Reflexivity or orientation? Collective memories in the Australian, Canadian and New Zealand national press

With regard to the notion of ‘national reflexivity’, an important part of Beck’s cosmopolitan outlook, this article examines how, and, in what ways, collective memories of empire were reflexively used in Australian, Canadian and New Zealand national newspaper coverage of the 2012 Diamond Jubilee and London Olympic Games. In contrast to Beck, it is argued that examples of national reflexivity were closely tied to the history of the nation-state, with collective memories of the former British Empire used to debate, critique and appraise ‘the nation’. These memories were discursively used to ‘orientate’ each nation’s postcolonial emergence, suggesting that examples of national reflexivity, within the press’ coverage, remained closely tied to the ‘historical fetishes’ enveloped in each nations’ imperial past(s). This implies that the ‘national outlook’ does not objectively overlook, uncritically absorb or reflexively acknowledge differences with ‘the other’, but instead, negotiates a historically grounded and selective appraisal of the past that reveals a contingent and, at times, ambivalent, interplay with ‘the global’

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses applied to one-dimensional radionuclide transport in a layered fractured rock: Evaluation of the Limit State approach, Iterative Performance Assessment, Phase 2

The Limit State approach is based on partitioning the parameter space into two parts: one in which the performance measure is smaller than a chosen value (called the limit state), and the other in which it is larger. Through a Taylor expansion at a suitable point, the partitioning surface (called the limit state surface) is approximated as either a linear or quadratic function. The success and efficiency of the limit state method depends upon choosing an optimum point for the Taylor expansion. The point in the parameter space that has the highest probability of producing the value chosen as the limit state is optimal for expansion. When the parameter space is transformed into a standard Gaussian space, the optimal expansion point, known as the lost Probable Point (MPP), has the property that its location on the Limit State surface is closest to the origin. Additionally, the projections onto the parameter axes of the vector from the origin to the MPP are the sensitivity coefficients. Once the MPP is determined and the Limit State surface approximated, formulas (see Equations 4-7 and 4-8) are available for determining the probability of the performance measure being less than the limit state. By choosing a succession of limit states, the entire cumulative distribution of the performance measure can be detemined. Methods for determining the MPP and also for improving the estimate of the probability are discussed in this report

Sensitivity and uncertainty analyses applied to one-dimensional radionuclide transport in a layered fractured rock: MULTFRAC --Analytic solutions and local sensitivities; Phase 2, Iterative performance assessment: Volume 1

Exact analytical solutions based on the Laplace transforms are derived for describing the one-dimensional space-time-dependent, advective transport of a decaying species in a layered, saturated rock system intersected by a planar fracture of varying aperture. These solutions, which account for advection in fracture, molecular diffusion into the rock matrix, adsorption in both fracture and matrix, and radioactive decay, predict the concentrations in both fracture and rock matrix and the cumulative mass in the fracture. The solute migration domain in both fracture and rock is assumed to be semi-infinite with non-zero initial conditions. The concentration of each nuclide at the source is allowed to decay either continuously or according to some periodical fluctuations where both are subjected to either a step or band release mode. Two numerical examples related to the transport of Np-237 and Cm-245 in a five-layered system of fractured rock were used to verify these solutions with several well established evaluation methods of Laplace inversion integrals in the real and complex domain. In addition, with respect to the model parameters, a comparison of the analytically derived local sensitivities for the concentration and cumulative mass of Np-237 in the fracture with the ones obtained through a finite-difference method of approximation is also reported

Initial demonstration of the NRC`s capability to conduct a performance assessment for a High-Level Waste Repository

In order to better review licensing submittals for a High-Level Waste Repository, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has expanded and improved its capability to conduct performance assessments. This report documents an initial demonstration of this capability. The demonstration made use of the limited data from Yucca Mountain, Nevada to investigate a small set of scenario classes. Models of release and transport of radionuclides from a repository via the groundwater and direct release pathways provided preliminary estimates of releases to the accessible environment for a 10,000 year simulation time. Latin hypercube sampling of input parameters was used to express results as distributions and to investigate model sensitivities. This methodology demonstration should not be interpreted as an estimate of performance of the proposed repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. By expanding and developing the NRC staff capability to conduct such analyses, NRC would be better able to conduct an independent technical review of the US Department of Energy (DOE) licensing submittals for a high-level waste (HLW) repository. These activities were divided initially into Phase 1 and Phase 2 activities. Additional phases may follow as part of a program of iterative performance assessment at the NRC. The NRC staff conducted Phase 1 activities primarily in CY 1989 with minimal participation from NRC contractors. The Phase 2 activities were to involve NRC contractors actively and to provide for the transfer of technology. The Phase 2 activities are scheduled to start in CY 1990, to allow Sandia National Laboratories to complete development and transfer of computer codes and the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA) to be in a position to assist in the acquisition of the codes