Dr Robin Taylor is the National Nuclear Laboratory's (NNL) Senior Fellow in Actinides
How did your career start?
After completing a chemistry degree at Manchester University, I studied for my PhD in radiochemistry. It seemed a natural move to join BNFL's Research and Development department in 1992. Initially, I was employeed as a research associate in the solvent extraction team at Sellafield.
I have also had the opportunity to look at applications for processing legacy fuels and residues as well as Generation IV fuel cycles. This work has led to some interesting collaborations in Russia, Europe, Japan and the USA.
What does your job entail now?
Ongoing support for the reprocessing plants at Sellafield continues to play a major part of my work. Of particular note is the development a better optimised flowsheet for the Primary Separation (PS4) cycle in Magnox reprocessing. I was delighted when this work won the Nexia Solutions Innovation Award in 2005.
More recently, I have become involved in a wider number of projects looking at the separation and behaviour of transuranic actinides in legacy wastes and other aspects of actinide materials. The common theme throughout my technical career is a belief that we can address practical issues of real significance through an enhanced understanding of the underlying chemistry of the actinides.
How will you develop the Senior Fellow role?
There are three key areas I feel are fundamental for our future success:
