MSc Nuclear Science and Technology

For entry in the academic year beginning September 2026, the tuition fees are as follows:

• MSc (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £14,200
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £35,200
• MSc (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £11,050
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £11,050
• MSc (part-time distance learning)
  UK students (per annum): £22,100
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £22,100
• PGDip (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £18,400
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £18,400
• PGDip (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £9,200
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £9,200
• PGCert (full-time)
  UK students (per annum): £11,000
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £11,000
• PGCert (part-time)
  UK students (per annum): £5,500
  International, including EU, students (per annum): £5,500

Further information for EU students can be found on our dedicated EU page.

The fees quoted above will be fully inclusive for the course tuition, administration and computational costs during your studies.

All fees for entry will be subject to yearly review and incremental rises per annum are also likely over the duration of courses lasting more than a year for UK/EU students (fees are typically fixed for International students, for the course duration at the year of entry). For general fees information please visit: postgraduate fees . Always contact the department if you are unsure which fee applies to your qualification award and method of attendance.

Self-funded international applicants for this course will be required to pay a deposit of £1000 towards their tuition fees before a confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) is issued. This deposit will only be refunded if immigration permission is refused. We will notify you about how and when to make this payment.

All students should normally be able to complete their programme of study without incurring additional study costs over and above the tuition fee for that programme. Any unavoidable additional compulsory costs totalling more than 1% of the annual home undergraduate fee per annum, regardless of whether the programme in question is undergraduate or postgraduate taught, will be made clear to you at the point of application. Further information can be found in the University's Policy on additional costs incurred by students on undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes (PDF document, 91KB).

We offer a number of postgraduate taught scholarships and awards to outstanding UK and international students each year.

The University of Manchester is committed to widening participation in master's study, and allocates £300,000 in funding each year. Our Manchester Master's Bursaries are aimed at widening access to master's courses by removing barriers to postgraduate education for students from underrepresented groups.

We also welcome the best and brightest international students each year and reward excellence with a number of merit-based scholarships. See our range of master’s scholarships for international students .

And, if you have completed an undergraduate degree at The University of Manchester, or are currently in your final year of an undergraduate degree with us, you may be eligible for a discount of 10% on tuition fees if you choose to study on a taught postgraduate course here. Find out if you're eligible and how to apply .

For more information on master's tuition fees and studying costs, visit the University of Manchester funding for master's courses website to help you plan your finances.

A range of topics will be addressed including:

• Introduction to radioactive waste, waste encapsulation and immobilisation, and the multi-barrier concept for radioactive waste disposal
• Radioactive decay and the interactions between radiation and matter
• Sources of radioactive waste, waste classification and characterisation
• Basic approaches and principles of radioactive waste management
• Basics of nuclear waste regulation, legal framework, and responsible bodies
• Uranium occurrence, exploitation and mining
• Uranium mining waste geochemistry and environmental impacts
• Application of cements and cementation technologies for waste immobilisation
• Application of glasses and vitrification technology for waste immobilisation
• Application of ceramics and ceramification techniques for waste immobilisation
• Introduction to nuclear waste disposal concepts
• Geological repositories for radioactive waste isolation

The unit aims to:
Reviews basic approaches of nuclear waste management and gives an introduction to the scientific fundamentals of nuclear waste processing and disposal.

ILO 1  -  Recall and interpret information on radioactivity, radionuclides and the different types of radioactive waste.
ILO 2  -  Explain the general approaches to nuclear waste management.
ILO 3  -  Define the techniques commonly employed in nuclear waste processing and evaluate the most appropriate storage or disposal route for a particular waste.
ILO 4  -  Develop an evidence based strategy for dealing with a defined nuclear waste management problem.
ILO 5  -  Perform a group investigation and disseminate information in a group presentation to a peer group, on an aspect of global nuclear waste management practices.

Learning material is primarily delivered via lectures.  Directly delivered content is supplemented by pre-recorded online material, self-test questions, and peer-to-peer learning.

Formal feedback will be given on mark form. Verbal feedback for the group presentation will also be provided via Q&A session at the end of the presentation.

W. E. Lee, M. I. Ojovan, M. C. Stennett & N. C. Hyatt. Immobilisation of radioactive waste in glasses, glass composite materials and ceramics. Advances in Applied Ceramics, Vol. 105 (2013) 3-12.
C. L. Corkhill & N. C. Hyatt. Nuclear waste management. IOP Publishing Ltd, 18p. (2018).
N. C. Hyatt. Safe management of the UK separated plutonium inventory: a challenge of materials degradation. npj Materials Degradation, Vol. 4 (2020) 1-4.
N. C. Hyatt. Plutonium management policy in the United Kingdom: The need for a dual track strategy. Energy Policy, Vol. 101 (2017) 303-309.
M.I. Ojovan, W.E. Lee. An introduction to nuclear waste immobilization. Elsevier, 315p. (2005).
P. Wilson. The Nuclear Fuel Cycle. Wiley and Sons, Incorporated, 405p. (2001).
N.A. Chapman, I.G. McKinley. The geological disposal of nuclear waste. John Wiley and Sons, New York, 437p. (1987).