Dr Susie Hardie

Position: Co-ordinator
Expertise: Stable and radioisotope chemistry, Environmental chemistry, Contaminated land remediation, Communication, Radioactive waste management, Carbon cycling, Greenhouse gases
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Dr Susie Hardie has 18 years of experience in environmental research and radioactive waste management.

Dr Susie Hardie has 18 years of experience in radioactive waste disposal and environmental research. Since 2011, she has been particularly involved in projects related to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi (1F), spending months in Japan as a visiting Research Fellow with the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) team in Fukushima city, assisting documentation of off-site remediation and assessment of radiocaesium mobility. In addition, she has supported studies of 1F on-site stabilisation and planning of decommissioning, with special emphasis on management of fuel debris / hot particles and a holistic approach to waste disposal. Dr Hardie acts as coordinator for a wide range of other work carried out in Japan, including review / English documentation of a safety case for co-disposal of HLW and TRU by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan and a spent fuel feasibility study by JAEA. A focus of work has been development of optimised disposal concepts that place emphasis on operational safety, practicality and reduction of costs / environmental impact. For such work, a range of advanced knowledge management tools are used to comprehensively capture potential natural and human perturbations and identify trade-offs between operational and post-closure safety. Dr Hardie was also involved in a feasibility study for a waste disposal facility for damaged nuclear facilities in Iraq.

Susie has a PhD in stable and radioisotope chemistry. As a post-doctoral researcher in Scotland for 5 years, her research focussed on the use of stable and radioisotopes ( d²H, d¹³C, d¹⁵N, d¹⁸O,¹⁴C, ¹³⁷Cs, ²¹⁰Pb, ²⁴¹Am, ^239/240Pu, ²³⁸U-²³⁴U-²³⁰Th) to study environmental and geological processes. Environmental research projects included: remediation of heavy metal contaminated land, carbon cycling in peatlands (including novel technology development to enable radiocarbon dating of methane and carbon dioxide) and the authentication of Scotch whisky. Geological research projects have included investigations into the mobility and behaviour of radionuclides within natural bentonite clay and pillow lavas for the Cyprus Natural Analogue Project.

Dr Hardie in collaboration with McKinley Consulting, acts as coordinator for project work carried out in Japan.

REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS

Takeuchi, M.R.H., Hasegawa, T., Hardie, S.M.L., McKinley, L.E., Marquez, G.P.B. and Ishihara, K.N. (2021). Scientific justifications for the political decision-making on environmental remediation carried out after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Heliyon, 7, 3, March 2021.

Klein, E., Hardie, S.M.L., Kickmaier, W. and McKinley, I.G. (2021). Testing repository safety assessment models for deep geological disposal using legacy contaminated sites. Science of the Total Environment, 776, 145949.

Garnett, M.H., Hardie, S.M.L. & Murray, C. (2020). Radiocarbon analysis reveals that vegetation facilitates the release of old methane in a temperate raised bog. Biogeochemistry. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10533-020-00638-x.

Takeuchi, M.R.H., Hasegawa, T., Hardie S.M.L., McKinley, L.E. & Ishihara, K.N. (2020). Leadership for management of high-level radioactive waste in Japan, Environmental Geotechnics, 7(2): 137–146.

McKinley, I.G., Masuda, S., Hardie, S.M.L., Umeki, H., Naito, M. and Takase, H. (2018). Public acceptance as a driver for repository design. Journal of Energy, Volume 2018, Article ID 7546158, 8 pages, https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/7546158y.

Hardie, S.M.L., McKinley, I.G., Lomperski, S., Kawamura, H. and Beattie, T. (2016). Management options for Fukushima corium. Progress in Nuclear Energy, 92, 260-266.

Umeki, H., McKinley, I.G., Honda, A., Wakasugi, K., Takase, H. & Hardie, S.M.L. (2015). Repository Resilience. Nuclear Engineering International, July 2015, 24-26.

McKinley, I.G., Kawamura, H., Hardie, S.M.L., Klein, E. & Beattie, T.M. (2015). Key natural analogue input required to build a safety case for direct disposal of spent fuel in Japan. Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 108, 147-154.

Miyahara, K., McKinley, I.G., Saito, K., Iijima, K. and Hardie, S.M.L. (2015). Fukushima cleanup: status and lessons learned, Nuclear Engineering International, November 2015, 12-14.

McKinley, I.G., Hardie, S.M.L. & Klein, E. (2014). Fukushima Dai-ichi challenges from a radiochemistry perspective. INSJ International Nuclear Safety Journal, 3, 68-74.

Hardie, S.M.L. & McKinley, I.G. (2014). Fukushima remediation: status and overview of future plans. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 133, 75-85.

Alexander, W.R., Milodowski A.E., Pitty A.F., Hardie S.M.L., Kemp S.J., Rushton, J.C., Siathas, A., Siathas, A., MacKenzie, A.B., Korkeakoski, P., Norris, S., Sellin P. & Rigas, M. (2013). Bentonite reactivity in alkaline solutions: interim results of the Cyprus Natural Analogue Project (CNAP). Clay Minerals, 48, 235-249.

Garnett, M.H., Hardie S.M.L., Murray C. & Billett M.F. (2013). Radiocarbon dating of methane and carbon dioxide evaded from a temperate peatland stream. Biogeochemistry, 114, 213-223.

Alexander, W.R., Milodowski, A.E., Pitty, A.F., Hardie, S.M.L., Kemp, S.J., Korkeakoski, P., Rigas, M., Rushton, J.C., Sellin, P. & Tweed, C.J. (2012). Reaction of bentonite in low-alkali cement leachates: an overview of the Cyprus Natural Analogue Project (CNAP). Mineralogical Magazine, 76, 3019-3022.

Garnett, M.H., Hardie, S.M.L., and Murray, C. (2012). Radiocarbon analysis of methane emitted from the surface of a raised peat bog. Soil Biology and Biochemistry, 50, 158-163.

Meier-Augenstein, W., Kemp, H.F. & Hardie, S.M.L. (2012). Detection of counterfeit Scotch whisky by d²H and d¹⁸O stable isotope analysis. Food Chemistry, 133, 1070-1074.

Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett, M.H., Fallick, A.E., Ostle, N.J., Rowland, A.P. & Flowers, T.H. (2011). Abiotic drivers and their interactive effect on the flux and carbon isotope (¹⁴C and d¹³C) composition of soil-respired CO₂. Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43, 2432-2440.

Garnett, M.H., Hardie, S.M.L. & Murray, C. (2011). Radiocarbon and stable carbon analysis of dissolved CH₄ and CO₂ from the profile of a raised peat bog. Radiocarbon, 53, 71-83.

MacKenzie, A.B., Hardie, S.M.L., Farmer, J.G., Eades, L.J. & Pulford, I.D. (2011). Analytical and sampling constraints in ²¹⁰Pb dating. Science of the Total Environment, 409, 1298-1304.

Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett, M.H., Fallick, A.E., Stott, A.W., Rowland, A.P. & Ostle, N.J. (2010). Testing the use of septum capped vials for ¹³C-isotope abundance analysis of carbon dioxide. Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, 24, 1805-1809

Garnett, M.H. & Hardie, S.M.L. Isotope (¹⁴C and d¹³C) analysis of deep peat CO₂ using a passive sampling technique. (2009). Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 41, 2477-2483.

Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett, M.H., Fallick, A.E., Ostle, N.J. & Rowland, A.P. (2009). Bomb-¹⁴C analysis of ecosystem respiration reveals that peatland vegetation facilitates release of old carbon. Geoderma, 153, 393-401.

Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett, M.H., Fallick, A.E., Rowland, A.P. & Ostle, N.J. (2007). Spatial variability of bomb-¹⁴C in an upland peat bog. Radiocarbon, 49, 1055-1063.

Billett, M.F., Garnett, M.H. & Hardie, S.M.L. (2006). A direct method to measure ¹⁴CO₂ lost by evasion from surface waters. Radiocarbon, 48, 61-68.

Hardie, S.M.L., Garnett, M.H., Fallick, A.E., Rowland, A.P. & Ostle, N.J. (2005). Carbon dioxide capture using a zeolite molecular sieve sampling system for isotopic (¹³C and ¹⁴C) studies of respiration. Radiocarbon, 47, 441-451.

OPEN TECHNICAL REPORTS / NON-REFEREED PUBLICATIONS / CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS

McKinley, I.G. and Hardie, S.M.L. (2020). Waste Management in a Warming World. Nuclear Engineering International, Q2, 25-28. https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/1e19e22d#/1e19e22d/1

Apted, M., Zhou, W., and Hardie, S.M.L. (2018). Overview of Trans-Pacific Repository Programs. American Nuclear Society, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, June 17th - 21st.

McKinley, I.G. and Hardie, S.M.L. (2017). Microbial issues for disposal of Japanese TRU waste, International Society for Subsurface Microbiology, Rotorua, New Zealand, November 6th - 10th.

McKinley, I.G. and Hardie, S.M.L. (2017). Assuring the human resources for severe accident management and environmental remediation, APSORC 2017, Jeju island, South Korea, September 17th - 22nd.

McKinley, I.G., Hardie, S.M.L. and Hamamoto, T. (2017). Environmental radiochemistry: applicability and limitations of chemical thermodynamic models, APSORC 2017, Jeju island, South Korea, September 17th - 22nd.

Hardie, S.M.L., McKinley, I.G. and Sasaki, T. (2017). 1F and the hot particle problem, APSORC 2017, Jeju island, South Korea, September 17th - 22nd.

Hardie, S.M.L., Paris, B. and Apted, M. (2017). Hanford Site Composite Analysis Technical Approach Description: Waste Form Release. Report prepared for Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, June 2017.

Hardie, S.M.L., McKinley, I.G. & Scourse, E.M. (2015). Remediation of sites contaminated from nuclear energy generation activities. 1st Chemistry in Energy Conference, July 20th - July 22nd, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Beattie, T.M., McKinley, I.G. & Hardie, S.M.L. (2015). Chemical challenges for safety cases supporting geological disposal of radioactive waste. 1st Chemistry in Energy Conference, July 20th - July 22nd, Edinburgh, Scotland.

McKinley, I.G., Hardie, S.M.L., McKie, D. & Clark, A. (2015). Use of advanced tools to manage the chemical complexity of carbon capture projects.1st Chemistry in Energy Conference, July 20th - July 22nd, Edinburgh, Scotland.

Klein, E., McKinley, I.G., Hardie, S.M.L., Tachi, Y., Shibata, M., Amano, Y. & Takase, H. (2015). Use of natural analogues to develop and test models of radionuclide release and transport in uplift / erosion scenarios. 14th Natural Analogue Working Group Workshop, 9th - 11th June, 2015, Olkiluoto, Finland.

Amano K., Semba T., Makino H., Hama K., Mizuno T., Seo T., Kickmaier W., Hardie S.M.L., McKinley I.G., McKie D., Neall F.M., McKinley L., Takase H. and Alexander W.R. (2015). CoolRepH26: Integrated R&D report for supporting safety case development. ANS 2015 IHLRWM International High Level Radioactive Waste Management. 12th - 16th April, 2015, Charleston, USA.

Miyahara, K., McKinley, I.G., Saito, K., Hardie S.M.L. & Iijima, K. (2015). Technical Report: Use of Knowledge and Experience Gained from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Accident to Establish the Technical Basis for Strategic Off-site Response.

Nakayama, S., Kawase, K., Hardie S.M.L., Yashio, S., Ijiima, K., McKinley, I.G., Miyahara, K. & Klein, E. (2015). Remediation of Contaminated Areas in the Aftermath of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: Overview, Analysis and Lessons Learned Part 1: A Report on the “Decontamination Pilot Project”.

Nakayama, S., Kawase, K., Hardie S.M.L., Yashio, S., Ijiima, K., McKinley, I.G., Miyahara, K. & Klein, E. (2015). Remediation of Contaminated Areas in the Aftermath of the Accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: Overview, Analysis and Lessons Learned Part 2: Recent Developments, Supporting R&D and International Discussions.

Alexander W.R., McKinley I.G., Kickmaier W., Hardie S.M.L. and Klein E. (2014). Assessment of state-of-the-art in determining bentonite porewater chemistry. AOGS 2014, IG23-A013.

McKinley I.G., Umeki H., Alexander R. and Hardie S.M.L. (2014). Multidisciplinary Geosciences Behind The Safe Disposal Of Radioactive Wastes. AOGS 2014, IG23-A005.

McKinley I.G., Kawamura H., Alexander R., Klein E. and Hardie S.M.L. (2014). Use of Analogues to Support Development of Next Generation Radionuclide Transport Models. AOGS 2014, IG23-A002.

Hardie, S.M.L., Klein, E., McKinley, I.G. & Kickmaier, W. (2013). Developing a holistic strategy for managing large volume wastes and identification of required policy infrastructure. IAEA Training Meeting on International Low Level Waste Disposal Network (DISPONET) – Workshop on Disposal of Large Volume of Radioactive Waste, IAEA, November 2013, Vienna, Austria.

Klein E., Beattie T., Hardie S.M.L., Scourse E. & McKinley I.G. (2013). Developing quality assured sorption databases for performance assessment. Migration Conference Abstracts, Session C3-3, 8-13 September 2013, Brighton, UK.

Alexander W.R., McKinley I.G., Scourse E.M., Hardie S.M.L. & Klein E. (2013). Radium natural analogue requirements for robust safety case development. Migration Conference Abstracts, Session PB6-1, 8-13 September 2013, Brighton, UK.

Hardie S.M.L., McKinley I.G., Beattie T., Scourse E. & Klein L. (2013). Development of a box-modelling approach to integrate contaminated site understanding in Fukushima. Migration Conference Abstracts, Session PFS-3, 8-13 September 2013, Brighton, UK.

McKinley, I.G., Hardie S.M.L., Alexander W.R., Klein E. & Scourse E.M. (2013). Fukushima in perspective. PSAM - 14-18 April 2013, Tokyo, Japan.

McKinley, I.G., Hardie S.M.L., Klein E. & Kickmaier W. (2013). Fukushima Remediation Waste Management. PSAM - 14-18 April 2013, Tokyo, Japan.

Scourse, E.M., Alexander W.R., McKinley I.G., Kawamura H. & Hardie S.M.L. (2013). Learning from Fukushima: a holistic approach to tsunami risk assessment. PSAM - 14-18 April 2013, Tokyo, Japan.

Duncan. H. & Hardie S.M.L. (2003). Literature Review on the Status of Amino Acids and Soluble Sugars on the Formation of Acrylamide in Processed Potatoes. Report for FNK Potato Processors Research Group, Holland, October 2003.

RECENT PRESENTATIONS GIVEN

Sep 2017 1F and the hot particle problem, APSORC 2017, September 17th - 22nd, Jeju Island, South Korea. Oral presentation.

July 2015 1st Chemistry in Energy Conference, Edinburgh, July 20th – 22nd. Oral presentation (Chemical challenges for safety cases supporting geological disposal of radioactive waste).

Aug 2014 Invited paper at the International Union of Materials Research Societies, Fukuoka, Japan, August 24th - 30th, 2014, “Management Options for Fukushima Corium”.

Jan 2014 Invited presentation at SGK (Swiss Nuclear Society) on McKinley Consulting's work in Japan, especially that related to the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi, “Fukushima remediation – the Swiss Connection”.

Dec 2013 Invited presentation given to the Swiss ambassador and staff at the Swiss embassy in Tokyo on McKinley Consulting's work in Japan, in particular, the work carried out in support of Fukushima, “Fukushima – the Swiss Connection”.

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Dr Susie Hardie

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