NEWS

06 September, 2007	On 6 September 2007, the “Self Sealing Barrier” (SB) experiment being led by GRS marked an important milestone when the large scale laboratory mock-up at Braunschweig registered the water break through. This event, which still needs to be fully analysed, appears to confirm full saturation of the seal and serves to support the in situ experiments which are ongoing underground at the Mont Terri URL.
14 June, 2007	A successful two day workshop focused on the design and application of low pH cements for construction, rock support and grouting ended today in Paris. This was the second such workshop sponsored by ESDRED and it drew participants from around the world. The Proceedings can be found in the Workshops section of this web site.
29 March, 2007	Following a 30 day curing period the operational phase related to a 3.5m long plug constructed using low pH shotcrete began today. This project is a complement to a shorter plug previously constructed, loaded to failure and dismantled at SKB's URL at Äspö in Sweden. The longer plug was constructed at Nagra's URL at Grimsel in Switzerland. An extended monitoring period using 3 different monitoring systems or comparison purposes also began today.
16 February, 2007	The Site Acceptance Test (SAT) of SKB's water cushion emplacement machine for its 45 ton Super Containers has been completed. This marks the beginning of a year of in situ demonstration at the Äspö underground laboratory. Till the end of the year at least the endurance of the machine and related equipment will be evaluated in real underground conditions.
18 December, 2006	The fabrication of 4 tonne, 2.25 m diameter, sand/bentonite buffer rings was successfully demonstrated today with the production of 9 donut shaped rings and 2 disk-like end pieces. All units were sound and dimensionally correct. See also NEWS items of 12 June 2006 and 04 July 2006 below. In a radioactive waste repository these rings (the buffer material) are intended as a man made barrier surrounding the waste canisters where they will be required to perform certain functions related to thermal conductivity, hydraulic conductivity, gas permeability, etc.
04 July, 2006	As planned 3 additional bentonite/sand rings were produce at Issoire today. These will be subjected to a variety of geometrical and technical evaluations in preparation for a final pressing sequence planned for the end of the year. Overall the quality of the rings produced was very encouraging.
12 June, 2006	Pressing of the first donut shaped bentonite ring (engineered barrier) took place at Issoire in central France today. This was the first test for the 120 ton mould and accessories and its interface with the 65 000 ton press owned by Interforge. The ring so produced weighs in excess of 4 tons, has a diameter of 2.25 m and a thickness of 0.5 m. The ring is presently undergoing extensive geometrical and functional tests. Overall the test was considered successful by all concerned and enabled the designers to make some fine tuning adjustments to the mould and to the operating procedures. Additional rings and solid end pieces will be pressed before the end of the summer.
07 June, 2006	First public demonstration of ANDRA' industrial scale heavy load emplacement machine at Mécachimie's (AREVA NC) HRB facility at Beaumont-Hague in Normandy in France. This machine, which uses air cushion technology, will eventually be used to emplace 43 ton canisters of spent fuel in horizontal disposal cells at an underground waste repository. Some 30 people including representatives from the European Commission, from AREVA NC and from most of the European Radioactive Waste Disposal Agencies witnessed a flawless demonstration. Ongoing testing of the machine will continue into the fall. Thereafter parts of the emplacement equipment and test bench will be modified for the emplacement of 17 ton packages of buffer rings (see next note).
02 February, 2006	Began factory acceptance test (FAT) of SKB's heavy load emplacement machine at CNIM's facility in La Seyne-sur-Mer, France. This machine, which uses water cushion technology, will be used to emplace SKB's KBS-3H 45 Super Containers in horizontal disposal drifts.
03 November, 2005	Successfully completed construction of a first disposal drift plug at the Äspö underground laboratory in Sweden using low pH concrete and shotcrete techniques. In 2006 this plug will be monitored and eventually loaded to failure.
26 October, 2005	First public demonstration of ANDRA' prototype pushing robot for emplacement of 2 ton vitrified waste canisters; at Lille France. Some 30 people representing most of the European Radioactive Waste Disposal Agencies witnessed a flawless demonstration. This will be followed by the design and fabrication of an industrial 1:1 scale demonstrator which will begin in mid 2006.
On-going	Non-intrusive monitoring Nirex/Nagra. The first series of measurement campaigns (before sand emplacement) were completed in two stages December 2005 and March 2006. The second set of additional tests were carried out using a reduced receiver spacing (to provide a greater measurement density) to specifically gain a better understanding of the host rock properties. For the second set of tests 8 additional receivers (geophones) were also installed directly within the micro tunnel - these are being used essentially for reference/calibration and will remain in-situ for the future measurement campaigns. Sand emplacement in the Nagra HG-A micro tunnel experiment was completed at the beginning of May. At the beginning of July the inflation of the packer will start and it is currently anticipated therefore tha the next measurement campaign (after sand emplacement and compaction) will be undertaken between mid July and mid August. The next phase of the HG-A experiment (where the backfill is re-saturated) is scheduled to commence in August and expected to take 3-4 months.