Uranium Science 2025

2nd-4th July 2025

Welcome to Uranium Science 2025

Welcome to Uranium Science – an international conference for interdisciplinary discussion, exciting uranium-centred presentations, and the opportunity for our academic community to meet and collaborate in person. The forefront of modern uranium research will be showcased through a mixed program of plenary speakers, presentations, and poster sessions. We look forward to seeing familiar faces and to meeting new members of our growing network of uranium science researchers at Lancaster University

Online registration is now open!

Register for Uranium Science 2025

Registrations are now open to attend Uranium Science 2025! The event is priced at £195.00 per attendee, including an evening conference dinner at Lancaster Brewery on the 3rd July.

Symposia Themes

Theme 1: Nuclear Fuels and Nuclear Fuel Cycles

Plenary to be given by Professor Robin Taylor, UKNNL, title: TBC

Nuclear power is a cornerstone technology of the modern energy sector, and plays a crucial role in the global transition towards a carbon-neutral future. The stringent efficiency, safety, and environmental standards required for next-generation nuclear fuels and their associated fuel cycles present an exciting challenge to uranium materials research. Additionally, understanding the behaviour of current nuclear fuels within the worlds operational reactors remains an active area of research, highlighting both the complexity and importance of understanding this uranium system. We look forward to contributions within this theme that further our understanding of contemporary nuclear fuels, the candidate materials for next generations of nuclear reactors and their associated nuclear fuel cycles

Professor Bruce Hanson

UPDATE: During the preparations for USci25, Professor Bruce Hanson of the University of Leeds agreed to give a plenary on the topic of Advanced Nuclear Fuel Cycles. Bruce held the University’s Leadership Chair in Nuclear Process Engineering in the School of Chemical and Process Engineering. Sadly, Bruce died on the 22nd of February from complications associated with Motor Neurone Disease (MND), just over a year after he had been diagnosed as having MND.

Bruce was a much-loved friend and colleague to many working the nuclear and chemical engineering disciplines and will be sorely missed. But he was also an internationally respected expert in the areas of spent nuclear fuel and materials management and reprocessing. Thus, and with the blessing of Bruce’s family, we would like to invite submissions for a special session of this theme that will be dedicated to Bruce’s areas of interest, his work and Bruce himself.

A digital representation of a uranium atom

Theme 2: Fundamental Science

Plenary: TBA

As an actinide whose 5f electrons are strongly duel-natured, uranium and its many compounds play host to an almost unparalleled breadth of fascinating physical and chemical phenomena, including but not limited to: superconductivity, magnetism, complex structures and phase transitions, kondo physics, large spin-orbit coupling, heavy fermion behaviour and charge density waves. Understanding these phenomena is of great interest to the Uranium Science community and essential to their potential applications in devices. As such, we welcome research that expands upon or challenges our understanding of uranium and its compounds, showcases the diverse phenomena at play within uranium-containing materials, and combines innovation with fundamental science to pioneer the technologies of tomorrow.

Theme 3: Environmental Science and Forensics

Plenary to be given by Professor Katherine Morris, University of Manchester, title: “Uranium Speciation and Fate in Environmentally Relevant Systems”

The impact of uranium on the environment is a scientifically complex and often politically sensitive issue. characterising and quantifying the presence of uranium and its related compounds is vital for proper risk mitigation and environmental protection and restoration. Similarly, identifying sources of uranium is of fundamental importance to both nuclear forensics and applied nuclear industries. Covering the forefront of actinide spectroscopy and the complex evolution of uranium compounds in the environment, this theme showcases the research making strides to understand the impact of uranium on our world, how best to detect its presence and understand its origins.

UPDATE: Professor Morris is co-director of Nuclear Waste Service’s Research Support Office (NWS-RSO). On the 30^th June and 1^st July 2025, immediately before USci2025, the NWS-RSO will be holding a two day symposium at the University of Manchester on Engineered Barrier Systems (EBSs). The EBS is a core component of the ‘multi-barrier’ approach to the design of the UK’s Geological Disposal Facility. If you are interested in attending the EBS Symposium as well as USci25, further details can be found on the EBS website.

Theme 4: Chemistry and Corrosion

Pleanry: TBA

As a highly reactive and electron-abundant element, uranium manifests a rich array of chemical behaviours. Both as chemical compounds of their own interest or as part of a wider synthesis pathway, investigations of the chemistry of uranium compounds have impacted the way that uranium is understood and utilized within the wider scientific community. A key area for the study of uranium chemistry and surface reactivity are corrosion studies, which are primarily concerned with nuclear fuel materials, material structural and waste management. In the presentations related to this theme we hope to highlight the importance of uranium chemistry and surface reactivity to the wider uranium science community, and to prompt discussions at the frontier of uranium chemistry.

The venue

This year's Uranium Science Conference is being hosted at Lancaster University, a Top 10 UK university in the heart of the North West.

A beautiful location

Set in the beautiful Lancashire countryside ten minutes outside of the city of Lancaster, Lancaster University boasts a sprawling, green campus with stunning views of the nearby Forest of Bowland.

Green spaces

Our campus is full of green spaces; we have a woodland walk which circumnavigates the campus, an outdoor trim trail, as well as our very own EcoHub where we grow our own fruits and vegetables!

Complete amenities

Our campus has a complete array of amenities including a number of supermarkets, fast food restaurants, coffee shops, laundrettes, and a post office.

Outstanding in Engineering

Lancaster's School of Engineering has an excellent record in producing high-quality research, with 95% of its research rated as world-leading or internationally excellent, according to the Research Excellence Framework 2021.

Students and an academic working on the SAFER machine

Our facilities

We have a wide variety of state-of-the-art nuclear research facilities, including the UTGARD Laboratories, and our Scanning electron microscope Analysis with Fib, Ebsd/Eds and Raman (SAFER) workshop, situated in our brand new Engineering Building.

Get in touch

If you have any queries about the conference, please get in touch with us via email.

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