2020 MRS Spring Meeting

Call for Papers

Symposium S.CT03-Expanding the Frontiers of Actinide Materials Science Through Experiment and Theory

Actinides exhibit many unique and diverse physical, chemical and magnetic properties, due in large part to the complexity of their 5f electronic structure. This Symposium will concentrate upon the chemistry, physics and materials science in the Actinide materials, driven by the 5f electronic structure. Particular emphasis will be placed upon the 5f magnetic structure, surface science, Pu aging and radiation damage, and bulk, thin film and nanoparticle properties and their applications to nuclear security, and energy and medically related issues. Fundamental actinide science and its role in resolving environmental, medical and technical challenges posed by actinide materials will be stressed, particularly with regard to energy applications, including energy generation, novel nuclear fuels and structural materials, waste remediation and waste disposal, but also with regard to medical applications, including the use of new therapeutic and diagnostic isotopes and novel processes for production and pharmaceutical formulations. Both basic and applied experimental approaches, including synchrotron-radiation-based and neutron-based investigations, as well as theoretical modeling and computational simulations, are to be part of the Symposium. Of particular importance are the issues connected to non-proliferation, homeland security, nuclear forensics and the potential renaissances in nuclear energy and nuclear medicine, including fuel synthesis, oxidation, corrosion, intermixing, stability in extreme environments and biological media, prediction of properties via bench-marked simulations, separation science, formulation science, environmental impact and disposal of waste products. This would be the 10th Actinides Symposium at the meetings of the Materials Research Society. The previous nine were at Boston, San Francisco and Phoenix.

Topics will include:

  • Synthesis of f-electron materials
  • Surface science, oxidation, corrosion
  • Radiation damage, aging and related physical properties
  • Nuclear forensics
  • Environmental science
  • Energy applications, nuclear fuels, waste remediation and waste disposal
  • Medical applications, therapeutic and diagnostic isotopes, processes for production of pharmaceuticals
  • Advanced spectroscopies and actinide science at user facilities
  • Theory and computation
  • 5f electronic structure, bonding and covalency
  • Strong electron-electron correlations, heavy-fermions, magnetism, and superconductivity

Invited Speakers:

  • Sheng Dai (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, USA)
  • Bernard Amadon (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, France)
  • John Auxier (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA)
  • Corwin H. Booth (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA)
  • Patrick Causey (Canadian Nuclear Laboratories, Canada)
  • Rachel Eloirdi (European Commission, Germany)
  • Tori Z. Forbes (The University of Iowa, USA)
  • Shin-Ichi Fujimori (RIKEN, Japan)
  • Krzysztof Gofryk (Idaho National Laboratory, USA)
  • Stosh Kozimor (Los Alamos National Laboratory, USA)
  • Nicola Lanatà (Aarhus University, Denmark)
  • Naomi Marks (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA)
  • K. Marie McCoy (Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, USA)
  • Luther McDonald (The University of Utah, USA)
  • Raluca Scarlat (University of California, Berkeley, USA)
  • Andrea Severing (University of Cologne, Germany)
  • Alexander B. Shick (The Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic)
  • William J. Weber (University of Tennessee, USA)

Symposium Organizers

Rebecca J. Abergel
University of California, Berkeley
Nuclear Engineering
USA

Scott B. Donald
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Physical and Life Sciences
USA

Jindrich Kolorenc
The Czech Academy of Sciences
Institute of Physics, Department of Condensed Matter Theory
Czech Republic

Paul H. Tobash
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Nuclear Materials Science
USA

Publishing Alliance

MRS publishes with Springer Nature