scholarly journals Discrete-Fracture Modeling of Thermal-Hydrological Processes at Yucca Mountain and the Llnl G-Tunnel Heater Test

1995 ◽  
Vol 412 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Nitao ◽  
Thomas A. Buscheck
Keyword(s):  
Test Site ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Fracture Flow ◽  
Transport Code ◽  
Fracture Modeling ◽  
Discrete Fracture ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Fracture Models ◽  
Equivalent Continuum

AbstractAn in situ heater test was performed at G-Tunnel, Nevada Nuclear Test Site, to investigate the thermal-hydrological response of unsaturated, fractured volcanic tuff under conditions similar to those at Yucca Mountain. The NUFT flow and transport code was used to model the test using discrete-fracture and equivalent-continuum approaches. Nonequilibrium fracture flow and thermal buoyant gas-phase convection were found to be the likely causes for observed lack of condensate imbibition into the matrix. The potential repository at Yucca Mountain was also modeled. Disequilibrium fracture flow is predicted to occur for less than a hundred years after emplacement followed by a period of fracture-matrix equilibrium, during which the equivalent-continuum and discrete-fracture models give almost identical results.

Radionuclide Migration: Laboratory Experiments with Isolated Fractures

1981 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. S. Rundberg ◽  
J. L. Thompson ◽  
S. Maestas
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Experiments ◽  
Field Experiments ◽  
National Laboratory ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Matrix Diffusion ◽  
Fracture Flow ◽  
Flow Equations ◽  
Welded Tuff ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Element Migration

ABSTRACTLaboratory experiments examining flow and element migration in rocks containing isolated fractures have been initiated at the Los Alamos National Laboratory. Techniques are being developed to establish simple fracture flow systems which are appropriate to models using analytical solutions to the matrix diffusion - flow equations, such as those of I. Neretnieks [1]. These experiments are intended to be intermediate steps toward larger scale field experiments where it may become more difficult to establish and control the parameters important to nuclide migration in fractured media.Laboratory experiments have been run on fractures ranging in size from 1 to 20 cm in length. The hydraulic flow in these fractures was studied to provide the effective apertures. The flows established in these fracture systems are similar to those in the granite fracture flow experiments of Witherspoon et al. [2]. Traced solutions containing 85Sr and 137Cs were flowed through fractures in Climax Stock granite and welded tuff (Bullfrog and Tram members, Yucca Mountain, Nevada Test Site). The results of the elutions through granite agree with the matrix diffusion calculations based on independent measurements of Kd. The results of the elutions through tuff, however, agree only if the Kd values used in the calculations are lower than the Kd values measured using a batch technique. This trend has been previously observed in chromatographic column experiments with tuff.

scholarly journals Field-Scale Migration of 99Tc and 129I at the Nevada Test Site

2004 ◽  
Vol 824 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qinhong Hu ◽  
David K. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Redox Potential ◽  
Nuclear Weapons ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Yucca Mountain ◽  
Nevada Test Site ◽  
Field Scale ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Geological Repository ◽  
The Subject

AbstractThe groundwater at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) contains many long-lived radionuclides, including 99Tc (technetium) and 129I (iodine), as a result of 828 underground nuclear weapons tests conducted between 1951 and 1992. We synthesized a body of data collected on the distribution of 99Tc and 129I in groundwater to assess their migration at NTS, at field scales over distances of hundreds of meters and for durations up to forty years and under hydrogeologic conditions very similar to the proposed geological repository at Yucca Mountain. The results of our study show that Tc does not necessarily exist as a mobile and conservative species TcO4−, as has been commonly assumed. This conclusion is corroborated by recent in situ redox potential measurements, which show that groundwaters at multiple locations of the NTS are not oxidizing, and mobility of reduced Tc species (TcO2·nH2O) is greatly decreased. Speciation of iodine and its associated reactivity is also complex in the groundwater at the NTS, and its effect on the mobility of iodine should be the subject of future studies.

scholarly journals Supramolecular ionic polymer/carbon nanotube composite hydrogels with enhanced electromechanical performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 478-488 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yun-Fei Zhang ◽  
Fei-Peng Du ◽  
Ling Chen ◽  
Ka-Wai Yeung ◽  
Yuqing Dong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotube ◽  
Ion Mobility ◽  
Artificial Muscles ◽  
Ionic Polymer ◽  
Composite Hydrogels ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Electromechanical Performance ◽  
Carbon Nanotube Composite ◽  
Robotic Devices

AbstractElectroactive hydrogels have received increasing attention due to the possibility of being used in biomimetics, such as for soft robotics and artificial muscles. However, the applications are hindered by the poor mechanical properties and slow response time. To address these issues, in this study, supramolecular ionic polymer–carbon nanotube (SIPC) composite hydrogels were fabricated via in situ free radical polymerization. The polymer matrix consisted of carbon nanotubes (CNTs), styrene sulfonic sodium (SSNa), β-cyclodextrin (β-CD)-grafted acrylamide, and ferrocene (Fc)-grafted acrylamide, with the incorporation of SSNa serving as the ionic source. On applying an external voltage, the ions accumulate on one side of the matrix, leading to localized swelling and bending of the structure. Therefore, a controllable and reversible actuation can be achieved by changing the applied voltage. The tensile strength of the SIPC was improved by over 300%, from 12 to 49 kPa, due to the reinforcement effect of the CNTs and the supramolecular host–guest interactions between the β-CD and Fc moieties. The inclusion of CNTs not only improved the tensile properties but also enhanced the ion mobility, which lead to a faster electromechanical response. The presented electro-responsive composite hydrogel shows a high potential for the development of robotic devices and soft smart components for sensing and actuating applications.

scholarly journals In situ structure and organization of the influenza C virus surface glycoprotein

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Steinar Halldorsson ◽  
Kasim Sader ◽  
Jack Turner ◽  
Lesley J. Calder ◽  
Peter B. Rosenthal
Keyword(s):  
Membrane Fusion ◽  
Hexagonal Lattice ◽  
Surface Glycoprotein ◽  
Structural Basis ◽  
Virus Surface ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Influenza C Virus ◽  
Subtomogram Averaging ◽  
Electron Cryotomography

AbstractThe lipid-enveloped influenza C virus contains a single surface glycoprotein, the haemagglutinin-esterase-fusion (HEF) protein, that mediates receptor binding, receptor destruction, and membrane fusion at the low pH of the endosome. Here we apply electron cryotomography and subtomogram averaging to describe the structural basis for hexagonal lattice formation by HEF on the viral surface. The conformation of the glycoprotein in situ is distinct from the structure of the isolated trimeric ectodomain, showing that a splaying of the membrane distal domains is required to mediate contacts that form the lattice. The splaying of these domains is also coupled to changes in the structure of the stem region which is involved in membrane fusion, thereby linking HEF’s membrane fusion conformation with its assembly on the virus surface. The glycoprotein lattice can form independent of other virion components but we show a major role for the matrix layer in particle formation.

scholarly journals The Sorting of Mitochondrial DNA and Mitochondrial Proteins in Zygotes: Preferential Transmission of Mitochondrial DNA to the Medial Bud

1998 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 613-623 ◽  
Author(s):  
Koji Okamoto ◽  
Philip S. Perlman ◽  
Ronald A. Butow
Keyword(s):  
Mitochondrial Dna ◽  
Fluorescent Protein ◽  
Yeast Cells ◽  
Mitochondrial Matrix ◽  
Outer Membranes ◽  
Marker Proteins ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Green Fluorescent ◽  
Mitochondrial Reticulum

Green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to tag proteins of the mitochondrial matrix, inner, and outer membranes to examine their sorting patterns relative to mtDNA in zygotes of synchronously mated yeast cells in ρ+ × ρ0 crosses. When transiently expressed in one of the haploid parents, each of the marker proteins distributes throughout the fused mitochondrial reticulum of the zygote before equilibration of mtDNA, although the membrane markers equilibrate slower than the matrix marker. A GFP-tagged form of Abf2p, a mtDNA binding protein required for faithful transmission of ρ+ mtDNA in vegetatively growing cells, colocalizes with mtDNA in situ. In zygotes of a ρ+ × ρ+ cross, in which there is little mixing of parental mtDNAs, Abf2p–GFP prelabeled in one parent rapidly equilibrates to most or all of the mtDNA, showing that the mtDNA compartment is accessible to exchange of proteins. In ρ+ × ρ0 crosses, mtDNA is preferentially transmitted to the medial diploid bud, whereas mitochondrial GFP marker proteins distribute throughout the zygote and the bud. In zygotes lacking Abf2p, mtDNA sorting is delayed and preferential sorting is reduced. These findings argue for the existence of a segregation apparatus that directs mtDNA to the emerging bud.

Suitability of Natural Geomedia for Radwaste Storage

1982 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. S. Fyfe
Keyword(s):  
Rock Properties ◽  
Fracture Flow ◽  
Time Prediction ◽  
Sedimentary Sequences ◽  
Rock Types ◽  
Direct Observations ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Mining Disturbance ◽  
Selection Of

ABSTRACTSelection of the best rock types for radwaste disposal will depend on their having minimal permeability, maximal flow dispersion, minimal chance of forming new wide aperture fractures, maximal ion retention, and minimal thermal and mining disturbance. While no rock is perfect, thinly bedded complex sedimentary sequences may have good properties, either as repository rocks, or as cover to a repository.Long time prediction of such favorable properties of a rock at a given site may be best modelled from studies of in situ rock properties. Fracture flow, dispersion history, and geological stability can be derived from direct observations of rocks themselves, and can provide the parameters needed for convincing demonstration of repository security for appropriate times.

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