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Grouts and Concretes for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

Lillian D. Wakeley
Lillian D. Wakeley*
Affiliation:
U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, 3909 Halls Ferry Road, Vicksburg, MS 39180-6199, USA
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Abstract

The Structures Laboratory of the U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station has conducted research on cement-based composites for the Waste Isolation Pilot Project (WIPP) since 1977, in cooperation with Sandia National Laboratories. Field testing requirements guided initial development of grouts. Concurrent and later laboratory studies explored the chemical stability and probable durability of these mixtures. Beginning in 1985, a series of small-scale seal performance tests at the WIPP prompted development of an expansive salt-saturated concrete. Important lessons learned from this ongoing work include: (1) carefully tailored mixtures can tolerate phase changes involving Ca, Al, and S04, without loss of structural integrity; (2) handling and placement properties are probably more crucial to the mixtures than is exact phase composition; and (3) for the environment of a geologic repository, demonstrated chemical durability will be the best indicator of long-term performance.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 176: Symposium U – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XIII , 1989 , 45
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

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References

REFERENCES

1. Wakeley, L. D. and Walley, D. M., Development and Field Placement of an Expansive Salt-Saturated Concrete (ESC) for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), Technical Report SL-86-36, U.S. Army Engineer Waterways Experiment Station, Vicksburg, MS, (1986).Google Scholar
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