Experimental modelling of the near-field thermal regime in a nuclear-fuel waste disposal vault

Experiments have been performed to study the thermal performance of a backfilled disposal vault in which the waste containers are emplaced in boreholes and surrounded by a bentonitesand buffer.

The near-field thermal regime in a buffer-backfill disposal vault in which the nuclear fuel waste is emplaced in canisters, is studied by one-eight scale experimental models. The thermal performance of the buffer and backfill are examined in a thermal drying environment prior to the ground water recharge of the disposal vault.

The formation of shrinkage cracks in the buffer due to drying and the response of these shrinkage cracks to the rewetting condition and their influence on the near-field thermal regime are assessed.     

Gamma emitters in Hong Kong water

Water samples, representing seawater, river water, reservoir water, drinking water, and underground water were studied through gamma-ray spectral analysis. Only gamma emitters in the²³⁸U and²³²Th series and⁴⁰K were detected. No fission product was detected with specific activity above 0.1 Bq/kg. The present data could be the baseline for future monitoring of the radioactivity released from a nuclear plant being built at a 50-km distance from Hong Kong. The variation of detected specific activities may be due to geological differences and the effect of plants.     

Evolution of energetic protons in twisted magnetic loops

We study the evolution of an ensemble of energetic (1 GeV) protons in a twisted force-free magnetic loop. The protons are followed with a bounce-average method and they are subjected to collisions with ambient gas and pitch-angle scattering by plasrma turbulence in the loop. The proton loss is initially by drift and later by scattering into the loss cone. Gamma rays are produced by pion decays resulting from nuclear reactions of these lost protons. It is found that in order to have long-lasting protons, one of the following scenarios should hold: (1) For small loops (of length 2 × 10⁹ cm), the twist angle should be about 2 and the turbulence level below 10^–8 erg cm^–3. (2) For large loops ( 10¹⁰ cm), the turbulence level should be below 10^–6 erg cm^–3. These set the conditions for testing the trapping picture as a viable explanation for the observed eight-hour gamma-ray emission.     

The aerosol-monsoon climate system of Asia: A new paradigm

This commentary is based on a series of recent lectures on aerosol-monsoon interactions I gave at the Beijing Normal University in August 2015. A main theme of the lectures is on a new paradigm of “An Aerosol-Monsoon-Climate-System”, which posits that aerosol, like rainfall, cloud, and wind, is an integral component of the monsoon climate system, influencing monsoon weather and climate on all timescales. Here, salient issues discussed in my lectures and my personal perspective regarding interactions between atmospheric dynamics and aerosols from both natural and anthropogenic sources are summarized. My hope is that under this new paradigm, we can break down traditional disciplinary barriers, advance a deeper understanding of weather and climate in monsoon regions, as well as entrain a new generation of geoscientists to strive for a sustainable future for one of the most complex and challenging human-natural climate sub-system of the earth.     

The evolution of low-metallicity asymptotic giant branch stars and the formation of carbon-enhanced metal-poor stars

We investigate the behaviour of asymptotic giant branch (AGB) stars between metallicities   Z = 10⁻⁴  and 10⁻⁸. We determine which stars undergo an episode of flash-driven mixing, where protons are ingested into the intershell convection zone, as they enter the thermally pulsing AGB phase and which undergo third dredge-up. We find that flash-driven mixing does not occur above a metallicity of   Z = 10⁻⁵  for any mass of star and that stars above  2 M_⊙  do not experience this phenomenon at any metallicity. We find carbon ingestion (CI), the mixing of carbon into the tail of hydrogen-burning region, occurs in the mass range  2 M_⊙  to around  4 M_⊙  . We suggest that CI may be a weak version of the flash-driven mechanism. We also investigate the effects of convective overshooting on the behaviour of these objects. Our models struggle to explain the frequency of Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars that have both significant carbon and nitrogen enhancement. Carbon can be enhanced through flash-driven mixing, CI or just third dredge-up. Nitrogen can be enhanced through hot bottom burning and the occurrence of hot dredge-up also converts carbon into nitrogen. The C/N ratio may be a good indicator of the mass of the primary AGB stars.     

Intercomparison and analyses of the climatology of the West African Monsoon in the West African Monsoon Modeling and Evaluation project (WAMME) first model intercomparison experiment

This paper briefly presents the West African Monsoon (WAM) Modeling and Evaluation Project (WAMME) and evaluates WAMME general circulation models’ (GCM) performances in simulating variability of WAM precipitation, surface temperature, and major circulation features at seasonal and intraseasonal scales in the first WAMME experiment. The analyses indicate that models with specified sea surface temperature generally have reasonable simulations of the pattern of spatial distribution of WAM seasonal mean precipitation and surface temperature as well as the averaged zonal wind in latitude-height cross-section and low level circulation. But there are large differences among models in simulating spatial correlation, intensity, and variance of precipitation compared with observations. Furthermore, the majority of models fail to produce proper intensities of the African Easterly Jet (AEJ) and the tropical easterly jet. AMMA Land Surface Model Intercomparison Project (ALMIP) data are used to analyze the association between simulated surface processes and the WAM and to investigate the WAM mechanism. It has been identified that the spatial distributions of surface sensible heat flux, surface temperature, and moisture convergence are closely associated with the simulated spatial distribution of precipitation; while surface latent heat flux is closely associated with the AEJ and contributes to divergence in AEJ simulation. Common empirical orthogonal functions (CEOF) analysis is applied to characterize the WAM precipitation evolution and has identified a major WAM precipitation mode and two temperature modes (Sahara mode and Sahel mode). Results indicate that the WAMME models produce reasonable temporal evolutions of major CEOF modes but have deficiencies/uncertainties in producing variances explained by major modes. Furthermore, the CEOF analysis shows that WAM precipitation evolution is closely related to the enhanced Sahara mode and the weakened Sahel mode, supporting the evidence revealed in the analysis using ALMIP data. An analysis of variability of CEOF modes suggests that the Sahara mode leads the WAM evolution, and divergence in simulating this mode contributes to discrepancies in the precipitation simulation.     

Ground-Water Tracing with Injected Helium

Helium has several characteristics that make it attractive for use as a tracer in hydrological studies. Two types of experiments were conducted to investigate applicability of helium as a tracer of ground-water movement. The experiments included studies using laboratory sand and soil columns and field ground-water tracing in a basaltic aquifer. A water helium analyzer comprised of a thin quartz glass membrane and diode ion pump (making use of the preferential permeation of helium through the quartz glass into an evacuated space) was developed and used for the experiments. Results of our studies demonstrated that breakthrough curves of specific conductance and helium were similar under saturated conditions. In the unsaturated sand/soil columns, breakthrough curves of helium were retarded relative to specific conductance reducing the usefulness of helium as a tracer.     

Incremental time—space finite strip method for non-linear structural vibrations

Based on an incremental Hamilton's principle a versatile and systematic computer method for analysing non-linear structural vibrations is developed in this paper. The essence of the proposed method can be regarded as an incremental harmonic balance method associated with a finite strip procedure in the time-space domain. Only linearized equations in terms of frequency increment, amplitude increments, etc. have to be formulated and solved in each incremental step. This method is applicable to highly non-linear problems and may be generalized to related non-linear periodic structural motions such as dynamic stability, flutter and some motions of a rotating body, etc. To show the effectiveness and versatility of this method, a typical time-space finite strip for beam problems is worked out and examples for a wide variety of vibration problems including free and forced vibrations, super- and sub-harmonic resonances, and complicated phenomena such as internal resonance are computed. Comparisons with previous results are also made.