News (2002)

1st October 2002 - Quintessa sells its stake in alphaXML to HEDRA

XML is the language that is revolutionising electronic information storage and exchange. It is a vital component of e-GIF, the Electronic Government Interoperability Framework, which is central to e-Government plans.

alphaXML is a key independent advisor to the e-Envoy and has also advised and developed XML schemas for the Inland Revenue, the Public Records Office and the Government Gateway Initiative.

alphaXML will be at the core of HEDRA's new e-GIF/XML division, and significantly strengthens HEDRA's position as management and technology advisors to central Government departments and agencies as they modernise government processes.

David Millard, Managing Director of HEDRA, said:
" XML is set to be the common and accepted language of electronic government, and will be fundamental in the e-Envoy's agenda for modernisation. alphaXML's niche skill-set complements HEDRA's IT expertise to improve and join-up public services. The new division will add significantly to our offering and the service we provide to clients. We are delighted to have the new team on board. "

31st May 2002 - AMBER Version 4.4 Released

Version 4.4 of the AMBER compartment modelling software has been released by Enviros QuantiSci and Quintessa featuring a variety of enhancements, such as the inclusion of units checking. Since its release in 1996, AMBER has been applied by almost 50 organisations in 19 countries to a wide range of environmental modelling problems, ranging from the geologic disposal of spent nuclear fuel to the fate of organophosphates in the soil. To correspond with the release of version 4.4, two AMBER workshops were held in Yokohama (Japan) and Oxford (United Kingdom) to inform users of new developments and to provide a forum for sharing information on the application of the software. For more information please contact Richard Little.

30th May 2002 - A Hundred-dollar, Hundred-digit Challenge

Peter Robinson scored 100% in a numerical analysis challenge issued by Professor Nick Trefethen of Oxford University. The challenge consisted of ten numerical problems posted in the January/February 2002 issue of SIAM News and later publicised in Science and elsewhere. The answer to each problem was a single real number. Contestants could earn up to ten points for ten correct digits on each problem, a maximum of 100 points total. Click here to see the original SIAM News article and the problems.

Ninety-four teams from twenty-five countries entered the competition. Of these, twenty teams scored 100 points and thus are counted as FIRST PRIZE WINNERS. Only five of the winners were individuals, including Peter Robinson, and Peter was the only individual winner from the UK.

Click here to see Peter's solutions.

4th April 2002 - Modelling Geochemical Interactions of bentonite and cement

Applied Geochemistry has recently published a paper describing the results of a collaboration between Quintessa, the British Geological Survey, and the Japanese Nuclear Cycle Development Institute regarding modelling the geochemical interactions of bentonite and cement. Bentonite and cement feature in conceptual engineered barrier designs for an intermediate-level waste repository in Japan and their long-term interactions are of interest for safety assessment considerations. A download of this paper is available here.

1st April 2002 - Richard Metcalfe joins Quintessa

Quintessa is pleased to welcome Richard Metcalfe to the Yokohama office. Richard trained as a geologist at the University of Durham and gained his PhD on fluid/rock interactions at the University of Bristol. Richard spent ten years at the British Geological Survey working on geochemical problems related to radioactive waste, mine waste and carbon dioxide disposal. From 1995 to 1997 Richard was the area coordinator for geochemical interpretations at Sellafield on behalf of Nirex. For the past two years, Richard has worked at the Tono Geoscience Centre in Japan where he has contributed to the H12 project and the planning of the Mizunami Underground Laboratory (MIU), and provided geochemical support to the Aspo project. Richard's e-mail address is metcalfe@quintessa.co.jp.

26th March 2002 - Contract to work for the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA)

Quintessa Limited has been awarded a contract by the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation (Ltd) (NECSA) to undertake a generic post-closure safety assessment of the borehole disposal concept for disused radioactive sealed sources. The work will be undertaken over a twelve month period and forms part of Phase 3 (demonstration of concept feasibility) of a larger Technical Cooperation (TC) project awarded to NECSA by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The aim of the TC project is to provide a safe, technically feasible and economically viable disposal option for countries without adequate nuclear infrastructure, to dispose of their disused sealed sources. For further information, please contact Richard Little.

21st March 2002 - Memorandum of Understanding with the British Geological Survey and Enviros Limited

On the 21st March, Quintessa signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding' with the British Geological Survey (BGS) and Enviros Limited to work together on applied geoscience projects. This extends the bilateral agreement between BGS and Quintessa signed on the 4th July 2000. In particular, the agreement relates to the geological disposal of radioactive and toxic wastes in Japan. For further information, please contact David Savage.

19th March 2002 - Quality Assurance Registration

Today, Quintessa received notification that it has achieved registration to BS EN ISO 9001 : 2000. The Certificate of Registration covers Quintessa's scientific consulting work, specialising in mathematical modelling and assessment. For further information, please contact Quintessa's Quality Co-ordinator , Philip Maul.

8th March 2002 - UK Government Consultation Exercise on Managing Radioactive Waste Safely

In September 2001, the UK Government initiated stage one of a consultation programme on the future of radioactive waste management.

Today, Quintessa Limited submitted its response to the questions raised in the Consultation Document. It is hoped that this will help ensure that the UK establishes an integrated programme for the long-term management of radioactive waste that is in keeping with the best international practice. To download a pdf file of Quintessa's response, please click here.

21st February 2002 - USA Set to Select Deep Disposal Site for Spent Nuclear Fuel and Highly Radioactive Waste
International Review Team Complete Peer Review of Site's Technical Analysis

The United States is moving closer to selecting a national facility for the underground disposal of highly radioactive materials. US Secretary of Energy, Spencer Abraham, formally recommended on 14 February 2002 Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the site for the repository to President George Bush.

At the request of the United States Department of Energy, an international team of experts, including David Hodgkinson the Managing Director of Quintessa, was convened by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The team conducted a peer review of the site's technical analysis during 2001, and submitted its report to DOE in January 2002.

The international peer review was conducted by ten experts over a four-month period last year. The team focused on the methodology of what is called the Total System Performance Assessment for the Site Recommendation (TSPA-SR). The experts concluded that, while presenting room for improvement, the TSPA-SR methodology is soundly based and has been implemented in a competent manner. Moreover, it was noted that the modelling incorporates many conservatisms.

Overall, the team considered that the implemented performance assessment approach provides "an adequate basis for supporting a statement on likely compliance within the regulatory period of 10,000 years and, accordingly, for the site recommendation decision." Regarding ongoing and future assessments, the team cited growing international consensus for its view that an understanding of the repository system and its performance and how it provides for safety should be emphasized more in future iterations, both during and beyond the regulatory period. Also, further work is required to increase confidence in the robustness of the TSPA. Based on the review, the team's report discusses a number of issues and provides 27 technical recommendations for better supporting the next programmatic decision points.

Copies of the report can be downloaded from the NEA web site.

11th February 2002 - Uncertainty Analysis, Risk Management and Decision Support 11th to 12th April 2002

Andrew Bowden of Quintessa will be giving a course with the above title at the European Geoscience Technology Training Centre (EGTTC) located at Imperial College on the 11th and 12th April 2002.
The course is designed to develop skills in the management of uncertainty and risk for optimal decision-making. Starting from basic principles in uncertainty analysis, the concept of uncertainty hierarchy and differences between geological risks and economic risks will be addressed. The major topics addressed are:

• Monte Carlo Simulation
• Decision Trees
• Evidence Based Decision Support

The course will be suitable for any geologist, geoscientist or petroleum engineer who needs to improve their knowledge of the underlying principles and the methods to address issues of uncertainty, probability and levels of risk.

For more information please contact Andrew Bowden or visit the EGTTC web site.

8th February 2002 - CO2 FEP Workshop in Rome

The INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) hosted a 'FEP Workshop' in Rome, January 28-29, 2002, on behalf of the EC 'Weyburn' and 'Nascent' projects investigating the feasibility of the geological storage of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion.

32 researchers from Italy, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Canada, and the USA met to consider issues affecting the long term fate of CO2 in geological storage and to brainstorm so-called 'FEPs' (features, events, and processes) describing storage behaviour.

Staff from Quintessa (Dave Savage, Steve Benbow) led the Workshop to fulfil Quintessa's role as Task Leader for the Weyburn Project on 'Long-term safety and performance of CO2 sequestration'. Quintessa has been commissioned to design and construct a FEP database for the project.

7th January 2002 - Sarah Watson joins Quintessa as an associate consultant

Quintessa is pleased to welcome Sarah Watson as an associate consultant. Sarah has more than ten years experience in the development and interpretation of numerical models. She has a BA in Earth Sciences and a PhD in geophysics from the University of Cambridge. In recent years, she has played a key role in the assessments carried out for Nirex, most notably as the data manager for the Nirex 97 assessment, a role which included the derivation from site data of appropriate effective parameters for use in numerical models. More recently, Sarah has worked on groundwater flow modelling for the French radioactive waste disposal programme and on a number of assessments of radioactive waste disposal sites in Eastern Europe and Russia. Sarah has extensive experience of software development, most recently as the software manager for the NAMMU groundwater flow and transport code.