Ian Farnan

Professor Ian Farnan is a faculty member in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Cambridge. His research focuses on the behavior of nuclear materials at an atomistic scale, particularly their interaction with radiation and water. Key areas include understanding processes critical to radioactive waste disposal, radiation damage mechanisms, and the durability of materials such as nuclear waste forms (glass, spent fuel, ceramics), accident-tolerant fuels, and molten salt systems. He employs advanced techniques like ICP-MS, NMR, and nuclearized analytical methods to study these materials.

• Affiliations: Collaborates with EC JRC Karlsruhe, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and leads initiatives like the Euract-NMR project.
• Labs/Teams: Active in the Bullard Laboratories and coordinates the Cambridge Nuclear Energy Centre (CNEC).

His work bridges fundamental materials science with applied challenges in nuclear safety and sustainability, emphasizing deterministic models over large-scale repository simulations. Research also explores natural analogues like zircon to validate radiation damage effects.