Professor Fergus G F Gibb

BSc PhD FGS

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Emeritus Professor of Petrology & Geochemistry

MAT - Fergus Gibb profile photo
Profile picture of MAT - Fergus Gibb profile photo
f.gibb@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3630

Full contact details

Professor Fergus G F Gibb
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Sir Robert Hadfield Building
Mappin Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
Profile

Fergus Gibb graduated from the University of St Andrews with a BSc Hons, (1963) and PhD (1966) in geology. Following appointments at the University of Toronto (Lecturer in the Department of Geology, 1966-69) and the University of Manchester (Senior Research Assistant in the Department of Geology, 1969-73), he came to Sheffield in 1973 as a lecturer in the Department of Geology (latterly, Earth Sciences).

Promoted to Senior Lecturer in 1979 and Reader in 1985, he transferred to Materials Science and Engineering in October 2001 where his research into the geological disposal of nuclear waste became an integral part of the activities of the Immobilisation Science Laboratory. He was awarded a personal chair in 2005. In recognition of the potential strategic importance of his research for the future management of the UK´s high-level nuclear wastes, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority part-funded his chair in 2006.

A former council member and vice-president of The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, he was elected to a fellowship of the Mineralogical Society of America in 1998 "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the fields of mineralogy, crystallography, geochemistry and petrology". In 2007 he was appointed to the government´s advisory Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM).

Research interests

Key projects

  • Mathematical modelling of the physical environments in and around both low & high-temperature deep borehole disposals for various forms of nuclear waste, including spent fuel, reprocessing wastes and fissile materials like plutonium.
  • Experimental investigation of materials and designs for possible containers for the safe, high-temperature deep disposal of spent fuel.
  • Development of a low-temperature very deep disposal concept for vitrified reprocessing waste.
  • Deep borehole disposal of surplus plutonium through encapsulation of crystalline waste forms in recrystallized granite.
  • Design and large-scale testing of special high-density support matrices for the deep borehole disposal of spent light-water reactor fuel.
  • Evaluation of hydrogeological conditions at depths of several kilometres in areas of the continental crust potentially suitable for deep borehole disposal of nuclear wastes.

Deep Borehole Disposal Research Group

Staff:
Prof Fergus G. F. Gibb
Prof Neil A. Chapman
Dr Karl P. Travis
Dr David Burley

PhD students:
Ms Lyubka Spasova

Publications

Journal articles

Conference proceedings papers

  • Travis KP, Collier NC & Gibb FGF (2016) Deep Borehole Disposal Research at the University of Sheffield. Proceedings of the Workshop “Final Disposal in Deep Boreholes Using Multiple Geological Barriers: Digging Deeper for Safety” (pp 175-175). Berlin, Germany RIS download Bibtex download
  • Travis KP & Gibb FGF (2015) Deep geological boreholes : A suitable disposal route for the hanford Cs/Sr capsules?. 15th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference 2015, IHLRWM 2015 (pp 115-121) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gibb FGF & Travis KP (2015) Sealing deep borehole disposals of radioactive waste by "rock welding". 15th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference 2015, IHLRWM 2015 (pp 401-406) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Travis KP & Gibb FGF (2015) Deep borehole disposal research: What have we learned from numerical modeling and what can we learn?. Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings, Vol. 1744 (pp 193-203) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Collier NC, Travis KP, Gibb FGF & Milestone NB (2015) Cementitious grouts for disposal of nuclear wasteforms in deep boreholes. 15th International High-Level Radioactive Waste Management Conference 2015, IHLRWM 2015 (pp 394-400) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Collier NC, Travis KP, Gibb FGF & Milestone NB (2015) Characteristics of Cementitious Paste for use in Deep Borehole Disposal of Spent Fuel and High Level Wasteforms. MRS Proceedings, Vol. 1744 (pp 205-210) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gibb FGF, Travis KP, McTaggart NA, Burley D & Hesketh KW (2008) Modeling temperature distribution around very deep borehole disposals of HLW. NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 163(1) (pp 62-73) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Travis KP, McTaggart NA, Gibb FGF & Burley D (2008) A model for predicting the temperature distribution around radioactive waste containers in very deep geological boreholes. SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT XXXI, Vol. 1107 (pp 83-90) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Stennett MC, Hyatt NC, Maddrell ER, Gibb FGF, Moebus G & Lee WE (2006) Microchemical and crystallographic characterisation of fluorite-based ceramic wasteforms. Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXIX, Vol. 932 (pp 623-630) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gibb FGF & Attrill PG (2004) Experimental high pressure crystallisation of a natural granitic melt. PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY OF GLASSES, Vol. 45(2) (pp 90-94) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt NC, Taylor KJ, Gibb FGF & Lee WE (2004) Crystallisation of Magnox waste glass under conditions of high temperature, very deep, geological disposal. GLASS TECHNOLOGY, Vol. 45(2) (pp 68-70) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Hyatt NC, Taylor KJ, Gibb FGF & Lee WE (2004) A study of magnox waste glass under conditions of high temperature, very deep, geological disposal.. SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT XXVII, Vol. 807 (pp 199-204) RIS download Bibtex download
  • Gibb FGF & Henderson CMB (1996) The Shiant Isles Main Sill: Structure and mineral fractionation trends. MINERALOGICAL MAGAZINE, Vol. 60(398) (pp 67-97) RIS download Bibtex download
Professional activities and memberships

Professor Gibb´s early work led to his recognition as an expert on fluid mechanical and other petrogenetic processes in minor igneous intrusions, particularly dykes. His subsequent application of mineralogical and geochemical analyses to the emplacement and differentiation of magmatic bodies has led to international acknowledgement as an authority on basic sill complexes and related intrusions. As his recent appointment to CoRWM attests, he is now recognised as an expert on the geological disposal of radioactive wastes. Among his professional activities, he is:

  • a member of the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain & Ireland since 1965; (Council member, 1976-80, 1989-91, vice-president, 1990).
  • a fellow of The Geological Society (of London) since 1973; (Volcanic Studies Group Committee, 1976-80).
  • a member of the Mineralogical Society of America since 1966; (Elected Fellow 1998).
  • a member of the Edinburgh Geological Society since 1965.