ASTM Symposium on Zr in the Nuclear Industry

ASTM 19th International Symposium on Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry

Symposium Returns to UK after 41 years

From May 19th – 23rd Manchester hosted the ASTM 19th International Symposium on Zirconium in the Nuclear Industry at the Midland Hotel. Manchester led a UK bid to host the conference, and this is the first time the event has been hosted in the UK since 1978, confirming the country’s increasing global prominence in Zirconium research.

The Symposium was attended by around 150 international delegates (over 15% increase on the previous conference), comprising representatives of academics and industrialists from across the field. The programme included sevens talks and five posters by members of the MIDAS team.

A new addition to the programme was a Pre-Symposium workshop on the topic “Zr: Future Research Needs”, conceived and hosted by the local team, with sponsorship from the Dalton Nuclear Institute, Henry Royce Institute, and Wood. This workshop was seen as a great success, and is likely to become a fixture at future symposia. The conference also included a Rolls-Royce-sponsored reception at the Manchester Art Gallery, and a dinner at Arley Hall, jointly sponsored by ATI, Framatome, Sandvik and Westinghouse.

Michael Preuss was formally awarded with the 2019 William J. Kroll Award at the Symposium’s Luncheon, in recognition for establishing and developing the Zirconium Technology Group at the University of Manchester, and his research leadership in mechanistic understanding of irradiation damage in zirconium alloys and their oxides.