Dr Clare Thorpe

MEarthSci Geology (1st Class Honours)

School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering

Lecturer in Radioactive Materials

Head of second year Materials Science undergraduate students

clare.thorpe@sheffield.ac.uk

Sir Robert Hadfield Building

Full contact details

Dr Clare Thorpe
School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD

Profile: I currently hold a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship and a Lectureship in Nuclear Materials within the School of Chemical, Materials and Biological Engineering. My research group is an integral part of the Immobilisation Science Laboratory, focusing on exploring the corrosion interactions between materials and their environment, with a particular focus on materials to contain radionuclides (e.g. vitrified radioactive wastes).

I started work at the University of Sheffield as a postdoctoral researcher on the US DOE funded project GLAD (Glass Leaching Assessment for Disposability) before securing an EPSRC David Clarke Research Fellowship titled "Durability of vitrified radioactive waste in complex natural environments" in 2019, and a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship titled "Microbes, minerals and materials heterogeneity; how (bio)geochemical processes affect the behaviour of glassy material" in 2023.

Prior to joining the University of Sheffield, I completed a degree in Earth Sciences (2004-2008) and a PhD in the "Biogeochemistry of radioactively contaminated land" (2008-2012) from the University of Manchester. Following this, two Sellafield Ltd sponsored postdoctoral research positions, working towards bioremediation strategies for sediment contaminated with radionuclides.

My research is currently supported by the US Department of Energy, Sellafield Ltd, Nuclear Waste Services/Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and the National Nuclear Laboratory. I sit on the Royal Society of Chemistry Radiochemistry Group Committee and UK Nuclear Academics Meeting Committee.

Alongside my love of science, I am a keen high-latitude sailor, dinghy racer, and mother.

Research interests

My research aims to understand the behaviour of materials in complex natural environments with a particular focus on materials relevant to the safe disposal of radioactive waste in subsurface environments. Understanding material-solution interactions in these systems requires an interdisciplinary approach involving aqueous geochemistry, solid state chemistry, metal and radionuclide redox cycling, geomicrobiology, mineralogy, and glass chemistry.

Key research:

Vitrified radioactive waste durability. The development of durable glasses for immobilising radioactive elements and the use of laboratory scale tests to estimate the medium and long-term behaviour of these wasteforms and the radionuclides they contain.
Natural analogue studies for deep and shallow geological disposal. Validation of glass dissolution behaviour observed in the laboratory against that observed in long-term field experiments and natural analogue sites. By studying the alteration from shipwreck glasses, industrial slags and archaeological glasses, information can be gained regarding glass behaviour under a variety of geochemical conditions. In parallel, I am the custodian of several long term glass alteration experiments established by the University of Sheffield to study the behaviour of simulant nuclear waste glasses exposed in natural alkaline environments over several decades.
Impact of microbiology on glass dissolution. Understanding of if and how microbes can affect the dissolution of glasses both directly, through colonisation and element sequestration, or indirectly, through changes to the surrounding environment resulting from microbial metabolism. It is possible that some elements contained in glasses may act as biocides whereas others may be beneficial nutrients.
Evolution of glass alteration layers. The evolution of glass alteration layers over time and how their chemistry and mineralogy can change depending on both the glass composition and the chemistry of the environment.

Publications

Journal articles

Thorpe CL, Crawford R, Hand RJ, Radford JT, Corkhill CL, Pearce CI, Neeway JJ, Plymale AE, Kruger AA, Morris K , Boothman C et al (2024) Microbial interactions with phosphorus containing glasses representative of vitrified radioactive waste. Journal of Hazardous Materials, 462, 132667-132667.
Mansfield JT, Thorpe CL, Corkhill CL, Harrison MT & Hand RJ (2023) Localised extended (“vermiform”) features formed during glass dissolution. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 608, 122230-122230.
Matthews BE, Neeway JJ, Farias LN, Marcial J, Arey BW, Soltis J, Kovarik L, Zhu Z, Schweiger MJ, Canfield N , Varga T et al (2023) Micro- and Nanoscale Surface Analysis of Late Iron Age Glass from Broborg, a Vitrified Swedish Hillfort. Microscopy and Microanalysis, 29(1), 50-68.
Thorpe CL, Neeway JJ, Pearce CI, Hand RJ, Fisher AJ, Walling SA, Hyatt NC, Kruger AA, Schweiger M, Kosson DS , Arendt CL et al (2021) Forty years of durability assessment of nuclear waste glass by standard methods. npj Materials Degradation, 5(1).
Nava-Farias L, Neeway JJ, Schweiger MJ, Marcial J, Canfield NL, Pearce CI, Peeler DK, Vicenzi EP, Kosson DS, Delapp RC , McCloy JS et al (2021) Applying laboratory methods for durability assessment of vitrified material to archaeological samples. npj Materials Degradation, 5(1). View this article in WRRO
Thorpe CL, Williams HA, Boothman C, Lloyd JR & Morris K (2019) Positron emission tomography to visualise in-situ microbial metabolism in natural sediments. Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 144, 104-110.
Thorpe CL, Law GTW, Lloyd JR, Williams HA, Atherton N & Morris K (2017) Quantifying Technetium and Strontium Bioremediation Potential in Flowing Sediment Columns. Environmental Science & Technology, 51(21), 12104-12113.
Thorpe CL, Hand RJ, Hyatt NC, Kruger AA, Kosson DS, Schweiger MJ, Riley BJ & Corkhill CL (2017) Evaluation of novel leaching assessment of nuclear waste glasses. MRS Advances. View this article in WRRO
Thorpe CL, Lloyd JR, Law GTW, Williams HA, Atherton N, Cruickshank JH & Morris K (2016) Retention of 99mTc at Ultra-trace Levels in Flowing Column Experiments – Insights into Bioreduction and Biomineralization for Remediation at Nuclear Facilities. Geomicrobiology Journal, 33(3-4), 199-205. View this article in WRRO
Thorpe CL, Morris K, Lloyd JR, Denecke MA, Law KA, Dardenne K, Boothman C, Bots P & Law GTW (2015) Neptunium and manganese biocycling in nuclear legacy sediment systems. Applied Geochemistry, 63, 303-309.
Thorpe CL, Boothman C, Lloyd JR, Law GTW, Bryan ND, Atherton N, Livens FR & Morris K (2014) The interactions of strontium and technetium with Fe(II) bearing biominerals: Implications for bioremediation of radioactively contaminated land. Applied Geochemistry, 40, 135-143.
Thorpe CL, Lloyd JR, Law GTW, Burke IT, Shaw S, Bryan ND & Morris K (2012) Strontium sorption and precipitation behaviour during bioreduction in nitrate impacted sediments. Chemical Geology, 306-307, 114-122.
Thorpe CL, Morris K, Boothman C & Lloyd JR (2012) Alkaline Fe(III) reduction by a novel alkali-tolerant Serratia sp. isolated from surface sediments close to Sellafield nuclear facility, UK. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 327(2), 87-92.
Thorpe CL, Law GTW, Boothman C, Lloyd JR, Burke IT & Morris K (2012) The Synergistic Effects of High Nitrate Concentrations on Sediment Bioreduction. Geomicrobiology Journal, 29(5), 484-493.
Corkhill CL, Mann C, Eskelsen JR, Leonard DN, Mottram LM, Stennett MC, Ayling JMS, Thorpe CL, Cole MR, Nicholas S , Tappero R et al () Surface interfacial analysis of simulant high level nuclear waste glass dissolved in synthetic cement solutions. npj Materials Degradation, 6(1).

Conference proceedings papers

Hyatt NC, Corkhill CL, Stennett MC, Hand RJ, Gardner LJ & Thorpe CL (2020) The HADES facility for high activity decommissioning engineering & science: part of the UK national nuclear user facility. IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, Vol. 818. Manchester, UK, 4 February 2020 - 5 February 2020. View this article in WRRO
Hyatt N (2018) Evaluation of Novel Leaching Assessment for Nuclear Waste Glasses. Proceedings of Waste Management 2018
Mann C, Le Hoh T, Thorpe CL & Corkhill CL (2018) Dissolution of glass in cementitious solutions: An analogue study for vitrified waste disposal. MRS Advances, Vol. 3(21) (pp 1147-1154) View this article in WRRO
Mann C, Thorpe C, Milodowski AE, Field LP, Shaw RP, Boast L, Hand R, Hyatt NC, Provis JL & Corkhill CL (2017) Interactions between Simulant Vitrified Nuclear Wastes and high pH solutions: A Natural Analogue Approach. MRS Advances, Vol. 2(12) (pp 669-674) View this article in WRRO

Preprints

Thorpe C, Ravikumar R, Corkhill C, Walling S, Neeway J, Pearce C, Kruger A, Kosson D, Marcial J & Hand R (2024) The Effectiveness of TRIS and Ammonium buffers in Glass Dissolution Studies: A Comparative Analysis, Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
Thorpe C, Fisher A, Manifold G, Creasey-Gray S, Jackson C, Stone J, Corkhill C, Boothman C, Lloyd J & Hand R (2024) Insights into long-term glass corrosion mechanisms from the Ballidon project: a 50-year-old glass burial experiment in an alkaline near surface environment., Research Square Platform LLC.

Research group

PhD Students

Daniel Parkes, Characterisation and durability of thermally treated ILW (TRANSCEND).

Rachel Crawford, the dissolution of vitrified nuclear waste forms as a function of groundwater composition; the effect of iron on UK HLW glass durability. (GREEN CDT (EPSRC)

Jenny Ayling, the dissolution of vitrified nuclear waste forms as a function of groundwater composition; the effect alkali and alkali earth cations on glass durability. (NDA/NNL)

Garry Manifold, Alteration of vitrified radioactive waste in low temperature natural environments: a natural analogue approach. (NWS/NDA)

Grants

Active grants:

2023-2028: Centre of Expertise for Thermal and Immobilisation (Sellafield Ltd.)
2024 – 2032: Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship Microbes, minerals and materials heterogeneity; how (bio)geochemical processes affect the behaviour of glassy material (Royal Society)
2016-2026: Project GLAD (Glass leaching assessment for disposability) (US Department of Energy)
2020-2024: PhD Studentship: Alteration of vitrified radioactive waste in low temperature natural environments: a natural analogue approach (NWS – RSO).

Past grants:

2019-2020: Royal Society of Chemistry Research Fund: what can shipwreck glasses tell us about radioactive waste (RSC).
2019-2023: EPSRC David Clarke Fellowship: Durability of vitrified radioactive waste in complex natural environments (EPSRC).
2016: Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland Early Career Bursary: The Ballidon Glass Burial Project from a Geochemist’s Perspective
2014-2015: Knowledge Transfer project: feasibility and longevity of bioremediation at Sellafield. (EPSRC/Sellafield Ldt)
2015: University of Manchester ‘Seed corn’ funding to investigate the use of PET-CT in imaging microbial processes
2012-2013: Knowledge Transfer project: column studies towards the feasibility of bioremediation (EPSRC/Sellafield Ltd)

Teaching activities: I teach materials corrosion chemistry to 3rd year materials students in MAT 373 - Surface degradation and protection. In addition, I supervise undergraduate and postgraduate final year research projects and assist on the 2nd year MAT214/2930 Research Perspectives.

Professional activities and memberships

Member of Royal Society of Chemistry
Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry Radiochemistry Group Committee
Member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland
Fellow of Higher Education