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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: GR/L64522/01
Title: MICROBIAL INFLUENCED DEGRADATION OF SOLIDIFIED WASTE
Principal Investigator: Cheeseman, Professor C
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Pre Nexus Migration
Department: Civil & Environmental Engineering
Organisation: Imperial College London
Scheme: Standard Research (Pre-FEC)
Starts: 05 January 1998 Ends: 04 September 2001 Value (£): 215,134
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Waste Management
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:  
Summary on Grant Application Form
For waste solidification to be effective, it has to inhibit waste component leaching over very long time periods. Considerable research has focused on regulatory and predictive test to assess this performance criteria through contact with various aqueous leachants. Microbial populations have been observed to be an important factor in the serious deterioration of some cementious structures, such as sewer pipes. Similar organisms have been identified in solidified waste forms, and recent findings from the USA have shown the considerable potential for degradation of solidified low-level radioactive wastes. This project investigates the potential for microbial influenced degradation (MID) to seriously compromise the long-term performance of typical cement-based solidification technologies applied to hazardous wastes in compromise the long-term performance of typical cement-based solidification technologies applied to hazardous wastes in the UK and Europe. The project will involve a laboratory investigation of properties which affect the susceptibility of a product to MID; an evaluation of the contribution of these processes to the serious degradation of 5-year old samples in a unique UK field site facility; and the development of mathematical models to simulate these processes. The project will also employ techniques and expertise which is currently unavailable in the UK or Europe through a collaborative link with the US National Engineering Laboratory based at Idaho (INEL).
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Organisation Website: http://www.imperial.ac.uk