Lessons Learnt from the Development of Cementitious Grouts for Deep Borehole Disposal Applications

The performance of grouts made using oilwell cement is markedly different above 90°C than at lower temperatures, and the rapidity with which grouts thicken can cause failures in well cementing. One grouting application in which such temperatures are encountered is deep borehole disposal (DBD). DBD is a concept for disposing of high-level radioactive wastes where the temperature and pressure will be 90–140°C and 30–50 MPa, respectively. In developing DBD grouts, a number of issues have been identified that will be of interest to well-cementing organizations. (1) The type of retarder used to delay grout thickening above 90°C is of extreme importance, and should be selected based on local temperature, pressure, and geochemical environment. Addition level might vary considerably depending on the retarder used. (2) Temperature and pressure will shorten the time for grouts to thicken, particularly the former. Water content will also affect grout properties such as consistency, viscosity, and flow. (3) The retarder may not influence hardened grout composition, which suggests that only the time at which the cement hydration reactions occur is influenced

Inorganic anions as retarders for deep borehole disposal grouts

Deep borehole disposal (DBD) provides an alternative to comparatively shallow mined repository concepts for many high-level radioactive wastes. Filling the annular space around the waste containers with cement grout will support them during placement and seal against ingress of groundwater. The elevated temperature and pressure (∼120°C and 50 MPa) will cause acceleration of grout thickening and setting, so retardation is required. The DBD Research Group at The University of Sheffield has developed grouts based on class G oil well cement that use organic retarders, but their presence may increase the solubility of any radionuclides released from the waste packages. New DBD grout formulations using sodium phosphate and sodium borate as inorganic retarders are reported in this paper. To place the wet grout, the onset of thickening needs to be delayed for at least 4 h. Sodium borate was found to provide this retardation at 90°C (0·75% addition) and nearly retarded sufficiently at 120°C (1% addition). Sodium phosphate did not provide sufficient retardation at either temperature. Neither compounds influenced the phases formed, but may suppress the crystallisation of calcium silicate hydrates. This work demonstrates that the performance of these inorganic materials in this application is inferior to that of organic retarders

Inorganic anions as retarders for deep borehole disposal grouts

Deep borehole disposal (DBD) provides an alternative to comparatively shallow mined repository concepts for many high-level radioactive wastes. Filling the annular space around the waste containers with cement grout will support them during placement and seal against ingress of groundwater. The elevated temperature and pressure (∼120°C and 50 MPa) will cause acceleration of grout thickening and setting, so retardation is required. The DBD Research Group at The University of Sheffield has developed grouts based on class G oil well cement that use organic retarders, but their presence may increase the solubility of any radionuclides released from the waste packages. New DBD grout formulations using sodium phosphate and sodium borate as inorganic retarders are reported in this paper. To place the wet grout, the onset of thickening needs to be delayed for at least 4 h. Sodium borate was found to provide this retardation at 90°C (0·75% addition) and nearly retarded sufficiently at 120°C (1% addition). Sodium phosphate did not provide sufficient retardation at either temperature. Neither compounds influenced the phases formed, but may suppress the crystallisation of calcium silicate hydrates. This work demonstrates that the performance of these inorganic materials in this application is inferior to that of organic retarders

AAV2-mediated gene transfer of GDNF to the striatum of MPTP monkeys enhances the survival and outgrowth of co-implanted fetal dopamine neurons

Neural transplantation offers the potential of treating Parkinson’s disease by grafting fetal dopamine neurons to depleted regions of the brain. However, clinical studies of neural grafting in Parkinson’s disease have produced only modest improvements. One of the main reasons for this is the low survival rate of transplanted neurons. The inadequate supply of critical neurotrophic factors in the adult brain is likely to be a major cause of early cell death and restricted outgrowth of fetal grafts placed into the mature striatum. Glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) is a potent neurotrophic factor that is crucial to the survival, outgrowth and maintenance of dopamine neurons, and so is a candidate for protecting grafted fetal dopamine neurons in the adult brain. We found that implantation of adeno-associated virus type 2 encoding GDNF (AAV2-GDNF) in the normal monkey caudate nucleus induced over-expression of GDNF that persisted for at least 6 months after injection. In a 6-month within-animal controlled study, AAV2-GDNF enhanced the survival of fetal dopamine neurons by 4-fold, and increased the outgrowth of grafted fetal dopamine neurons by almost 3-fold in the caudate nucleus of MPTP-treated monkeys, compared with control grafts in the other caudate nucleus. Thus, the addition of GDNF gene therapy to neural transplantation may be a useful strategy to improve treatment for Parkinson’s disease

Atomic study of molecular wires composed of thiophene oligomers

10.1002/pssa.200675302Physica Status Solidi (A) Applications and Materials Science20461876-1881PSSA

Electrochemical characteristics of self assembled monolayers of oligothiophenes

2006 6th IEEE Conference on Nanotechnology, IEEE-NANO 20062666-67

Assembly of tailored thiophene oligomers on gold electrodes - Film formation and properties

Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings965234-239MRSP