Dr RobERT Harrison
Co-Investigator
Robert Harrison is a Dalton Institute Research Fellow in the Department of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering (MACE) at the University of Manchester. His current research focuses on radiation damage and oxidation of nuclear fuels and cladding materials for accident-tolerant fuel applications, as well as novel manufacturing routes to nuclear fuels. He has led projects on the commissioning of a novel uranium active flash sintering furnace as part of the UK Government’s Nuclear Innovation Programme, and is Co-I on an EPSRC NNUF project to install an alpha nuclide active electron microscopy suite at the Henry Royce Institute.
Robert studied for his PhD at Imperial College London, researching the syntheses and characteristics of non-oxide ceramics as high-temperature nuclear fuel cladding alternatives. After this he worked at the in-situ ion irradiation facility at the University of Huddersfield (MIAMI), investigating the effect of radiation damage on several model metallic and ceramic nuclear materials. Since joining the University of Manchester, he has continued this work with the Zirconium group, as well as his work in the Nuclear Fuels Centre of Excellence.
His research interests focus on the use of advanced electron microscopy techniques to characterise defect populations and degradation mechanisms in materials under irradiation damage, as well as under oxidative/corrosive environments. He is an active user of large scale research facilities such as Diamond Light Source and the Dalton Cumbria Facility.