The Potential Impact of Oil and Other Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (NAPLs) on the Long-Term Management of Radioactive Wastes

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Askarieh ◽  
A. W. Harris ◽  
S. J. Wisbey
Keyword(s):  
Waste Management ◽  
Aqueous Phase ◽  
Organic Materials ◽  
Near Field ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Term Management

The presence of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) in radioactive wastes has the potential to adversely affect their long-term management. The buoyancy of light NAPLs can represent a separate pathway for their migration from a waste management facility, such as a deep repository, to the accessible environment. Their inherent toxicity and potential burden of radionuclides need to be addressed. Nirex is currently developing an understanding of the behaviour of NAPLs and exploring the means of mitigating any adverse impact. NAPLs such as oils and solvents are present in existing wastes, but NAPLs can also be generated by degradation of some solid organic materials, such as plastics. Wastes arising in the United Kingdom that may contain NAPLs include liquids and sludges contaminated with oils, and waste items containing trapped oil, for example gearboxes and pumps. The reference inventory being assessed by Nirex also contains significant quantities of organic materials which can be considered to be potential precursors to the generation of NAPLs. A programme of work has been instigated by Nirex to develop a better understanding of the behaviour of NAPLs. The programme includes the following aspects: understanding the mechanisms by which NAPLs might be produced and existing NAPLs degraded and destroyed: • consideration of the containment that could be offered by packaging of wastes containing NAPLs; • investigating the extent to which radionuclides may be entrained in NAPLs; • understanding the migration of NAPLs in the near-field and in geological systems; • the impact of NAPLs on the surface properties of repository backfill and the geosphere; • development of assessment tools to quantify the potential risk due to NAPLs. This paper will describe the scope of this programme of work, and will provide examples from the ongoing programme to demonstrate that suitable long-term waste management solutions can be developed for NAPL containing wastes.

Long-Term Issues for Indefinite Surface Storage of Intermediate and Some Low Level Radioactive Waste in the UK

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samantha King
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
Management Option ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Scoping Study ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Term Management

Nirex is the organisation responsible for long-term radioactive waste management in the UK. Our mission is to provide the UK with safe, environmentally sound and publicly acceptable options for the long-term management of radioactive materials. Nirex is therefore researching various options for the long-term management of radioactive wastes/materials in order to identify the relevant issues with regard to the feasibility of options, and the research, development and stakeholder dialogue necessary to address these issues. The UK policy for the long-term management of solid radioactive waste is currently undergoing review. In September 2001, the UK Government Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and the Devolved Administrations for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland launched a public consultation on ‘Managing Radioactive Waste Safely’ (MRWS) [1]. The aim of this consultation was to start a process that will ultimately lead to the implementation of a publicly acceptable radioactive waste management policy. The MRWS programme of action proposed by Government includes a “stakeholder” programme of public debate backed by research to examine the different radioactive waste management options, and to recommend the preferred option, or combination of options. The options of storage above ground and underground are expected to be among the options examined. In the UK, radioactive wastes are currently held in surface stores, at over 30 locations in the UK, pending a decision on their long-term management. These stores were originally designed to have lifetimes of up to 50 years, but due to uncertainty regarding the longer term management of such wastes, extending the life of stores to 100 years is now being considered. This paper describes a preliminary scoping study to identify the long-term issues associated with surface storage of intermediate-level radioactive waste (ILW), and certain low-level waste (LLW) indefinitely in the UK. These wastes contain radionuclides with half lives that can range up to a million years or more, it was therefore assumed, for the purposes of this scoping study, that wastes would need to be managed over a period of at least one million years. An indefinite surface storage concept will require institutional stability and encompasses the principle of guardianship. It is based on a rolling present where each generation is required to monitor and, as necessary, repackage the waste and refurbish/replace storage buildings over a period of at least one million years. Each generation will also need to decide whether to continue with surface storage or implement another long-term management option. The aims of the scoping study were to: i) Investigate the implications of indefinite surface storage of waste packages through consideration of the facility specification, design and assessment. This framework is common to all Nirex radioactive waste management option studies, and provides a common basis for comparison. ii) Identify the social and ethical issues related to indefinite storage, including the principles and values that some stakeholders believe are met by the surface storage option.

The Government of Canada’s Programs for Radioactive Waste Cleanup and Long-Term Management

2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dave McCauley ◽  
Douglas Metcalfe ◽  
Marcia Blanchette ◽  
Tom Calvert
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Radioactive Wastes ◽  
Nuclear Industry ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Uranium Mine ◽  
The Government ◽  
Government Of Canada ◽  
Term Management

The Government of Canada’s 1996 Policy Framework for Radioactive Waste Management establishes that waste owners are responsible for the management of their radioactive wastes. This includes the planning, funding, and implementation of long-term waste management initiatives. Within this context, the Government has established three separate programs aimed at addressing the long-term management of radioactive waste for which it has accepted responsibility. The largest of these programs is the Nuclear Legacy Liabilities Program (NLLP). The objective of the NLLP is to address radioactive waste and decommissioning liabilities resulting from 60 years of nuclear research and development at Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) sites in Canada. In 2005, the Government increased the value of this liability in its Public Accounts based on a new, 70-year long-term strategy and, in 2006, it implemented a $520 million 5-year work plan to initiate the strategy. The cost of implementing the full strategy is estimated at about $7 billion (current-day dollars). Canada’s Historic Waste Program is a second program that is designed to address low-level radioactive wastes across Canada that are not managed in an appropriate manner for the long-term and for which the current owner can not reasonably be held responsible. These wastes mainly emanate from the refining and use of radium in the 1930s and the very early days of the nuclear industry in Canada when radioactive ores were mined and transported long distances for processing. While the Historic Waste Program has been in place since 1982, the Government of Canada launched the Port Hope Area Initiative in 2001 to deal with the bulk of the waste. Finally, the Government of Canada has entered into two agreements with Canadian provincial governments on roles and responsibilities relating to the decommissioning of uranium mine and mill tailings sites. These agreements, one with the Province of Ontario and one with the Province of Saskatchewan, establish the responsibilities of each level of government to address circumstances where further decommissioning work is required and the producer can no longer be held responsible. The paper will provide an overview of these environmental remediation programs for radioactive waste and will describe recent progress and future challenges.

scholarly journals Near-Field Measurement of Six Degrees of Freedom Mining-Induced Tremors in Lower Silesian Copper Basin

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (23) ◽  
pp. 6801
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Fuławka ◽  
Witold Pytel ◽  
Bogumiła Pałac-Walko
Keyword(s):  
Seismic Wave ◽  
Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
Seismic Waves ◽  
Near Field ◽  
High Energy ◽  
Rotational Component ◽  
Empirical Formulas ◽  
Six Degrees Of Freedom ◽  
The Impact

The impact of seismicity on structures is one of the key problems of civil engineering. According to recent knowledge, the reliable analysis should be based on both rotational and translational components of the seismic wave. To determine the six degrees of freedom (6-DoF) characteristic of mining-induced seismicity, two sets of seismic posts were installed in the Lower Silesian Copper Basin, Poland. Long-term continuous 6-DoF measurements were conducted with the use of the R-1 rotational seismometer and EP-300 translational seismometer. In result data collection, the waveforms generated by 39 high-energy seismic events were recorded. The characteristic of the rotational component of the seismic waves were described in terms of their amplitude and frequency characteristics and were compared with translational measurements. The analysis indicated that the characteristic of the rotational component of the seismic wave differs significantly in comparison to translational ones, both in terms of their amplitude and frequency distribution. Also, attenuation of rotational and translational components was qualitatively compared. Finally, the empirical formulas for seismic rotation prediction in the Lower Silesian Copper Basin were developed and validated.

Current Status of the Radioactive Waste Management Programme in Spain

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Lang-Lenton Leo´n ◽  
Emilio Garcia Neri
Keyword(s):  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
Management Programme ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Spent Fuel ◽  
Radioactive Waste Management ◽  
Set Up ◽  
Intermediate Storage ◽  
Term Management

Since 1984, ENRESA is responsible of the radioactive waste management and the decommissioning of nuclear installations in Spain. The major recent challenge has been the approval of the Sixth General Radioactive Waste Plan (GRWP) as “master plan” of the activities to be performed by ENRESA. Regarding the LILW programme, the El Cabril LILW disposal facility will be described highlighting the most relevant events especially focused on optimizing the existing capacity and the start-up of a purpose–built disposal area for VLLW. Concerning the HLW programme, two aspects may be distinguished in the direct management of spent fuel: temporary storage and long-term management. In this regards, a major challenge has been the decision adopted by the Spanish Government to set up a Interministerial Committee for the establishment of the criteria that must be met by the site of the Centralized Intermediate Storage (CTS) facility as the first and necessary step for the process. Also the developments of the long-term management programme will be presented in the frame of the ENRESA’s R&D programme. Finally, in the field of decommissioning they will be presented the PIMIC project at the CIEMAT centre and the activities in course for the decommissioning of Jose´ Cabrera NPP.

scholarly journals The 1949 sterling crisis and British policy towards European integration

1985 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott Newton
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
The United States ◽  
Marshall Plan ◽  
Public Records ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Anglo American ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Impact

Most commentators on the 1949 sterling crisis have viewed it as an episode with implications merely for the management of the British economy. This paper, based on the public records now available, discusses the impact of the crisis on British economic foreign policy. In particular it suggests that the crisis revealed deep Anglo-American differences, centring on the nature of the Marshall Plan, on the international value of the sterling area, and on the proper relationship between the United Kingdom and Western Europe, Ultimately the British succeeded in resolving these disagreements: but this triumph ironically implied both the defeat of British aims in post-war European reconstruction and a long term delusion that great power status could be maintained on the basis of a special relationship-with the United States.

Manipulation of fishing effort in Australia's penaeid Prawn Fisheries

1990 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
IF Somers
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Great Barrier Reef ◽  
Simulation Model ◽  
Fishing Effort ◽  
Regulatory Mechanisms ◽  
Barrier Reef ◽  
Restrictive Measures ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Term Management

The potentially detrimental side-effects of prawn trawling are coming under increasing scrutiny in Australian waters, particularly in such ecologically sensitive areas as Queensland's Great Barrier Reef, and various restrictive measures are being suggested. Before changes are imposed on the prawning industry, the effects of trawling on the target prawn species and the long-term management of these effects need to be fully understood. Using a simulation model of a simplified prawn fishery, this paper describes the basis for the current regulatory mechanisms for Australian's prawn fisheries, in particular the manipulation of both the level and pattern of fishing effort. It is shown that even in moderately fished stocks, the fishery manager has several options, such as seasonal and nursery area closures, that are consistent with the goal of minimizing the impact of prawn trawling, while in no way penalizing the industry economically. With these in mind, possible ways of resolving or reducing the conflict with groups outside the prawning industry are discussed.

Predicting Long-Term Citation Impact of Articles in Social and Personality Psychology

2010 ◽  
Vol 106 (3) ◽  
pp. 891-900 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Haslam ◽  
Peter Koval
Keyword(s):  
Impact Factor ◽  
Citation Impact ◽  
The United States ◽  
Personality Psychology ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Number Of Citations ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Journal Impact ◽  
Citation Advantage

The citation impact of a comprehensive sample of articles published in social and personality psychology journals in 1998 was evaluated. Potential predictors of the 10-yr. citation impact of 1,580 articles from 37 journals were investigated, including number of authors, number of references, journal impact factor, author nationality, and article length, using linear regression. The impact factor of the journal in which articles appeared was the primary predictor of the citations that they accrued, accounting for 30% of the total variance. Articles with greater length, more references, and more authors were cited relatively often, although the citation advantage of longer articles was not proportionate to their length. A citation advantage was also enjoyed by authors from the United States of America, Canada, and the United Kingdom. 37% of the variance in the total number of citations was accounted for by the study variables.

scholarly journals Medical students’ mood adversely affected by COVID-19 pandemic: An interim analysis from the SPICE-19 prospective cohort study of 2075 medical students and interim foundation doctors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soham Bandyopadhyay ◽  
Ioannis Georgiou ◽  
Bibire Baykeens ◽  
Conor S Gillespie ◽  
Marta de Andres Crespo ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Medical Students ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Workforce Planning ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Exam Preparation ◽  
Course Material ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Exam Preparation Course

Abstract Background:Currently, we can only speculate on what the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have been on medical students and interim foundation year doctors. In order to support them appropriately both now and, in the future, it is imperative that we understand the impact it has had upon them. This study assessed the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on medical students and interim foundation year doctors across the United Kingdom (UK), and the support that they received and sought. Methods:A prospective, observational, multicentre study was conducted. All medical students and interim foundation year doctors were eligible to participate. The data analysis was carried out as detailed a priori in the protocol. Findings:A total of 2075 individuals participated in the SPICE-19 survey from 33 medical schools. There was a significant (p < 0.0001) decrease in participants’ mood when comparing their mood before the pandemic to during the pandemic. Social distancing and more time at home/with family were the factors that negatively and positively respectively impacted the mood of the greatest number of participants. All areas of life included in the survey were found to have been significantly more negatively impacted than positively impacted (p < 0.0001). 931 participants wanted more support from their university. Participants were mainly seeking support with exam preparation, course material, and financial guidance. Discussion:Medical and foundation schools need to prepare adequate and effective support. If no action is taken, there may be a knock-on effect on workforce planning and the health of our future workforce. When medical students return to their universities, there is likely to be need for enhanced wellbeing support, adaptations in the short-term and long-term strategies for medical education, and provision of financial guidance.

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