Opportunities for Research in the UK for Decommissioning and Disposal

2008 ◽  
Vol 1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neil Smart

AbstractThe NDA remit as set out within the Energy Act includes – “promote, and where necessary fund, research relevant to nuclear clean up”. The NDA need to underpin delivery and / or accelerate programmes to fulfil the overall mission and technical underpinning of these activities is critical. In this paper we will present consideration of the investment required in nuclear waste Research and Development.Firstly, NDA set the requirement for nuclear sites to write down within the Life Time Plans (LTP), at a high level, the proposed technical baseline underpinning the LTP activities; furthermore we required technology gaps / opportunities in the technical baselines to be outlined in a R&D requirements section to the LTP. Criteria were established to categorise the R&D in three areas:“needs” - those development activities needed to underpin the proposed technical solutions“risks” – those activities required to reduce / eliminate key risks to the proposed technical solutions“opportunities” – innovations / changes to the technical baselinesThe purpose of production of the technical baselines and underpinning R&D requirements is to establish an auditable trail through the LTP from programme components into how the programme will be delivered.NDA believes the production of the technical baselines and R&D requirements will be of benefit to the Site License Companies (SLC) in terms of ensuring a focus on overall programme delivery and not just short term activities. Furthermore, we can ensure that investment in technology is targeted at priority areas, with common issues and requirements identified and solutions on a broader scale will be achievable.

MRS Advances ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 131-140
Author(s):  
Colleen Mann ◽  
Jeremy R. Eskelsen ◽  
Donovan N. Leonard ◽  
Eric Pierce ◽  
Claire L Corkhill

AbstractIt is pertinent to the safety case for geological disposal in the UK that the behaviour of vitrified wastes in proximity to cementitious materials is understood. In this study, vitrified simulant intermediate level nuclear waste (ILW) was subject to dissolution in a synthetic cement water solution to simulate disposal conditions. Results show that the presence of alkali / alkaline earth elements in the cementitious solution can be favourable, at least in the short-term, leading to lower dissolution rates associated with incorporation of these elements into the altered layer of the glass.


2008 ◽  
Vol 1107 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Short ◽  
E. Turner ◽  
B. Dunnett ◽  
A. Riley

AbstractIn the UK, blended high level nuclear waste (HLW) streams from the Magnox and THORP reprocessing plants are currently vitrified using a lithium sodium borosilicate base glass frit. Laboratory and full size non-radioactive simulations (produced on the Vitrification Test Rig at Sellafield [1]) of these compositions have shown that these glasses need to be melted at circa 1050°C to obtain a reasonable viscosity for pouring. Also, at high waste loadings an alkali molybdate phase (termed “yellow phase”) can form in these glasses [e.g. 2, 3]. Vitrification flowsheets are set to avoid yellow phase formation as this phase is highly corrosive to the inconel melter in the molten state and is partially water soluble at ambient temperature and so may challenge product quality.Ca and Zn additions to the base glass frit have been found to reduce viscosity and allow melt homogeneity and pouring at lower temperatures. It was also theorised that Ca additions could increase the solubility of Mo and thus reduce the likelihood of yellow phase formation. The composition of the phase separated material in as-cast and heat treated specimens of Ca and Zn HLW glasses produced at both laboratory and full scale is examined in this work


1983 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia M. West ◽  
Ian G. McKinley

ABSTRACTThe geomicrobiology of high-level nuclear waste disposal is a new field in the area of nuclear waste management. Until recently the likelihood of microbial contamination in a deep repository had not been considered, but possible biogeochemical effects of repository materials, radionuclide transport and groundwater chemistry must now be realistically assessed.This work was funded by the UK Department of the Environment and the Commission of the European Communities.


2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. K. Razumova ◽  
N. N. Litvinova ◽  
M. E. Shvartsman ◽  
A. Yu. Kuznetsov

Introduction. The paper presents survey results on the awareness towards and practice of Open Access scholarly publishing among Russian academics.Materials and Methods. We employed methods of statistical analysis of survey results. Materials comprise results of data processing of Russian survey conducted in 2018 and published results of the latest international surveys. The survey comprised 1383 respondents from 182 organizations. We performed comparative studies of the responses from academics and research institutions as well as different research areas. The study compares results obtained in Russia with the recently published results of surveys conducted in the United Kingdom and Europe.Results. Our findings show that 95% of Russian respondents support open access, 94% agree to post their publications in open repositories and 75% have experience in open access publishing. We did not find any difference in the awareness and attitude towards open access among seven reference groups. Our analysis revealed the difference in the structure of open access publications of the authors from universities and research institutes. Discussion andConclusions. Results reveal a high level of awareness and support to open access and succeful practice in the open access publications in the Russian scholarly community. The results for Russia demonstrate close similarity with the results of the UK academics. The governmental open access policies and programs would foster the practical realization of the open access in Russia.


2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diether W. Beuermann ◽  
Antonios Antoniou ◽  
Alejandro Bernales
Keyword(s):  

2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 920.1-921
Author(s):  
N. Stepanenko ◽  
E. Fedorov ◽  
S. Salugina ◽  
S. Feoktistova

Background:Monogenic auto-inflammatory diseases (mAID) are a group of severe chronic multisystemic diseases with recurring episodes of fever and other manifestations that significantly affect the patients’ life quality. Moreover, the hyper expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL1β, etc.) observed in these patients may have a negative effect on the central nervous system.Objectives:to study the state of the cognitive and emotional spheres in children suffering from monogenic auto-inflammatory diseases.Methods:there were examined 22 children at the age of 7 to 17 years old diagnosed with CAPS-9, TRAPS-8, FMF-5. Among them there were 12 boys and 10 girls. The diagnosis in all the patients was confirmed through detection of pathogenic mutations in the NLRP3, TNFRSF1A and MEFV genes. The following methods were used: a clinical conversation; memory diagnostics (learning by heart of 10 words, a pictogram using cues taking into account the patients’ age); attention diagnostics (Schulte tables); thinking diagnostics (establishing a sequence of events, “four is a crwod”, simple analogies, interpretation of proverbs); emotional and communicative fields (the Eight-Color Luscher Test; CMAS (adaptation by A. Prikhozhan); STAI test, a drawing called “an animal that does not exist” and “a house-a tree-a man”).Results:The memory study revealed in all patients with TRAPS and FMF high and medium values of short-term and long-term memory, in patients with CAPS - a low level of short-term auditory-speech memory, information storage and indirect memorization in 1/3 of patients. In 100% of the examined patients with TRAPS, a significant decrease in all processes of attention and distribution of attention. In 1/3 of patients with CAPS, an increased exhaustion of attention was registered and in 11% - a decrease in its stability. In patients with FMF, attention disorders were not detected. In 44% of patients with CAPS, a decrease in the level of generalization and difficulties in establishing causal relationships were registered. In 25% of patients with TRAPS a decrease in the level of generalization, in 12.5%- difficulties in establishing cause-effect relationships, inertia of thinking in 37.5%. In 60% of patients with FMF: a decrease in the level of generalization, in 80%: difficulties in establishing cause-effect relationships, inertia of thinking in 20%. In the emotional sphere, patients with CAPS, TRAPS, and FMF demonstrated signs of aggression (11.1%, 20% and 20% of patients, respectively), communicative disorders (77.8% -80% - 80%), and reduced social adaptation (55.5% - 80% - 80%), a tendency to form neurotic fears (22% - 40% - 40%). A high level of personal anxiety was noted in 1/3 of patients with CAPS and 40% of patients with FMF.Conclusion:various psychological disorders in the cognitive and emotional fields were noted in the majority of the examined patients with monogenic auto-inflammatory diseases. In patients with TRAPS, attention processes are most significantly affected; in patients with CAPS, memory is more often affected. In patients with FMF, disorders in thinking processes are revealed more often. In the emotional sphere, most patients with all the three forms of AID note communicative disorders and social adaptation.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christoph Lenting ◽  
Thorsten Geisler

AbstractFluid-cell Raman spectroscopy is a space and time-resolving application allowing in operando studies of dynamic processes during solution–solid interactions. A currently heavily debated example is the corrosion mechanism of borosilicate glasses, which are the favoured material for the immobilization of high-level nuclear waste. With an upgraded fluid-cell lid design made entirely from the glass sample itself, we present the polymerization of the surface alteration layer over time in an initially acidic environment, including the differentiation between pore and surface-adsorbed water within it. Our results support an interface-coupled dissolution-precipitation model, which opposes traditional ion-exchange models for the corrosion mechanism. A sound description of the corrosion mechanism is essential for reliable numerical models to predict the corrosion rate of nuclear waste glasses during long-term storage in a geological repository.


2020 ◽  
pp. bmjmilitary-2020-001455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Blair Thomas Herron ◽  
K M Heil ◽  
D Reid

In 2015, the UK government published the National Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) 2015, which laid out their vision for the future roles and structure of the UK Armed Forces. SDSR 2015 envisaged making broader use of the Armed Forces to support missions other than warfighting. One element of this would be to increase the scale and scope of defence engagement (DE) activities that the UK conducts overseas. DE activities traditionally involve the use of personnel and assets to help prevent conflict, build stability and gain influence with partner nations as part of a short-term training teams. This paper aimed to give an overview of the Specialist Infantry Group and its role in UK DE. It will explore the reasons why the SDSR 2015 recommended their formation as well as an insight into future tasks.


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