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Coupled processes associated with nuclear waste repositories
Geahrmlca
ec Cormochrmtca
001&7037/88/53.00 + .OO
Ano Vol. 52. p. 2185 USA
Copy?isht 8 1988Pnspmon Rosa plc.PrinIedin
BOOK REVIEWS
immediately by Doreen Kimura, a professor of psychology, who indicates how a rational science attacks the same problem of consciousness without despairing over its “total mystery”. Many of the essays provide excellent summaries of the sciences most basic to the question under discussion, without insisting on an answer but rather expressing in one form or another the wistful conclusion of W. Ford Doolittle: “It would be nice once again to get some delight from the law of the Lord.” All in all, a book well worth reading, especially if you are lucky enough to have someone with whom you might argue the various points which are. raised. As Doohttle puts it: “I was trained as an experimental molecular biologist. . to believe . that an interest in history, or worse the philosophical roots, was a symptom of intellectual weakness; that the whole was never more than the sum of the parts; and that grown men never cry.” It is good to recognize today that the philosophical roots of our several scientific disciplines are well worth contemplating even if a few of the arguments presented in this collection may indeed make you cry.
Origin and Evolutiun of the Universe: Evidence for Lkign? edited by John M. Robson. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1987, 3OOp., cloth $35.00 (ISBN O-7735-0617-9), paper $15.95 (ISBN O-7735 06187). THE BASICARGUMENTaddressed by the 1985 conference of which this book is the proceedings is, as Hugo Meynell says, “It is often argued that the basic laws of the universe seem very finely tuned for the production of life and even of human life.” Does this imply a universe by Divine Design? The question is discussed from a variety of viewpoints: physics, astronomy, geology, probability, statistics, psychology, and Judeo/Christian (and a smattering of other) theologies. The answer? You wouldn’t want me to give it away. Besides, as with an Agatha Christie novel, the fun is in the telling rather than in the solution. There are some irritations along the way. For example, Richard Swinbume, professor of philosophy of Christian religion, concludes that “the occurrence of conscious life and its mode of functioning . ( which othenvim are likely to remain totally mysterious, can be explained in terms of divine action.” Well of course they can; both the strength and the weakness of the hypothesis of the Divine is that it can explain nnyrhing: sex and beauty and love, but also AIDS and syphilis and the Holocaust. Luckily this essay is followed
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences University of Miami Miami, FL 33149, (I.S.A.
David E. Fisher
relevant to the design of a repository. Unfortunately, the importance of I%, “C, ‘H, and mass balancing is neglected. Examples ofgroundwater studies where geochemical computations combining mass transfer and isotopic fractionation through mass balancing should have been cited because they provide useful models for application to repository environments. Brookins (Chap. 18) revisits the geochemistry of the Oklo natural reactor, Camahan (Chap. 19) discusses the evolution of the computer code THCC from CHEMTRN for simulating solute transport with chemical reaction at variable temperature; Chaps. 20-26 deal with the mobility and reactivity of radionuclides in the subsurface; Chaps. 27-30 and 36 describe results from tracer migration and/or diffusion studies; examples of the effect of mineral solubility on permeability is discussed in Chaps. 39 and 40, and colloid transport in Chaps. 34 and 38. In the Discussions, Foumier brings attention to the importance of geothermal systems as natural analogues for hydrologic-geochemical coupling and Neretnieks suggests examples of mechanicalchemicalhydraulic coupling that may be important but have not yet been
Coupled Processes Associated with Nuclear Waste Repositories, edited by Chin-Fu Tsang. Academic Press, 1987,801 pp.. $59.95 (ISBN 0127016201). CHIN-~%
TSANG has successfully accomplished a challenging task: to organize and edit 58 chapters in a single volume with authors from 8 different countries discussing important aspects of hydrology, gee mechanics and geochemistry relevant to the disposal of nuclear waste. Although it is not explicit, the repository environment is considered to be a subsurface geological formation receiving high-level radioactive waste. The common theme of “coupled processes” is one that most geologists, hydrologists and geochemists have to deal with in other contexts so that it is hardly new in that sense. The results and discussions, however, form a valuable summary from a wide spectrum of international research programs involving nuclear waste research. Tsang correctly points out that “In fact, new areas of multidisciplinary research have evolved from the need to conduct performance a.+ sessments of nuclear waste geologic repositories.” The four primary processes whose coupling are considered are thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical (Chap. I, C-F. Tsang). The chapters are grouped into 5 sections entitled: Agency Overview (Chaps. 2-S), Overview of Coupled Processes (Chaps. 68), Current Field Projects (Chaps. 9- i5), Topical Studies (Chaps. I65 1) and Discussions (Chaps. 52-58). Each chapter is a short paper averaging a dozen pages based on an international symposium presented 2 Yeats earlier. Geochemists and non-geochemists should take note of Langmuir’s 35 page paper, “Overview of Coupled Processes with Emphasis in Geochemistry”. He summarizes recent progress and needed research on thermodynamic data, kinetic data, geochemical site characterization (water chemistry, rock chemistry, age dating, inert gases, isotopes, and water-rock reactions), computer programs for identifying and simulating water-rock interactions and examples of coupled processes
studied. What these papers lack in depth is compensated by their comprehensiveness and their creativity. Geological processes have always been coupled but our thinking hasn’t always been coupled. This book encourages coupled thinking and I strongly recommend it for both the radioactive waste research community and others who wish to know about recent progress in the field. The paper, printing and binding is of high quality with very few typographical errors and well worth the advertised price. U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025, U.S.A.
2185
Darrell Kirk Nordstrom
ec Cormochrmtca
001&7037/88/53.00 + .OO
Ano Vol. 52. p. 2185 USA
Copy?isht 8 1988Pnspmon Rosa plc.PrinIedin
BOOK REVIEWS
immediately by Doreen Kimura, a professor of psychology, who indicates how a rational science attacks the same problem of consciousness without despairing over its “total mystery”. Many of the essays provide excellent summaries of the sciences most basic to the question under discussion, without insisting on an answer but rather expressing in one form or another the wistful conclusion of W. Ford Doolittle: “It would be nice once again to get some delight from the law of the Lord.” All in all, a book well worth reading, especially if you are lucky enough to have someone with whom you might argue the various points which are. raised. As Doohttle puts it: “I was trained as an experimental molecular biologist. . to believe . that an interest in history, or worse the philosophical roots, was a symptom of intellectual weakness; that the whole was never more than the sum of the parts; and that grown men never cry.” It is good to recognize today that the philosophical roots of our several scientific disciplines are well worth contemplating even if a few of the arguments presented in this collection may indeed make you cry.
Origin and Evolutiun of the Universe: Evidence for Lkign? edited by John M. Robson. McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1987, 3OOp., cloth $35.00 (ISBN O-7735-0617-9), paper $15.95 (ISBN O-7735 06187). THE BASICARGUMENTaddressed by the 1985 conference of which this book is the proceedings is, as Hugo Meynell says, “It is often argued that the basic laws of the universe seem very finely tuned for the production of life and even of human life.” Does this imply a universe by Divine Design? The question is discussed from a variety of viewpoints: physics, astronomy, geology, probability, statistics, psychology, and Judeo/Christian (and a smattering of other) theologies. The answer? You wouldn’t want me to give it away. Besides, as with an Agatha Christie novel, the fun is in the telling rather than in the solution. There are some irritations along the way. For example, Richard Swinbume, professor of philosophy of Christian religion, concludes that “the occurrence of conscious life and its mode of functioning . ( which othenvim are likely to remain totally mysterious, can be explained in terms of divine action.” Well of course they can; both the strength and the weakness of the hypothesis of the Divine is that it can explain nnyrhing: sex and beauty and love, but also AIDS and syphilis and the Holocaust. Luckily this essay is followed
Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Sciences University of Miami Miami, FL 33149, (I.S.A.
David E. Fisher
relevant to the design of a repository. Unfortunately, the importance of I%, “C, ‘H, and mass balancing is neglected. Examples ofgroundwater studies where geochemical computations combining mass transfer and isotopic fractionation through mass balancing should have been cited because they provide useful models for application to repository environments. Brookins (Chap. 18) revisits the geochemistry of the Oklo natural reactor, Camahan (Chap. 19) discusses the evolution of the computer code THCC from CHEMTRN for simulating solute transport with chemical reaction at variable temperature; Chaps. 20-26 deal with the mobility and reactivity of radionuclides in the subsurface; Chaps. 27-30 and 36 describe results from tracer migration and/or diffusion studies; examples of the effect of mineral solubility on permeability is discussed in Chaps. 39 and 40, and colloid transport in Chaps. 34 and 38. In the Discussions, Foumier brings attention to the importance of geothermal systems as natural analogues for hydrologic-geochemical coupling and Neretnieks suggests examples of mechanicalchemicalhydraulic coupling that may be important but have not yet been
Coupled Processes Associated with Nuclear Waste Repositories, edited by Chin-Fu Tsang. Academic Press, 1987,801 pp.. $59.95 (ISBN 0127016201). CHIN-~%
TSANG has successfully accomplished a challenging task: to organize and edit 58 chapters in a single volume with authors from 8 different countries discussing important aspects of hydrology, gee mechanics and geochemistry relevant to the disposal of nuclear waste. Although it is not explicit, the repository environment is considered to be a subsurface geological formation receiving high-level radioactive waste. The common theme of “coupled processes” is one that most geologists, hydrologists and geochemists have to deal with in other contexts so that it is hardly new in that sense. The results and discussions, however, form a valuable summary from a wide spectrum of international research programs involving nuclear waste research. Tsang correctly points out that “In fact, new areas of multidisciplinary research have evolved from the need to conduct performance a.+ sessments of nuclear waste geologic repositories.” The four primary processes whose coupling are considered are thermal, hydrological, mechanical and chemical (Chap. I, C-F. Tsang). The chapters are grouped into 5 sections entitled: Agency Overview (Chaps. 2-S), Overview of Coupled Processes (Chaps. 68), Current Field Projects (Chaps. 9- i5), Topical Studies (Chaps. I65 1) and Discussions (Chaps. 52-58). Each chapter is a short paper averaging a dozen pages based on an international symposium presented 2 Yeats earlier. Geochemists and non-geochemists should take note of Langmuir’s 35 page paper, “Overview of Coupled Processes with Emphasis in Geochemistry”. He summarizes recent progress and needed research on thermodynamic data, kinetic data, geochemical site characterization (water chemistry, rock chemistry, age dating, inert gases, isotopes, and water-rock reactions), computer programs for identifying and simulating water-rock interactions and examples of coupled processes
studied. What these papers lack in depth is compensated by their comprehensiveness and their creativity. Geological processes have always been coupled but our thinking hasn’t always been coupled. This book encourages coupled thinking and I strongly recommend it for both the radioactive waste research community and others who wish to know about recent progress in the field. The paper, printing and binding is of high quality with very few typographical errors and well worth the advertised price. U.S. Geological Survey 345 Middlefield Road Menlo Park, CA 94025, U.S.A.
2185
Darrell Kirk Nordstrom