James Wilson was invited to speak at a recent international workshop on iron-bentonite interactions, hosted by the Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology, Kanazawa University; Laboratory of Environmental Geology, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University; and the Laboratory of Nuclear and Environmental Materials, Graduate School of Engineering, Hokkaido University.
The purpose of the workshop was to discuss the processes by which bentonite could be altered by the interaction with iron in high-level radioactive waste engineered barrier systems (HLW-EBS).
James presented recent modelling (undertaken as part of the EC NF-PRO project) on iron-bentonite interactions using the Quintessa code QPAC which includes a consideration of Ostwald processes for smectite alteration in a HLW-EBS. The workshop included presentations by Japanese and overseas speakers on a number of topics, including natural analogue studies, laboratory experiments and modelling.