Engineering solutions for deep geological disposal of radioactive waste requires a
challenging combination of knowledge: on one hand, how structures such as tunnels and
caverns within a rock mass modify the local/regional stress state, and on the other hand,
how these structures respond to in-situ stresses over century to millennium timescales. In
all cases, pre-existing discontinuities (faults, fractures, interbedding and joints) and complex
lithology (e.g. clay-rich zones and/or mudstone-halite interbeds) may significantly modify
these responses which in turn are again modified by the presence of fluids and/or
temperature.
Applications are invited for a fully-funded (3 years, 8 months) PhD to commence in 1st February 2023, hosted in the Rock Mechanics Laboratory, School of Environment, Geosciences & Geography at the University of Portsmouth.