Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM) is undertaking a programme of work to consider further the implications of voidage for post-closure safety of a geological disposal facility (GDF) for higher activity waste. In this context, voidage is defined as macroscopic voids, within or around waste packages in the Engineered Barrier System (EBS) of a GDF. Wastes are being packaged for disposal in the UK now, and RWM provides advice to waste packagers regarding how waste can be packaged such that it is in a form that is compatible with a range of UK-relevant geologies that could in due course be selected to host a GDF... Full Details

Quintessa has developed LoTAS (Load Trace Analysis Software) for EDF Energy to help manage and analyse the fuel grab load traces that are recorded whenever a fuel assembly in an Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor (AGR) is raised or lowered. LoTAS is a web-based application, linked to a searchable database of fuel grab load traces. LoTAS not only provides search and visualisation tools but is also able to analyse traces and automatically detect where the graphite brick interfaces are located on the trace... Full Details

The international DECOVALEX (DEvelopment of COupled models and their VALidation against Experiments) research project has been at the forefront of advancing the understanding of coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanical-chemical-gas (THMCG) processes in support of the safe geological disposal of radioactive wastes since 1992. Quintessa is developing and applying models for two tasks in the current phase (DECOVALEX-2019) on behalf of the Radioactive Waste Management Limited (RWM). In addition, Quintessa's Alex Bond has been appointed as Technical Secretary (a scientific coordinator role) for DECOVALEX-2019 by the DECOVALEX-2019 Steering Committee... Full Details

The Twente region of the Netherlands has a large number or redundant salt caverns that were developed by brine production. Some of these caverns are unstable and have the potential to collapse leading to the formation of sinkholes at the ground surface. AkzoNobel Industrial Chemical’s B.V. undertook the Pilot Stabilisation Caverns Twente (PSCT) project, to determine the feasibility of stabilising these caverns. The intention was to use residual materials from a local waste-to-energy plant operated by Twence B.V., thereby reusing residual materials that would otherwise have to be managed by other means... Full Details

Richard Metcalfe participated in the final meeting of the EC-supported project “Full-Scale Demonstration Of Plugs And Seals” (DOPAS), which was organised by a Posiva-led consortium in Turku, Finland from the 24th-27th May 2016. The meeting was attended by about 130 people who represented around 50 organisations from 15 countries, including many radioactive waste management organisations. The conference provided a forum at which the DOPAS partners could present their results to an audience from beyond the project consortium, and at the same time allow contributors from outside the consortium to share outputs from other projects and other sectors.... Full Details

With global attention focussing on climate change and the rising level of atmospheric CO2, efforts to generate electricity from renewable sources are an important area of research. Ocean waves represent a potentially vast source of renewable energy; coastal waves are estimated to generate of the order of 1 TW globally. The potential for capturing energy from waves is considerable... Full Details