Anna Louise Smith

Dr. Anna Louise Smith is an Associate Professor in the Reactor Physics and Nuclear Materials section at the Radiation Science and Technology department of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft). She is a physical chemist and materials scientist specializing in nuclear materials, with expertise in both experimental and computational approaches to studying advanced nuclear fuel systems.

Dr. Smith earned her "diplôme d'ingénieur" from Chimie ParisTech in 2011, conferring a Master of Science in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. She simultaneously completed an M.Phil. in Advanced Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge. She received her PhD in Materials Science and Metallurgy from Cambridge in 2015, after spending three years at the Joint Research Centre in Karlsruhe, Germany, where she developed expertise in nuclear fuel chemistry and chemical thermodynamics of actinide materials.

Her research focuses on the chemistry of advanced nuclear fuels, including ceramics (oxides) and molten salts (fluorides and chlorides), with particular interest in structure-property relationships. She combines experimental and computational studies to investigate physico-chemical properties from atomic to macroscopic scales, with applications to next-generation nuclear reactor technologies emphasizing safety and sustainability. Her current interests include the chemistry of fission products in oxides and molten salts, interaction chemistry between fuel, coolant, and cladding materials, and corrosion issues at high temperatures in nuclear reactor environments.

Analysis of Dr. Smith's recent publications (2022-2025) reveals a strong focus on thermodynamic properties of molten salt systems, particularly those relevant to nuclear fuel cycles. Her work spans fundamental studies of actinide chemistry in molten fluorides and chlorides, corrosion mechanisms between molten salts and structural materials, and the development of thermodynamic models for complex multi-component systems essential for molten salt reactor design. She has made significant contributions to understanding the behavior of thorium-based fuel systems and corrosion products in high-temperature environments.

Dr. Smith has established a research team and laboratory at TU Delft specifically designed for handling uranium and thorium materials. Her work contributes to several major European projects focused on advanced nuclear technologies, including the MIMOSA and ENDURANCE projects that explore the safety and performance of molten salt reactors for deployment in the European Union. She collaborates extensively with researchers across Europe and has published over 50 research outputs including articles, book chapters, and review papers.