Benchtop Zone Refinement of Simulated Future Spent Nuclear Fuel Pyroprocessing Waste.

The UK's adoption of pyroprocessing of spent nuclear fuel as an alternative to the current aqueous processing routes requires a robust scientific underpinning of all relevant processes. One key process is the clean-up of the contaminated salt from the electroreducing and electrorefining processes. A proposed method for this clean-up is zone refining, whereby the tendency of the contaminants to remain in the liquid phase during melting and freezing is exploited to 'sweep' the contaminants to one end of the sample. Experiments were performed, utilising off-the-shelf laboratory equipment, to demonstrate the feasibility of zone refining for clean-up of electroreducing and electrorefining wastes. This was successful for the electrorefining simulant samples, with effective segregation coefficient, keff, values, which provide a measure of the degree of separation in the sample, between 0 and 1. Lower values indicate greater separation, with values of as low as 0.542 achieved here, corresponding to a reduction in RECl3 content from 10.0 wt.% to 8.4 wt.% (for 80% salt reuse). Due to difficulties in obtaining a fully homogeneous electroreducing simulant waste, it was not possible to demonstrate the feasibility of zone refining using the current experimental setup. Further research is required to elucidate the correct preparation conditions for production of homogeneous electroreducing waste simulants.

Current sexual trauma among high-risk teen mothers.

PROBLEM: The highest rate of reported intimate partner violence (IPV) is among women 15-45 years old (Hart & Jamieson, 2001) with 20% of pregnant teens reporting abuse (Campbell, 1999); however, little research on IPV and American Indian teen mothers has been done. METHOD: The purpose of this paper is to describe the degree of IPV and current sexual trauma among a group of Northern Plains adolescents being served by an American Indian teen mother program. FINDINGS: The relationship of trauma, substance abuse, and trauma symptoms are described. IPV was reported by 61% of the participants, with 37.5% reporting IPV during pregnancy and 22.5% reporting current sexual trauma. CONCLUSIONS: Development and testing of interventions for American Indian teen mothers, specifically related to trauma, are needed in addition to primary mental health services by agencies caring for this population.