Post Doctorate RA – Materials Science & Waste Form Development

Overview

At PNNL, our core capabilities are divided among major departments that we refer to as directorates within the Lab, focused on a specific area of scientific research or other function, with its own leadership team and dedicated budget.

Our Science & Technology directorates include National Security, Earth and Biological Sciences, Physical and Computational Sciences, and Energy and Environment. In addition, we have an Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory, a Department of Energy, Office of Science user facility housed on the PNNL campus.

The Energy and Environment Directorate delivers science and technology solutions for the nation’s biggest energy and environmental challenges. Our more than 1,700 staff support the Department of Energy (DOE), delivering on key DOE mission areas including modernizing our nation’s power grid to maintain a reliable, affordable, secure, and resilient electricity delivery infrastructure; research, development, validation, and effective utilization of renewable energy and efficiency technologies that improve the affordability, reliability, resiliency, and security of the American energy system;

and resolving complex issues in nuclear science, energy, and environmental management.

The Nuclear Sciences Division, part of the Energy and Environment Directorate, delivers science and technology innovations for the environment, energy, and national security. At a time when complex challenges are emerging on many fronts, we address some of the most challenging national and international nuclear issues. This includes providing technological solutions that protect the public health and safety around nuclear facilities, developing durable new materials for extreme nuclear environments, innovating new nuclear processes for the safety and security of the nation, and delivering new approaches for accelerating environmental cleanup of nuclear sites.

The division’s capabilities and efforts are focused on environmental management of nuclear sites, nuclear regulatory processes, national nuclear security, and advancing nuclear energy.

The Radiological Materials (RM) group at PNNL is a world leader in development and testing of materials for immobilization of nuclear and hazardous wastes. Specific areas of noted expertise are in formulation, synthesis, and characterization of vitreous and cementitious materials. RM is looking to hire a Post Doc with a background in chemistry or materials science/chemical/engineering science to help meet challenges in nuclear waste immobilization and long‑term performance.

The successful candidate will be an integral member of an inter‑disciplinary team of scientists, engineers, and technicians to primarily help and plan the testing of various nuclear waste form materials (e.g., cements, glass, ceramics) or in the chemical treatment of nuclear wastes or other complex systems.

The Post Doc candidate will be responsible for helping to develop and execute experimental plans to synthesize and evaluate the performance of various nuclear waste forms and perform studies to understand the aging of this class of materials as applied to the waste vitrification or grout missions  candidate will assist in the planning of experiments, writing of test plans, production of test samples, performing of experiments, and writing of reports and journal papers.

Opportunity to work with high‑end analysis equipment, and potentially develop and/or work with equipment specifically designed to obtain defensible data on waste glass or grout processes and properties. The candidate may measure feed/glass properties, and develop property‑composition models. Characterization data to be gathered, cataloged, and used for a predictive modeling tool with respect to formulation, processing and final waste form properties may include rheology, calorimetry, ultrasound wave reflection techniques, chemical leaching studies, X‑ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and optical microscopy.

Additional grout analysis methods/waste form properties would also focus on physical characterization (e.g., flexural, compressive & tensile strength, permeability,…