Head of the Synchrotron Science Department
Responsible for the BM20 (ROBL) beamline at ESRF
k.kvashnina@hzdr.de
Phone: +33 476 88 2367
Department of Synchrotron Science
Research
The Department of Molecular Structures conducts synchrotron-based research, offering a robust toolkit for scientists investigating materials containing actinides and lanthanides.
Experiments take place at the Rossendorf Beamline of The European Synchrotron (ESRF), in Grenoble (France) which is specifically dedicated to the actinide science and research on radioactive waste disposal. The beamline consists of four experimental stations -XAFS, XES, XRD-1, XRD-2:
- XAFS station with fluorescence and transmission detection for X-ray Absorption Fine-Structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, including (conventional) X-ray Absorption Near-Edge Structure (XANES) and Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopies
- XES with a 5-crystal Johann-type spectrometer for high-energy-resolution fluorescence-detection X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (HERFD-XANES), X-ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and resonant inelastic X-ray scattering (RIXS) measurements.
- XRD-1 station with a heavy-duty, Eulerian cradle, 6-circle goniometer for (high-resolution) powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), surface-sensitive crystal truncation rod (CTR) and resonant anomalous X-ray reflectivity (RAXR) measurements
- XRD-2 station with a Pilatus3 x2M detector stage for single crystal X-ray diffraction (SCXRD) and in situ/in-operando PXRD measurements.
Our research provides detailed insights into the structural and electronic properties of actinide and lanthanide-containing materials across various scientific disciplines, including physics, chemistry, environmental science, and geoscience. We study fundamental electron interactions, bonding properties, probing the local structures and oxidation states of complex systems. Data analysis is performed with the help of electronic structure calculations.
EXAFS, HERFD-XANES, XES and RIXS is not restricted to crystalline solids, but can be applied to a wide range of samples, to derive information on e.g. aqueous speciation, complexation with dissolved inorganic ligands like chloride, sulfate or nitrate, complexation with organic ligands like acetate or humic acid, interaction with bacteria and plants, sorption to mineral and rock surfaces for actinides an other metals and metalloids. Due to the high penetration depth of the employed hard X-rays, the methods are suited to study chemical reactions in-situ/in-operando, for instance at very low or high temperatures, under special atmospheres, or under electrochemical potentials.
More about Rossendorf Beamline
Latest publication
Caprani, R.; Martin, P.; Prieur, D.; Martinez, J.; Lebreton, F.; Bazarkina, E. F.; Kvashnina, K.; Menut, D.; Alibert, M.; Lecoq, S.; Clavier, N.
Abstract
In the context of spent fuel recycling and valorisation of plutonium, (U,Pu)O2 Mixed Oxides (MOX) have been developed to be used in several French PWR. They also stand as a leading best candidate for some GEN IV reactor concepts, such as Sodium-cooled Fast Reactors (SFR). One of the critical challenges of the nuclear industry is the mastery of the nuclear fuel cycle, and specifically the plutonium multi-recycling. In order to achieve this goal, of the utmost importance is the understanding of the secondary phases that are created as a by-product of irradiation. In this work, (U,Pu)O2 have been doped with 11 stable fission products (FP) (Sr, Y, La, Nd, Ce, Zr, Mo, Pd, Rh, Ru, Ba) to reproduce the FP based-precipitates existing in the real spent fuel. Both structural and microstructural properties of these secondary phases were characterized by coupling SEM-EDS, EPMA, and synchrotron techniques such as XAS and SP-XRD. XAS, SP-XRD and SEM-EDS highlighted the relation between the partial segregation among metallic FP (Mo, Pd, Rh, Ru) and the exhibited crystallographic structures, as well as the speciation shift of several FP induced by the addition of Ba in the system. Therefore, the synthesized SIMMOX samples present secondary phases representative of irradiated MOX and can therefore be used as an effective model material to safely study spent nuclear fuel.
Involved research facilities
- Rossendorf Beamline at ESRF DOI: 10.1107/S1600577520014265
Related publications
- DOI: 10.1107/S1600577520014265 is cited by this (Id 41498) publication
-
Inorganic Chemistry (2026)
Permalink: https://www.hzdr.de/publications/Publ-41498
Team
| Name | Bld./Office | +49 351 260 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prof. Dr. Kristina Kvashnina | ROBL/21.6.04 | +33 476 88 2367 | k.kvashnina@hzdr.de | ||
| Name | Bld./Office | +49 351 260 | |||
| Dr. Lucia Amidani | ROBL/14.1.04 | +33 476 88 1982 | |||
| Dr. Nils Baumann | ROBL/21.6.03 | +33 476 88 2849 | |||
| Clara Lisa E Silva | ROBL/14.1.04 | +33 476 88 2044 | |||
| Jörg Exner | ROBL/BM20 | +33 476 88 2372 | |||
| Dr. Christoph Hennig | ROBL/21.6.02a | +33 476 88 2005 | |||
| Dr. Eleanor Sophia Lawrence Bright | +33 476 88 2462 | ||||
| Dr. Damien Prieur | ROBL/21.6.03 | +33 476 88 2463 | |||
| Dr. André Roßberg | 801/P316 | 2758 | |||
| Anne Thielen | a.thielen | ||||
| Dr. Sami Juhani Vasala | s.vasala | ||||