Equilibration of Leachants with Basalt Rock for Repository Simulation Tests

In a nuclear waste repository in basalt, the groundwater will have a low redox potential (Eh) which may affect the leach rate of SRP waste glass. Accurate laboratory simulations of conditions in a basalt reposition must maintain low Eh values throughout the course of the experiment. In this report, important parameters affecting the ability of basalt to maintain appropriate Eh-pH conditions are examined, in particular basalt type and groundwater simulation

Automated Additive Construction (AAC) for Earth and Space Using In-situ Resources

Using Automated Additive Construction (AAC), low-fidelity large-scale compressive structures can be produced out of a wide variety of materials found in the environment. Compressionintensive structures need not utilize materials that have tight specifications for internal force management, meaning that the production of the building materials do not require costly methods for their preparation. Where a certain degree of surface roughness can be tolerated, lower-fidelity numerical control of deposited materials can provide a low-cost means for automating building processes, which can be utilized in remote or extreme environments on Earth or in Space. For space missions where every kilogram of mass must be lifted out of Earth’s gravity well, the promise of using in-situ materials for the construction of outposts, facilities, and installations could prove to be enabling if significant reduction of payload mass can be achieved. In a 2015 workshop sponsored by the Keck nstitute for Space Studies, on the topic of Three Dimensional (3D) Additive Construction For Space Using In-situ Resources, was conducted with additive construction experts from around the globe in attendance. The workshop explored disparate efforts, methods, and technologies and established a proposed framework for the field of Additive Construction Using In-situ Resources. This paper defines the field of Automated Additive Construction Using In-situ Resources, describes the state-of-the-art for various methods, establishes a vision for future efforts, identifies gaps in current technologies, explores investment opportunities, and proposes potential technology demonstration missions for terrestrial, International Space Station (ISS), lunar, deep space zero-gravity, and Mars environments

Maqarin Phase IV report

Cement and concrete are extensively used in the construction of repositories for low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes (L/ILW). In underground silos, like those in Sweden and Finland for example, much of the waste is conditioned with concrete (e.g. spent ionexchange resins) and is packed in concrete containers (e.g. Figure 1.1)1. Even in many high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repositories, cement and concrete may be widely used. Instances include the paving of tunnels, shotcreting of tunnel walls, and injection and grouting of fractures. Consequently, in many repository designs, cement-based materials are expected to dominate the repository. In the Swiss L/ILW concept, for example, current designs envisage the use of up to 1.5 million tonnes of cement, approximately 85-90% by weight of the total repository. This will ensure the long-term maintenance of hyperalkaline conditions, predicted to suppress the solubility of key radionuclides in the waste (e.g. Hodgkinson and Robinson, 1987) and to enhance their sorption on the cement (e.g. Stumpf et al., 2004)

Energy: A continuing bibliography with indexes, issue 40, January 1984

This bibliography lists 775 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system from October 1, 1983 through December 31, 1983

MSATT Workshop on Chemical Weathering on Mars

The topics covered with respect to chemical weathering on Mars include the following: Mars soil, mineralogy, spectroscopic analysis, clays, silicates, oxidation, iron oxides, water, chemical reactions, geochemistry, minerals, Mars atmosphere, atmospheric chemistry, salts, planetary evolution, volcanology, Mars volcanoes, regolith, surface reactions, Mars soil analogs, carbonates, meteorites, and reactivity