Research
Projects
With our objective to translate and commercialise our innovation and research discoveries to end users both internationally and (subject to Australian policy guidance) also nationally, our ongoing collaborations have generated breakthrough innovations and intellectual property.
Research themes
Our founding research themes unite engineers, scientists, and law policy and social science experts, cementing the cross-disciplinary, cross-industry nature of the Centre.
Australian people and organisations are trying to rapidly enhance their understanding of nuclear technology. To achieve this, formal and informal education programs need to be designed and delivered. Renewed research is needed to explore engineering pedagogy and public perceptions and attitudes towards nuclear technology alongside new nuclear deployments in Australia and internationally.
Materials research provides the understanding to support nuclear safety based on component lifetime, safety margins and reactor life-extension. Safety and mission-critical decisions are based on cutting-edge science that describes the expected behaviour of nuclear fuels, waste forms and nuclear structural materials in service and over extended timescales in long-term storage.
Nuclear safety and future innovation in nuclear engineering design requires a research-based understanding of operational regimes in the reactor core, provided by reactor physics, thermal hydraulics and nuclear chemical engineering. This must integrate with human operators, designers and regulators, with excellent safety culture. Immediate challenges for deploying nuclear technology in Australia include advancing technology for monitoring, surveillance and non-destructive evaluation in nuclear reactors.
Nuclear fusion is moving from physics research to early engineering applications, with all the associated engineering challenges of this transition. Fusion is a rich area for engineering/physics collaboration across UNSW, and an area of high interest for young researchers.
UNSW has extensive experience in the examination of existing and potential nuclear waste repositories. UNSW geochemists and environmental engineers are currently assessing the optimal approaches for the remediation and containment of the radioactive by‑products of nuclear processes and studying how best to engage public stakeholders on matters concerning waste and recycling.
Recognising that nuclear technology supports every one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the Centre hosts discussion and research with academic and industry partners to refine societal impact alignment and communication strategy around positive impact of national nuclear capability in engineering education, nuclear medicine, Indo-Pacific strategy, achieving net-zero and energy security.
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