[en] An understanding of the transport of radionuclides in carbonate minerals is necessary to be able to predict the fate of (and potentially remediate) radionuclides in the environment. In some environments, carbonate minerals such as calciate, aragonite, dolomite and limestone are present and an understanding of the sorption of radionuclides in these carbonate minerals is therefore advantageous. A list of the radionuclides of interest is given in Table 1. The distribution coefficient, K_d is defined as the ratio of the contaminant concentration bound on the solid phase to the contaminant concentration remaining in the liquid phase at equilibrium. Some authors report distribution coefficients and other report partition coefficients, the data presented in this work assumes equality between these two terms, and data are presented and summarized in this work as logarithmic distribution coefficient (log K_D). Published literature was searched using two methods. Firstly, the JNC Sorption Database, namely Shubutani et al (1999), and Suyama and Sasamoto (2004) was used to select elements of interest and a number of carbonate minerals. Secondly, on-line literature search tools were used to locate relevant published articles from 1900 to 2009. Over 300 data points covering 16 elements (hydrogen, carbon, calcium, nickel, strontium, technetium, palladium, iodine, cesium, samarium, europium, holmium, uranium, neptunium, plutonium and americium) were used to calculate an average and range of log K_d values for each element. Unfortunately, no data could be found for chlorine, argon, krypton, zirconium, niobium, tin, thorium and curium. A description of the data is given below, together with the average, standard deviation, minimum, maximum and number of inputs for radionuclide K_d values for calcite, aragonate, limestone, dolomite and unidentified carbonate rocks in Table 2. Finally, the data are condensed into one group (carbonate minerals) of data for each element of interest in Table 3

No abstract available

[en] HERA is now producing a wealth of precision data on jet production at high E_T in both deep inelastic scattering and hard-photoproduction. These data allow access to variables sensitive to the underlying subprocess, enabling the detailed study of the QCD dynamics and the structure of the proton and photon. A small number of recent results from the H1 and ZEUS collaborations are presented and compared to NLO QCD calculations, to illustrate some areas of current interest

[en] The workshop brought together scientists working on the development of x-ray free-electron lasers, and its applications. X-ray free-electron lasers produce high intensity, subpicosecond long, coherent, X-ray pulses, and will open a new frontier to study the structure of matter at the molecular and atomic levels. Some fields of interest are structural changes in chemical reactions, single biological molecule, warm plasmas, nanosystems. Summary of discussions and conclusions of Group 1: Physics and Technology of the XFEL - The main issues that were discussed by the 50 participants in this group were the photo-injector, the production of ultra-short pulses, the effects of wake-fields induced by the electron bunch, the operation at lower charge and emittance, the possibility of harmonic generation and the diagnostics in the undulator. The following is a short summary of the discussions and their conclusions. Summary of discussions and conclusions of Group 2: Science with the XFEL - About 25 people attended sessions to discuss the possible scientific applications of a x-ray FEL. Because of the recent focus on the first experiments with the proposed Linac Coherent Light Source at Stanford, the discussions were mainly focussed on these proposals. The extension of the characteristics beyond the initial stage and the further developments of the source were also part of the program. Six scientific areas were discussed: Atomic Physics, Warm Dense Matter, Femtosecond Chemistry, Imaging/Holography, Bio-molecular Structures and X-Ray Fluctuations Spectroscopy.

[en] Thermodynamic data are essential for understanding and evaluating geochemical processes, as by speciation-solubility calculations, reaction-path modeling, or reactive transport simulation. These data are required to evaluate both equilibrium states and the kinetic approach to such states (via the affinity term or its equivalent in commonly used rate laws). These types of calculations and the data needed to carry them out are a central feature of geochemistry in many applications, including water-rock interactions in natural systems at low and high temperatures. Such calculations are also made in engineering studies, for example studies of interactions involving man-made materials such as metal alloys and concrete. They are used in a fairly broad spectrum of repository studies where interactions take place among water, rock, and man-made materials (e.g., usage on YMP and WIPP). Waste form degradation, engineered barrier system performance, and near-field and far-field transport typically incorporate some level of thermodynamic modeling, requiring the relevant supporting data. Typical applications of thermodynamic modeling involve calculations of aqueous speciation (which is of great importance in the case of most radionuclides), solubilities of minerals and related solids, solubilities of gases, and stability relations among the various possible phases that might be present in a chemical system at a given temperature and pressure. If a phase can have a variable chemical composition, then a common calculational task is to determine that composition. Thermodynamic modeling also encompasses ion exchange and surface complexation processes. Any and all of these processes may be important in a geochemical process or reactive transport calculation. Such calculations are generally carried out using computer codes. For geochemical modeling calculations, codes such as EQ3/6 and PHREEQC, are commonly used. These codes typically provide 'full service' geochemistry, meaning that they use a large body of thermodynamic data, generally from a supporting database file, to sort out the various important reactions from a wide spectrum of possibilities, given specified inputs. Usually codes of this kind are used to construct models of initial aqueous solutions that represent initial conditions for some process, although sometimes these calculations also represent a desired end point. Such a calculation might be used to determine the major chemical species of a dissolved component, the solubility of a mineral or mineral-like solid, or to quantify deviation from equilibrium in the form of saturation indices. Reactive transport codes such as TOUGHREACT and NUFT generally require the user to determine which chemical species and reactions are important, and to provide the requisite set of information including thermodynamic data in an input file. Usually this information is abstracted from the output of a geochemical modeling code and its supporting thermodynamic data file. The Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) developed two qualified thermodynamic databases to model geochemical processes, including ones involving repository components such as spent fuel. The first of the two (BSC, 2007a) was for systems containing dilute aqueous solutions only, the other (BSC, 2007b) for systems involving concentrated aqueous solutions and incorporating a model for such based on Pitzer's (1991) equations. A 25 C-only database with similarities to the latter was also developed for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP, cf. Xiong, 2005). The NAGRA/PSI database (Hummel et al., 2002) was developed to support repository studies in Europe. The YMP databases are often used in non-repository studies, including studies of geothermal systems (e.g., Wolery and Carroll, 2010) and CO2 sequestration (e.g., Aines et al., 2011).

[en] Many novel synchrotron-based X-ray techniques directly address the core questions of modern materials science but are not yet at the stage of being easy to use because of the lack of dedicated beamlines optimized for specific measurements. In this article, we highlight a few of these X-ray techniques and discuss why, with ongoing upgrades of existing synchrotrons and with new linear-accelerator-based sources under development, now is the time to ensure that these techniques are readily available to the larger materials research community.

[en] This mid-year deliverable has two parts. The first part is a synopsis of J. Blink's interview of the former Nevada Attorney General, Frankie Sue Del Papa, which was done in preparation for the May 18-19, 2010 Legal and Regulatory Framework Workshop held in Albuquerque. The second part is a series of sections written as input for the SNL L2 Milestone M21UF033701, due March 31, 2011. Disposal of high-level radioactive waste is categorized in this review into several categories. Section II discusses alternatives to geologic disposal: space, ice-sheets, and an engineered mountain or mausoleum. Section III discusses alternative locations for mined geologic disposal: islands, coastlines, mid-continent, and saturated versus unsaturated zone. Section IV discusses geologic disposal alternatives other than emplacement in a mine: well injection, rock melt, sub-seabed, and deep boreholes in igneous or metamorphic basement rock. Finally, Secton V discusses alternative media for mined geologic disposal: basalt, tuff, granite and other igneous/metamorphic rock, alluvium, sandstone, carbonates and chalk, shale and clay, and salt.

[en] The evaporation of a range of synthetic pore water solutions representative of the potential high-level-nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV is being investigated. The motivation of this work is to understand and predict the range of brine compositions that may contact the waste containers from evaporation of pore waters, because these brines could form corrosive thin films on the containers and impact their long-term integrity. A relatively complex synthetic Topopah Spring Tuff pore water was progressively concentrated by evaporation in a closed vessel, heated to 95 C in a series of sequential experiments. Periodic samples of the evaporating solution were taken to determine the evolving water chemistry. According to chemical divide theory at 25 C and 95 C our starting solution should evolve towards a high pH carbonate brine. Results at 95 C show that this solution evolves towards a complex brine that contains about 99 mol% Na⁺ for the cations, and 71 mol% Cl^-, 18 mol% ΣCO₂(aq), 9 mol% SO₄^2- for the anions. Initial modeling of the evaporating solution indicates precipitation of aragonite, halite, silica, sulfate and fluoride phases. The experiments have been used to benchmark the use of the EQ3/6 geochemical code in predicting the evolution of carbonate-rich brines during evaporation

[en] The evaporation of a range of synthetic pore water solutions representative of the potential high-level-nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, NV is being investigated. The motivation of this work is to understand and predict the range of brine compositions that may contact the waste containers from evaporation of pore waters, because these brines could form corrosive thin films on the containers and impact their long-term integrity. A relatively complex synthetic Topopah Spring Tuff pore water was progressively concentrated by evaporation in a closed vessel, heated to 95 C in a series of sequential experiments. Periodic samples of the evaporating solution were taken to determine the evolving water chemistry. According to chemical divide theory at 25 C and 95 C our starting solution should evolve towards a high pH carbonate brine. Results at 95 C show that this solution evolves towards a complex brine that contains about 99 mol% Na⁺ for the cations, and 71 mol% Cl^-, 18 mol% ΣCO₂(aq), 9 mol%SO₄^2- for the anions. Initial modeling of the evaporating solution indicates precipitation of aragonite, halite, silica, sulfate and fluoride phases. The experiments have been used to benchmark the use of the EQ3/6 geochemical code in predicting the evolution of carbonate-rich brines during evaporation

[en] The Used Fuel Disposition (UFD) Campaign within the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy (DOE-NE) Fuel Cycle Technology (FCT) program has been tasked with investigating the disposal of the nation's spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW) for a range of potential waste forms and geologic environments. The planning, construction, and operation of a nuclear disposal facility is a long-term process that involves engineered barriers that are tailored to both the geologic environment and the waste forms being emplaced. The UFD Campaign is considering a range of fuel cycles that in turn produce a range of waste forms. The UFD Campaign is also considering a range of geologic media. These ranges could be thought of as adding uncertainty to what the disposal facility design will ultimately be; however, it may be preferable to thinking about the ranges as adding flexibility to design of a disposal facility. For example, as the overall DOE-NE program and industrial actions result in the fuel cycles that will produce waste to be disposed, and the characteristics of those wastes become clear, the disposal program retains flexibility in both the choice of geologic environment and the specific repository design. Of course, other factors also play a major role, including local and State-level acceptance of the specific site that provides the geologic environment. In contrast, the Yucca Mountain Project (YMP) repository license application (LA) is based on waste forms from an open fuel cycle (PWR and BWR assemblies from an open fuel cycle). These waste forms were about 90% of the total waste, and they were the determining waste form in developing the engineered barrier system (EBS) design for the Yucca Mountain Repository design. About 10% of the repository capacity was reserved for waste from a full recycle fuel cycle in which some actinides were extracted for weapons use, and the remaining fission products and some minor actinides were encapsulated in borosilicate glass. Because the heat load of the glass was much less than the PWR and BWR assemblies, the glass waste form was able to be co-disposed with the open cycle waste, by interspersing glass waste packages among the spent fuel assembly waste packages. In addition, the Yucca Mountain repository was designed to include some research reactor spent fuel and naval reactor spent fuel, within the envelope that was set using the commercial reactor assemblies as the design basis waste form. This milestone report supports Sandia National Laboratory milestone M2FT-12SN0814052, and is intended to be a chapter in that milestone report. The independent technical review of this LLNL milestone was performed at LLNL and is documented in the electronic Information Management (IM) system at LLNL. The objective of this work is to investigate what aspects of quantifying, characterizing, and representing the uncertainty associated with the engineered barrier are affected by implementing different advanced nuclear fuel cycles (e.g., partitioning and transmutation scenarios) together with corresponding designs and thermal constraints.