Experiments on thermo-hydro-mechanical behaviour of Opalinus Clay at Mont Terri rock laboratory, Switzerland

Repositories for deep geological disposal of radioactive waste rely on multi-barrier systems to isolate waste from the biosphere.A multi-barrier system typically comprises the natural geological barrier provided by the repository host rock e in our case the Opalinus Clay e and an engineered barrier system(EBS).The Swiss repository concept for spent fuel and vitrified high-level waste(HLW)consists of waste canisters,which are emplaced horizontally in the middle of an emplacement gallery and are separated from the gallery wall by granular backfill material(GBM).We describe here a selection of five in-situ experiments where characteristic hydro-mechanical(HM)and thermo-hydro-mechanical(THM)processes have been observed.The first example is a coupled HM and mine-by test where the evolution of the excavation damaged zone(EDZ)was monitored around a gallery in the Opalinus Clay(ED-B experiment).Measurements of pore-water pressures and convergences due to stress redistribution during excavation highlighted the HM behaviour.The same measurements were subsequently carried out in a heater test(HE-D)where we were able to characterise the Opalinus Clay in terms of its THM behaviour.These yielded detailed data to better understand the THM behaviours of the granular backfill and the natural host rock.For a presentation of the Swiss concept for HLW storage,we designed three demonstration experiments that were subsequently implemented in the Mont Terri rock laboratory:(1)the engineered barrier(EB)experiment,(2)the in-situ heater test on key-THM processes and parameters(HE-E)experiment,and(3)the full-scale emplacement(FE)experiment.The first demonstration experiment has been dismantled,but the last two ones are on-going.

Demonstration of a Shock-Timing Experiment in a CH Layer at the Shen Guang Ⅲ Laser Facility

Shock-timing experiments are indispensable to inertial confinement fusion mainly because the timing of multiple shock waves is crucial to understanding the processes of laser irradiation of targets. Investigations into shock waves driven by a two-step radiation pulse in polystyrene（CH） capsule targets are experimentally conducted at the Shen Guang Ⅱ laser facility. Differing from the traditional shock-timing implementation in which one shock wave could catch up with another one in solid CH, in this experiment, the second shock front in a rarefaction CH layer is observed through velocity interferometry. This second shock could also be made to converge with rarefaction waves within only a few micrometers of the CH capsule by designing the two-shock coalescence time. A shock-timing diagnostic technique to tune the multi-shock convergence in the CH capsule can thereby be achieved.The experimental results in the CH layer are quasi-quantitatively interpreted using streamlines simulated with the Multi-1 D program. The experimental results are expected to offer important information for target structure and laser pulse design, both of which are important for realizing inertial confinement fusion.

Simplified Cultivation Technology of Hua'an No.513——A New Summer Maize in Suixi County

Corn is a staple food of Anhui Province. For example, the growing area of corn keeps increasing in Suixi County recently. In 2014, Hua＇an No.513 was in- troduced to Chenlou Village, Suntuan Town, totaling 2.67 hm2, and yield reached as high as 9 558 kg/hm2. The research explored simplified cultivation technology in demonstration regions in Suixi County of Hua＇an No.513 in order to investigate the highly-yielding and highly-efficient cultivation technology of Hua＇an No.513 and pro- vide supports for farmers to increase yield and incomes and guarantee crop safety.