Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility (BUFFF)
Lead Research Organisation:
Bangor University
Department Name: Sch of Computer Science & Electronic Eng
Abstract
The Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility (BUFFF) draws on a great deal of the UK's academic experience, combined with impactful industry involvement to provide an easily accessible user facility to drive our international standing in fuels research (see LOS from international institutions). This facility will provide access to an industrially relevant nuclear fuel manufacturing facility that is highly complementary to existing and proposed NNUF facilities.
BUFFF enables the investigation and research of a range of nuclear fuels and other nuclear industry relevant ceramics, progressing them from powders (provided in part by the industrial sponsors) through to blends, pressed green pellets and then sintered bodies. The sintering furnace at the centre of BUFFF being a one of a kind piece of equipment in the UK and world-leading: providing the ability to tailor the sintering atmosphere in an industrially applicable manner but on a laboratory scale, whilst also having the ability to observe the sintering process in-situ using a range of digital image correlation techniques (with further techniques to be developed using the facility) whilst monitoring the sintering atmosphere using techniques including gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). Pre-processing characterisation provisions are also included, assessing variables such as stoichiometry and powder size distribution.
BUFFF has been grown out of a close collaboration with the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield, the University of Bristol, Westinghouse, AWE and the National Nuclear Laboratory, all who represent key users of the facility. Importantly, these institutions host a number of relevant NNUF facilities that other users can use combined with the BUFFF provisions.
The BUFFF will provide a key educational resource to the UK universities - enabling hands-on experience for students enrolled on CDT courses and beyond - something not currently available in the UK. A significant online presence will also be fostered to provide educational tools and enable outreach activities.
The access models to the user facility are varied depending on the experience level and the requirements of the user in order to facilitate rapid access of industrially relevant material and data. Material produced by the BUFFF facility can have its ownership transferred to users able to receive material or material can be loaned to facilities not able to or willing to take ownership - significantly widening the access to fuel materials. A library of materials will also be kept in order to provide test specimens for a nuclear forensics library - supported by AWE - providing material for exercises and studies at other institutions working on nuclear forensics studies.
BUFFF enables the investigation and research of a range of nuclear fuels and other nuclear industry relevant ceramics, progressing them from powders (provided in part by the industrial sponsors) through to blends, pressed green pellets and then sintered bodies. The sintering furnace at the centre of BUFFF being a one of a kind piece of equipment in the UK and world-leading: providing the ability to tailor the sintering atmosphere in an industrially applicable manner but on a laboratory scale, whilst also having the ability to observe the sintering process in-situ using a range of digital image correlation techniques (with further techniques to be developed using the facility) whilst monitoring the sintering atmosphere using techniques including gas-chromatography-mass-spectrometry (GC-MS). Pre-processing characterisation provisions are also included, assessing variables such as stoichiometry and powder size distribution.
BUFFF has been grown out of a close collaboration with the University of Manchester, the University of Sheffield, the University of Bristol, Westinghouse, AWE and the National Nuclear Laboratory, all who represent key users of the facility. Importantly, these institutions host a number of relevant NNUF facilities that other users can use combined with the BUFFF provisions.
The BUFFF will provide a key educational resource to the UK universities - enabling hands-on experience for students enrolled on CDT courses and beyond - something not currently available in the UK. A significant online presence will also be fostered to provide educational tools and enable outreach activities.
The access models to the user facility are varied depending on the experience level and the requirements of the user in order to facilitate rapid access of industrially relevant material and data. Material produced by the BUFFF facility can have its ownership transferred to users able to receive material or material can be loaned to facilities not able to or willing to take ownership - significantly widening the access to fuel materials. A library of materials will also be kept in order to provide test specimens for a nuclear forensics library - supported by AWE - providing material for exercises and studies at other institutions working on nuclear forensics studies.
Organisations
- Bangor University (Lead Research Organisation)
- National Nuclear Laboratory (Collaboration)
- University of Warwick (Collaboration)
- WESTINGHOUSE (Collaboration)
- Rolls Royce Group Plc (Collaboration)
- CCFE/UKAEA (Project Partner)
- Atomic Weapons Establishment (Project Partner)
- Westinghouse Electric (Sweden) (Project Partner)
- Welsh Government (Project Partner)
Publications

Costa D
(2022)
Coated ZrN sphere-UO2 composites as surrogates for UN-UO2 accident tolerant fuels
in Journal of Nuclear Materials

Middleburgh S
(2023)
Enrichment of Chromium at Grain Boundaries in Chromia Doped UO2
in Journal of Nuclear Materials

Owen M
(2023)
Diffusion in undoped and Cr-doped amorphous UO2
in Journal of Nuclear Materials
Description | Acceptance of nuclear research and the need for it across industry and society. The Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility is not only being used as a leading research facility but also an outreach opportunity for the industry. The expertise and skills being developed in the BUFFF are playing a significant role in upskilling industry and are providing support to the various new build nuclear programmes underway in the UK today. |
Sector | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Digital/Communication/Information Technologies (including Software),Education,Energy,Security and Diplomacy |
Impact Types | Cultural Societal Economic Policy & public services |
Description | New UK fuel cycle roadmap |
Geographic Reach | National |
Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
Impact | The nuclear fuel cycle plays and will play an ever increasing role in the economic viability of nuclear power for electricity generation and beyond. The work that has been enabled with BUFFF is accelerating this developmental work, supporting industry and defence. The people trained to work with and handle uranium active materials is an important facet to the work we do in BUFFF, and being able to bring these trained people together with the general public and students to inform the wider community of the research being performed at Bangor University is vital. |
Description | Additively manufactured nuclear thermal fuel system and thermal-based characterisation |
Amount | £199,720 (GBP) |
Funding ID | UKSAG22_0031 |
Organisation | UK Space Agency |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2022 |
End | 09/2024 |
Title | Optical dilatometry of uranium active materials |
Description | Optical dilatometry and in-line mass spectrometry has been used for the first time to assess uranic fuel materials. |
Type Of Material | Technology assay or reagent |
Year Produced | 2023 |
Provided To Others? | No |
Impact | Allows the assessment of manufacture techniques for nuclear fuels in a research capacity to inform industry. |
Description | NIP - Doped Fuels |
Organisation | National Nuclear Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | The BUFFF has been used to assess novel doping strategies for UO2 to improve manufacturability and performance. PDRAs and other academics have worked in collaboration to assess and innovate. |
Collaborator Contribution | Funded and provided direction strategically and from an industrial perspective. |
Impact | Novel understanding of mechanisms that impact the industrial production of nuclear fuels. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | NIP - kernel fuels |
Organisation | National Nuclear Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Expertise in kernel fuel manufacture extended with the aim of understanding processing parameters more readily. |
Collaborator Contribution | Steered the industrial applicability of the research and aided in the assessment of the engineering setup and analysis. |
Impact | New equipment and new expertise leveraging the BUFFF funding. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | National Nuclear Laboratory |
Organisation | National Nuclear Laboratory |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Public |
PI Contribution | Working together to assess the behaviour of dopants in Cr-doped UO2 via two-way NNUF facilities access. |
Collaborator Contribution | Microscopy and analysis |
Impact | Publication: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S002231152300020X |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Rolls Royce Space Fuel |
Organisation | Rolls Royce Group Plc |
Department | Rolls Royce Submarines |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | The BUFFF facility will be used to assess new concepts for space reactor technology, using our expertise in the area. |
Collaborator Contribution | They have funded and helped shape the direction of the research. |
Impact | Multi-disciplinary research linking modelling with manufacture. Both teams are working together to innovate and test concepts. |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | University of Warwick sintering studies |
Organisation | University of Warwick |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | We are working with the group at Warwick to assess sintering behaviour of their ceramics in the BUFFF. They are producing the samples at their institution and bringing them to the Bangor facility to assess their behaviour. |
Collaborator Contribution | They are steering the research and providing samples. |
Impact | Work commenced on assessing the behaviour of ultra-high temperature ceramic sintering. Work is multi-disciplinary, bringing in areas of expertise across materials science (ceramics, sintering and modelling). |
Start Year | 2023 |
Description | Westinghouse UN TCD |
Organisation | Westinghouse |
Country | United States |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | Experimental and modelling assessment generating models for operation of next generation of nuclear fuels |
Collaborator Contribution | Industrial direction and network support to achieve project outcomes. |
Impact | DOE funded project to assess the thermal conductivity degradation of next generation nuclear fuels. |
Start Year | 2022 |
Description | Centre for Doctoral Training |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | As part of the annual "Nuclear Fuel Cycle" course as part of the Nuclear Energy Futures Centre for Doctoral Training, students were given experience and demonstrations in the BUFFF. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Nuclear Medicine in North Wales |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Nuclear medicine in North Wales is gaining a lot of attention. The Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility will be able to support much of the research needed to support this and a range of interviews were carried out for BBC Wales, and ITV Wales. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
Description | Secretary of State for Wales visit |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an open day or visit at my research institution |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
Results and Impact | The Secretary of State for Wales visited the Bangor University Fuel Fabrication Facility and discussions over the UK's abilities in the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear medicine, and beyond were had. Clear directions for further alignment with government policy were provided. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |