Plutonium and surrogate fission products in a composite ceramic waste form.

Argonne National Laboratory is developing a ceramic waste form to immobilize salt containing fission products and transuranic elements. Preliminary results have been presented for ceramic waste forms containing surrogate fission products such as cesium and the lanthanides. In this work results from scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction are presented in greater detail for ceramic waste forms containing surrogate fission products. Additionally, results for waste forms containing plutonium and surrogate fission products are presented. Most of the surrogate fission products appear to be silicates or aluminosilicates whereas the plutonium is usually found in an oxide form. There is also evidence for the presence of plutonium within the sodalite phase although the chemical speciation of the plutonium is not known

Accelerated alpha radiation damage in a ceramic waste form, interim results

Interim results are presented on the alpha-decay damage study of a {sup 238}Pu-loaded ceramic waste form (CWF). The waste form was developed to immobilize fission products and transuranic species accumulated from the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. To evaluate the effects of {alpha}-decay damage on the waste form the {sup 238}Pu-loaded material was analyzed by (1) x-ray diffraction (XRD), (2) microstructure characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (EDS/WDS) and electron diffraction, (3) bulk density measurements and (4) waste form durability, performed by the product consistency test (PCT). While the predominate phase of plutonium in the CWF, PuO{sub 2}, shows the expected unit cell expansion due to {alpha}-decay damage, currently no significant change has occurred to the macro- or microstructure of the material. The major phase of the waste form is sodalite and contains very little Pu, although the exact amount is unknown. Interestingly, measurement of the sodalite phase unit cell is also showing very slight expansion; again, presumably from {alpha}-decay damage

Accelerated Alpha Radiation Damage in a Ceramic Waste Form, Interim Results

Interim results are presented on the alpha-decay damage study of a {sup 238}Pu-loaded ceramic waste form (CWF). The waste form was developed to immobilize fission products and transuranic species accumulated from the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. To evaluate the effects of {alpha}-decay damage on the waste form the {sup 238}Pu-loaded material was analyzed by (1) x-ray diffraction (XRD), (2) microstructure characterization by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with energy and wavelength dispersive spectroscopy (EDS/WDS) and electron diffraction, (3) bulk density measurements and (4) waste form durability, performed by the product consistency test (PCT). While the predominate phase of plutonium in the CWF, PuO{sub 2}, shows the expected unit cell expansion due to {alpha}-decay damage, currently no significant change has occurred to the macro- or microstructure of the material. The major phase of the waste form is sodalite and contains very little Pu, although the exact amount is unknown. Interestingly, measurement of the sodalite phase unit cell is also showing very slight expansion; again, presumably from {alpha}-decay damage

Plutonium-238 Alpha-Decay Damage Study of the Ceramic Waste Form.

An accelerated alpha-decay damage study of a glass-bonded sodalite ceramic waste form has recently been completed. The purpose of this study was to investigate the physical and chemical durability of the waste form after significant exposure to alpha decay. This accelerated alpha-decay study was performed by doping the ceramic waste form with {sup 238}Pu which has a much greater specific activity than {sup 239}Pu that is normally present in the waste form. The alpha-decay dose at the end of the four year study was approximately 1 x 10{sup 18} alpha-decays/gram of material. An equivalent time period for a similar dose of {sup 239}Pu would require approximately 1100 years. After four years of exposure to {sup 238}Pu alpha decay, the investigation observed little change to the physical or chemical durability of the ceramic waste form (CWF). Specifically, the {sup 238}Pu-loaded CWF maintained it's physical integrity, namely that the density remained constant and no cracking or phase de-bonding was observed. The materials chemical durability and phase stability also did not change significantly over the duration of the study. The only significant measured change was an increase of the unit-cell lattice parameters of the plutonium oxide and sodalite phases of the material and an increase in the release of salt components and plutonium of the waste form during leaching tests, but, as mentioned, these did not lead to any overall loss of waste form durability. The principal findings from this study are: (1) {sup 238}Pu-loaded CWF is similar in microstructure and phase composition to referenced waste form. (2) Pu was observed primarily as oxide comprised of aggregates of nano crystals with aggregates ranging in size from submicron to twenty microns in diameter. (3) Pu phases were primarily found in the intergranular glassy regions. (4) PuO phase shows expected unit cell volume expansion due to alpha decay damage of approximately 0.7%, and the sodalite phase unit cell volume has expanded slightly by 0.3% again, presumably due to alpha-decay damage. (5) No bulk sample swelling was observed. (6) No amorphization of sodalite or actinide bearing phases was observed after four years of alpha-decay damage. (7) No microcracks or phase de-bonding were observed in waste form samples aged for four years. (8) In some areas of the {sup 238}Pu doped ceramic waste form material bubbles and voids were found. Bubbles and voids with similar size and density were also found in ceramic waste form samples without actinide. These bubbles and voids are interpreted as pre-existing defects. However, some contribution to these bubbles and voids from helium gas can not be ruled out. (9) Chemical durability of {sup 238}Pu CWF has not changed significantly after four years of alpha-decay exposure except for an increase in the release of salt components and Pu. Still, the plutonium release from CWF is very low at less than 0.005 g/m{sup 2}

Cultural Evolution as Distributed Computation

The speed and transformative power of human cultural evolution is evident from the change it has wrought on our planet. This chapter proposes a human computation program aimed at (1) distinguishing algorithmic from non-algorithmic components of cultural evolution, (2) computationally modeling the algorithmic components, and amassing human solutions to the non-algorithmic (generally, creative) components, and (3) combining them to develop human-machine hybrids with previously unforeseen computational power that can be used to solve real problems. Drawing on recent insights into the origins of evolutionary processes from biology and complexity theory, human minds are modeled as self-organizing, interacting, autopoietic networks that evolve through a Lamarckian (non-Darwinian) process of communal exchange. Existing computational models as well as directions for future research are discussed.Comment: 13 pages Gabora, L. (2013). Cultural evolution as distributed human computation. In P. Michelucci (Ed.) Handbook of Human Computation. Berlin: Springe

Use of beneficial bacteria and their secondary metabolites to control grapevine pathogen diseases

Grapevine is one of the most important economic crops yielding berries, wine products as well as derivates. However, due to the large array of pathogens inducing diseases on this plant, considerable amounts of pesticides—with possible negative impact on the environment and health—have been used and are currently used in viticulture. To avoid negative impacts of such products and to ensure product quality, a substantial fraction of pesticides needs to be replaced in the near future. One solution can be related to the use of beneficial bacteria inhabiting the rhizo- and/or the endosphere of plants. These biocontrol bacteria and their secondary metabolites can reduce directly or indirectly pathogen diseases by affecting pathogen performance by antibiosis, competition for niches and nutrients, interference with pathogen signaling or by stimulation of host plant defenses. Due to the large demand for biocontrol of grapevine diseases, such biopesticides, their modes of actions and putative consequences of their uses need to be described. Moreover, the current knowledge on new strains from the rhizo- and endosphere and their metabolites that can be used on grapevine plants to counteract pathogen attack needs to be discussed. This is in particular with regard to the control of root rot, grey mould, trunk diseases, powdery and downy mildews, pierce’s disease, grapevine yellows as well as crown gall. Future prospects on specific beneficial microbes and their secondary metabolites that can be used as elicitors of plant defenses and/or as biocontrol agents with potential use in a more sustainable viticulture will be further discussed

Development of a ceramic waste form for high-level waste disposal.

A ceramic waste form is being developed by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) as part of the demonstration of the electrometallurgical treatment of spent nuclear fuel. The halide, alkaline earth, alkali, transuranic, and rare earth fission products are stabilized in zeolite which is combined with glass and processed in a hot isostatic press (HIP) to form a ceramic composite. The mineral sodalite is formed in the HIP from the zeolite precursor. The process, from starting materials to final product, is relatively simple. An overview of the processing operations is given. The metrics that have been developed to measure the success or completion of processing operations are developed and discussed. The impact of variability in processing metrics on the durability of the final product is presented

Numerical modeling of a thermohydrochemical (T-H-C) coupling and the implications to radionuclide transport.

Thermohydrochemical (T-H-C) processes result from the placement of heat-generating radioactive materials in unsaturated, fractured geologic materials. The placement of materials in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository will result in complex environmental conditions. Simple models are developed liking the thermohydrological effects simulated with TOUGHZ to system chemistry, with an example presented for chloride. Perturbations to near-field chemistry could have a significant impact on the migration of actinides and fission products in geologic materials. Various conceptual models to represent fractures are utilized in TOUGHZ simulations of thermohydrological processes. The simulated moisture redistribution is then coupled to simple chemical models to demonstrate the potential magnitude of T-H-C processes. The concentration of chloride in solution (returning to the engineered barrier system) is demonstrated, in extreme cases, to exceed 100,000 mg/L. The implication is that the system (typically ambient chemical and hydrological conditions) in which radionuclide transport is typically simulated and measured may be significantly different from the perturbed system