Electron probe microanalysis as a versatile tool to probe the chemistry of radioactive wasteforms

Abstract

Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) is a powerful, nondestructive microscopy tool that finds ubiquitous application in the broader field of materials science. Herein, it was demonstrated that EPMA is a versatile tool for probing the chemistry of nuclear materials, particularly wasteform systems for the immobilization of intermediate and high-level radioactive waste, with constituents such as Cs, Sr, U and Pu. This communication evidences the efficacy of EPMA to further understand the five distinct wasteform systems for both nonradioactive surrogate material particularly relevant to the UK radioactive waste management and disposal program, including alpha-active systems containing 238U.

Metadata

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Creasey-Gray, S. https://orcid.org/0009-0000-2333-8424 Stennett, M. Thorpe, C. Manifold, G. Walkley, B. Nevin, C. Fernández, R. Morgan, J. Harrison, R. Blackburn, L.
Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information:	© The Author(s) 2026. Open Access: This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords:	Immobilization; Wasteforms; Plutonium; EPMA; Microscopy; Characterization
Dates:	Accepted: 25 August 2026 Published (online): 1 October 2026 Published: 1 October 2026
Institution:	The University of Sheffield
Academic Units:	The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Engineering (Sheffield) > School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Funding Information:	Funder Grant number ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/S012400/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/P02470X/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/S019367/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/R00661X/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/T011424/1 Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council 2602279 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL EP/Y029208/1
Date Deposited:	16 Oct 2026 14:37
Last Modified:	16 Oct 2026 14:37
Status:	Published online
Publisher:	Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Refereed:	Yes
Identification Number:	10.1557/s43577-026-01195-8
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID):	oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:246757

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Electron probe microanalysis as a versatile tool to probe the chemistry of radioactive wasteforms

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