Certain wastes such as nuclear wastes, are so hazardous that their disposal creates a major challenge requiring considerable technical skill and understanding. Their effective isolation in the ground depends on the properties of the surrounding clays. This authoritative book explains the detailed function of clay-based engineered barriers, gives a number of examples of the design and construction of successful sites, and sets out conceptual and theoretical models for the prediction of their performance. It begins by providing a scientific grounding in the relevant aspects of clay science and successively moves onto the practicalities, while retaining the scientific slant. It will be useful for students, and invaluable for research institutes, specialists in environmental protection agencies and consultants in the field of disposal of hazardous waste.

Natural attenuation has become an effective and low-cost alternative to more expensive engineered remediation. This new edition updates the principles and fundamentals of natural attenuation of contaminants with a broader view of the field. It includes new methods for evaluating natural attenuation mechanisms and microbial activity at the lab and field scales. Case studies, actual treatments and protocols, theoretical processes, case studies, numerical models, and legal aspects in the natural attenuation of organic and inorganic contaminants are examined. Challenges and future directions for the implementation of natural attenuation and enhanced remediation techniques are also considered.

Geologic Disposal of High-Level Radioactive Waste examines the fundamental knowledge and conditions to be considered and applied by planners and other professionals when establishing national repository concepts, and constructing repositories for the long-term isolation of highly radioactive waste from surrounding crystalline rock. It emphasizes the important roles of structural geology, hydrogeology, hydrochemistry, and construction techniques. It specifically examines the disposal of steel canisters with spent reactor fuel in mined repositories (MR) at medium-depth, and in very deep boreholes (VDH). While disposal in mined repositories has been widely tested, the option of placing high-level radioactive waste in deep boreholes has been considered in the US, UK, and elsewhere in Europe, but has not yet been tested on a broad scale. This book examines the possibility of safe disposal for very long periods, proposing that the high salt content and density of groundwater at large depths are such that potentially contaminated water would not rise high enough to affect the more shallow biosphere. Features: Presents the best practices for disposal of spent fuel from nuclear reactors. Assesses waste isolation capacities in short- and long-term perspectives, and the associated risks. Describes site selection principles and the economics of construction of different types of repositories. Includes an appendix which provides the latest international recommendations and guidelines concerning the disposal of highly radioactive waste.

Why do some contaminants remain in soils indefinitely? How much of a threat do they pose to human health or the environment? The need for effective and economic site decontamination arises daily. Geoenvironmental Engineering: Contaminated Soils, Pollutant Fate, and Mitigation discusses why soils remain contaminated, focusing on the development of the factors, properties, characteristics, and parameters of soils and individual contaminants.
Subjects covered include the basic properties of soils affecting accumulation of contaminants, long-term retention of contaminants and their fate, including the development of intermediate products. The author emphasizes the factors, interactions, and mechanisms important in the bonding and partitioning process. He provides the groundwork for determining the fate of pollutants in soils and sediments and their mitigation.
Geoenvironmental Engineering: Contaminated Soils, Pollutant Fate, and Mitigation focuses on why soils and sediments remain contaminated, not how they became contaminated in the first place. You will understand why specific contaminants remain in soils and sediments, how much of a threat they pose to human health and the environment, and what steps to take for mitigation. With this information you can determine the extent of the contamination of soils and sediments, how long they will remain a threat, and what methods to use for their remediation.

One of the principal objections to or problems with the use of nuclear fuel is that a proven method for safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel has yet to be established. The central focus of most schemes underway to dispose of these high-level radioactive wastes relies on clay-based buffers and barriers to isolate spent fuel canisters in boreholes deep underground in specially constructed tunnels and caverns. Current thought on the principal methods of containment of high-level radioactive wastes is presented in this book. The authors proceed to discuss the processes and mechanisms involved in the development of long term properties and performance of clay-based buffers and backfills. The procedures and methodologies used to undertake predictions and performance assessments of these materials are also examined. This is an invaluable reference for professionals, researchers, academics and regulators engaged in the development of radioactive waste sites.

In the seven years since the publication of the first edition of Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering, the combination of population growth and increased exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources has added increased stresses on the quality and health of the geoenvironment. This is especially true when viewed in the context of the growing demand for food and shelter, energy and mineral resources, and their resultant effects on the natural capital of the geoenvironment. Completely revised and updated, this second edition of a bestseller introduces and discusses the concept of "stressors" and their impacts on the geoenvironment. See What's New in the Second Edition: Clear definition of the geoenvironment New tools and remediation technologies, new management methods for geohazards, and enhanced coverage of social and economic sustainability Innovative approaches and techniques for reaching geoenvironmental sustainability More detail on treatment technologies, both in situ and ex situ Discussion on the mitigation of geodisasters Additional sections to discuss sustainability assessment protocols Updated information on models for prediction of contaminant behavior The authors explore the technologies that take into account targets, exposure routes (if applicable), future land use, acceptable risks, legislation, and resultant emissions/discharges in establishing the criteria and tools for evaluating technologies and protocols for environmental management of the impacted land. They then discuss how to choose the correct ones to use in different situations to protect the quality and health of natural resource and capital of the geoenvironment and ensure that these geoenvironmental natural resources and capital remain available for future generations and to develop innovative and sustainable techniques to make land more stable and safer.

In the seven years since the publication of the first edition of Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering, the combination of population growth and increased exploitation of renewable and non-renewable natural resources has added increased stresses on the quality and health of the geoenvironment. This is especially true when viewed in the context of the growing demand for food and shelter, energy and mineral resources, and their resultant effects on the natural capital of the geoenvironment. Completely revised and updated, this second edition of a bestseller introduces and discusses the concept of "stressors" and their impacts on the geoenvironment. See What's New in the Second Edition: Clear definition of the geoenvironment New tools and remediation technologies, new management methods for geohazards, and enhanced coverage of social and economic sustainability Innovative approaches and techniques for reaching geoenvironmental sustainability More detail on treatment technologies, both in situ and ex situ Discussion on the mitigation of geodisasters Additional sections to discuss sustainability assessment protocols Updated information on models for prediction of contaminant behavior The authors explore the technologies that take into account targets, exposure routes (if applicable), future land use, acceptable risks, legislation, and resultant emissions/discharges in establishing the criteria and tools for evaluating technologies and protocols for environmental management of the impacted land. They then discuss how to choose the correct ones to use in different situations to protect the quality and health of natural resource and capital of the geoenvironment and ensure that these geoenvironmental natural resources and capital remain available for future generations and to develop innovative and sustainable techniques to make land more stable and safer.

One of the principal objections to or problems with the use of nuclear fuel is that a proven method for safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel has yet to be established. The central focus of most schemes underway to dispose of these high-level radioactive wastes relies on clay-based buffers and barriers to isolate spent fuel canisters in boreholes deep underground in specially constructed tunnels and caverns.

Current thought on the principal methods of containment of high-level radioactive wastes is presented in this book. The authors proceed to discuss the processes and mechanisms involved in the development of long term properties and performance of clay-based buffers and backfills. The procedures and methodologies used to undertake predictions and performance assessments of these materials are also examined.

This is an invaluable reference for professionals, researchers, academics and regulators engaged in the development of radioactive waste sites.

Certain wastes such as nuclear wastes, are so hazardous that their disposal creates a major challenge requiring considerable technical skill and understanding. Their effective isolation in the ground depends on the properties of the surrounding clays. This authoritative book explains the detailed function of clay-based engineered barriers, gives a number of examples of the design and construction of successful sites, and sets out conceptual and theoretical models for the prediction of their performance.

It begins by providing a scientific grounding in the relevant aspects of clay science and successively moves onto the practicalities, while retaining the scientific slant. It will be useful for students, and invaluable for research institutes, specialists in environmental protection agencies and consultants in the field of disposal of hazardous waste.

From bridges and tunnels to nuclear waste repositories, structures require that soils maintain their design engineering properties if the structures are to reach their projected life spans. The same is true for earth dams, levees, buffers, barriers for landfills, and other structures that use soils as engineered materials. Yet soil, a natural resource, continues to change as a result of natural and anthropogenic stresses. As the discipline of soil properties and behaviours matures, new tools and techniques are making it possible to study these properties and behaviours in more depth. What Happens to Soil Under Weathering, Aging, and Chemical Stress? Environmental Soil Properties and Behaviour examines changes in soil properties and behaviour caused by short- and long-term stresses from anthropogenic activities and environmental forces. Introducing new concepts of soil behaviour, soil maturation, and soil functionality, it integrates soil physics, soil chemistry, and soil mechanics as vital factors in soil engineering. The book focuses on environmental soil behaviour, with particular attention to two main inter-related groups of soil-environment issues. The first is the use of soil as an environmental tool for management and containment of toxic and hazardous waste materials. The second is the impact of ageing and weathering processes and soil contamination on the properties and behaviour of soils, especially those used in geotechnical and geoenvironmental engineering projects. A Transdisciplinary Look at Soil-Changing Processes To determine short- and long-term soil quality and soil functionality, the authors emphasize the need to be aware of the nature of the stressors involved as well as the kinds of soil-changing processes that are evoked. This book takes a first step toward a much-needed transdisciplinary effort to develop a broader and deeper understanding of what happens to soil and how we can determine and quantify the effect of biogeochemical processes. It offers a timely resource for the study of soil properties and behaviours, effects of environmental changes, and remediation of contaminated soil.

High Level Radioactive Waste (HLW) Disposal: A Global Challenge presents the most recent information on proposed methods of disposal for the most dangerous radioactive waste and for assessing their function from short- and long-term perspectives. It discusses new aspects of the disposal of such waste, especially HLW. The book is unique in the literature in making it clear that, due to tectonics and long-term changes in rock structure, rock can serve only as a "mechanical support to the chemical apparatus" and that effective containment of hazardous elements can only be managed by properly designed and manufactured containers ("canisters"). This contradicts the common belief that the rock itself is an effective barrier to the transport of contaminants like radionuclides. The importance of the longevity of the containers becomes clear and requires a consideration of all degrading physical/chemical processes, which occupies a considerable part of the book. The book is thus an important contribution to the literature because it proposes design principles that can make repositories for HLW radioactive waste much safer.

This book will address concepts and techniques for preparation and disposal of low- (LLW) and intermediate-level (ILW) radioactive waste from the nuclear industry, the weapons industry, university labs, research institutes, and from the commercial industry. It will aid decision-makers in finding optimal technical/economical solutions, including how site investigations, design, construction, identification and selection of construction materials (clay and concrete), and monitoring can be made. It will also examine techniques for isolating soil and rock contaminated by leaking nuclear plants and from damaged nuclear reactors such as those at the Fukushima and Chernobyl nuclear plants.