Historical literacy in Spain is characterised by enormous regional disparities and important differences by sex. This paper addresses these issues, focusing initially on the 1887 census returns and also making use of local empirical data and of in-depth interviews of elderly informants. The goal is to propose an interpretation of historical patterns of literacy based, to a large extent, on the existence of important differences in the perceived value of literacy and education, very high in some regions and very low in others. The author argues that these cleavages go beyond the importance of economic structures, have deep historical roots and continue to be present in contemporary Spain despite the substantial growth in educational attainment taking place during this past century.

Paul's strange confession in Gal 2.19–20 poses a question: is the ‘I’ who was crucified with Christ and no longer lives the same self as the ‘I’ who now lives and in whom Christ lives? To ask this question is to be drawn into conversation with the reception history of Galatians and also to be invited to locate the Pauline ‘I’ in and across the movements from death to life. This article suggests, in dialogue especially with Martin Luther, that for Paul the movement from the state of creation to the state of sin is a movement from life to death; the movement from sin to salvation, conversely, is a movement from death to life. Within or across these ruptures, salvation is as radical as death and resurrection. In this sense, the no longer and now living selves are not identical: the ‘I’ is in another as a gift. And yet, the ‘I’ who lives by grace is also the ‘I’ who was, is and will be loved by the ‘Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.’

Nuclear energy is one option to meet rising electricity demands, although one concern of this technology is the proper capture and storage of radioisotopes produced during fission processes. One of the more difficult radioisotopes is 129 I due to its volatility and poor solubility in traditional waste forms such as borosilicate glass. Iodosodalite has been previously proposed as a viable candidate to immobilize iodine due to high iodine loading and good chemical durability. Iodosodalite was traditionally synthesized using solid state and hydrothermal techniques, but this paper discusses an aqueous synthesis approach to optimize and maximize the iodosodalite yield. Products were pressed into pellets and fired with glass binders. Chemical durability and iodine retention results are included.

Development of an iodine immobilization technique that can fix radioactive iodine in waste form for a long period and constrain its leaching into pore water is necessary in order to secure the long-term safety of geological disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste.

Lead borate glass vitrified at a low temperature is regarded as one of the promising immobilization materials of Iodine-129 which will be removed from spent AgI filters generated from reprocessing plants and may have a significant effect on long term safety of geological disposal.

Leaching experiments in bentonite-equilibrium water have been conducted to understand the lead borate glass dissolution behaviors in possible geological disposal conditions. Boron dissolved with the highest rate in all types of the solutions and was regarded as an index element to represent the glass dissolution rate. On the other hand, lead dissolved with a far slower rate. The chemical species and possible precipitating minerals of lead were examined by a geochemical calculation code for typical underground water. Altered glass surfaces were investigated by SEM, TEM and XRD. XRD analysis showed that the main constituent phase of the altered layer was hydrocerussite, Pb3(CO3)2(OH)2, that was predicted by the geochemical simulation as well.

Alumina matrix solidification is a hot isostatic pressing (HIP) technique used to immobilize radioactive iodine (129I) in the form of silver iodide. In the present study, an alumina matrix solidification sample with a porosity of 12.9% was obtained by performing HIP at 175 MPa and 1200°C for 3 hours on a simulated spent silver-sorbent saturated with stable iodine. Material Characterization Centre-1 (MCC-1) leaching tests for the simulated waste form were performed using hydrosulfide (HS-) as a reductant at concentrations ranging from 3 × 10-7 M to 3 × 10-3 M and at pH values ranging from 8.0 to 12.5. Leached iodine concentrations were below the detection limit for ICP-MS measurements at HS- concentrations of 3 × 10-7 M and 3 × 10-5 M. This result was due to the stability of AgI. At an HS- concentration of 3 × 10-3 M, iodine leaching rapidly increased within 10 days. The maximum iodine concentration in the solution was 4.33 × 10-3 M, which corresponds to 85% dissolution of the initial iodine. This value was measured after 552 days under an HS- concentration of 3 × 10-3 M at pH 11. An analysis of specimen cross-sections suggested the following reaction: 2AgI + HS- = Ag2S + 2I- + H+. The pH affected matrix aluminum dissolution but did not significantly affect the iodine leaching behavior. Furthermore, the normalized mass loss of iodine was larger than that of aluminum by a factor greater than 104, which is due to the large porosity and the dissolution of interior AgI of the solid.

Since 1991, in France, studies on the conditioning of iodine were carried out to assess the potential of several specific inorganic host matrices. The apatite family has been mainly studied because of its good chemical durability and its ability to confine iodine over geological time scales. A lead-bearing apatite, Pb10(VO4)4.8(PO4)1.2I2, and a calcium-bearing apatite, Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2-x(IO3)x, were selected on the basis of their incorporation rate (between 7 and 10 wt.%) and a satisfactory resistance to leaching (V0(50 °C, pure water) ∼ 10-2 g.m-2.d-1; Vr(50 °C, pure water) < 10-4 g.m-2.d-1). However, with such materials, the removal of open porosity requires non conventional sintering techniques like spark plasma sintering to decrease the surface exposed to water. This is why, in parallel, other matrices, like silver phosphate glasses, have also been investigated. To improve the chemical durability and thermal properties of these glasses, cross-linking reagents were added to their formulation.

Nuclear reprocessing plants in Japan produce radioactive iodine-bearing materials such as spent silver adsorbents. Japanese disposal plans classify radioactive waste containing a given quantity of iodine-129 as Transuranic Waste Group 1 for spent silver adsorbent or as Group 3 for bitumen-solidified waste, and stipulate that such waste must be disposed of by burial deep underground. Given the long half-life of iodine-129 of 15.7 million years, it is difficult to prevent release of iodine-129 from the waste into the surrounding environment in the long term. Moreover, because ionic iodine is soluble and not readily adsorbed, its migration is not significantly retarded by engineered or natural barriers. The release of iodine-129 from nuclear waste therefore must be restricted to permit reliable safety assessment; this technique is called “controlled release”. It is desirable that the release period for iodine be longer than 100,000 years. To this end, several techniques for immobilization of iodine have been developed; three leading techniques are the use of synthetic rock (alumina matrix solidification), BPI (BiPbO2I) glass, and high-performance cement. Iodine is fixed as AgI in the grain boundary of corundum or quartz through hot isostatic pressing in synthetic rock, as BPI in boron/lead-based glass, or as cement minerals such as ettringite in high-performance alumina cement. These techniques are assessed by three models: the corrosion model, the leaching model, and the solubility-equilibrium model. This paper describes the current status of these three techniques.

For safety assessment analyses of the disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in deep geological repositories it is indispensable to evaluate the contribution of fission products to the instant release fraction (IRF). During the last three years the EURATOM FP7 Collaborative Project, “Fast / Instant Release of Safety Relevant Radionuclides from Spent Nuclear Fuel (CP FIRST-Nuclides)” was carried out to get a better understanding of the IRF.

Within CP FIRST-Nuclides, a leaching experiment with a cladded SNF pellet was performed in bicarbonate water (19 mM NaCl + 1 mM NaHCO3) under Ar /H2 atmosphere over 333 days. The cladded SNF pellet was obtained from a fuel rod segment which was irradiated in the Gösgen pressurized water reactor; the average burn-up of the segment was 50.4 MWd/kgUO2. In the multi-sampling experiment, gaseous and liquid samples were taken periodically. The moles of the fission gases Kr and Xe released in the gas phase and those of 129I and 137Cs released in solution were measured. Cumulative release fractions of (1.6 ± 0.2)·10-1 fission gases, (1.6 ± 0.1)·10-1129I and (3.9 ± 0.2)·10-2 137Cs, respectively, were achieved after 333 days of leaching. Accordingly the release ratio of fission gases to 129I was 1:1 and the release ratio of fission gases to 137Cs was 4:1, respectively.

An iodine-immobilizing cement solidification process using calcium aluminate cement with gypsum additive was developed. Powdered cement solid was repeatedly immersed in ion-exchanged water with varying liquid-to-solid ratios (L/S) in accelerated dissolution tests simulating interaction with groundwater at waste disposal sites. The measured concentrations of iodine in the water were on the order of 10−5 to 10−3 mol⋅dm−3 in the entire L/S range. These concentration levels are extremely low compared with those in the case of ordinary Portland cement. Calculations with a solution equilibrium model for the cement immersed in ion-exchanged water showed that the observed iodine release profile versus integrated L/S ratio from the immersion test was explained by a dissolution model of minerals in the cement.

The objectives of this work are to prepare and characterize iodine-rich thermites and reactive materials for potential application in bio-agent defeat. Iodine-rich compositions were prepared using metal iodate oxidizers in combination with aluminum fuel. Higher iodine contents were achieved using iodine-rich additives, tetraiodoethylene and tin tetraiodide. Reactivity during rapid combustion was evaluated for both nanoscale and micron-scale materials. The nanoscale materials were evaluated directly using a spark-initiated pan dent test. The micron-scale materials were mixed with 50% of nano Al/MoO3 and also evaluated with the pan dent test. The results for the mixed material were shown to fit well to a linear combination of the expected dent for each component, based on a rapid reaction. Results of the pan dent test were used to down-select micron thermites for further testing. Bismuth iodate was synthesized by precipitation from nitric acid solutions. The average particle size was controlled by the addition rate, and sizes included 95 nm (amorphous structure), and 330 nm and 3 micron (both crystalline). Additional sizes were produced by ball milling the 3 micron material, giving 1 micron and 350 nm sizes. Fluoropolymers were included in some compositions to provide additional biocidal products, namely HF, that could be produced from reaction of AlF3 product with water.

The development of an iodine immobilization technique that can fix radioactive iodine in waste form for a long period and constrain its leaching into pore water is necessary in order to secure the long-term safety of geological disposal of transuranic (TRU) waste. Lead borate glass vitrified at a low temperature is regarded as a promising material for immobilizing the Iodine-129 that is recovered from spent AgI filters generated by reprocessing plants in Japan and which may have a significant effect on the long-term safety of geological disposal.

Batch leaching tests were conducted to understand glass dissolution behavior in various solutions that account for geological disposal conditions. Boron dissolved at the highest rate in all types of solutions to be used as an index element for measuring the glass dissolution rate. On the other hand, lead dissolved in these solutions at a much lower rate. These results are consistent with an electron micro-probe analysis (EPMA) of the altered glass surfaces that indicated the depletion of boron and enrichment of lead near the surfaces.

The altered glass surfaces were further examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM/TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). SEM/TEM observation showed formation of a porous altered layer consisting of fine crystallites on the pristine glass and euhedral crystals on the altered layer. XRD analysis indicated that the fine crystallites and euhedral crystals are hydrocerussite, Pb3 (CO3)2(OH) 2, which was predicted by geochemical calculation as the precipitate for the experimental system.

Iodine filters expended after nuclear fuel reprocessing contain radioactive iodine (I-129), almost all of which exists as silver iodide (AgI). The synthetic rock technique is a solidification treatment technique using hot isostatic press (HIP), in which the alumina adsorbent base material is synthesized to form a dense solidified material (synthetic rock), and I-129 is physically confined in the form of AgI in the alumina matrix. Thus, it is necessary to understand the matrix dissolution behavior to evaluate the iodine release behavior.

Experiments involving the dissolution of the matrix were carried out under various temperatures (35–70 °C) and pH values (10–12.5) that reflect the disposal conditions. The results of the experiments showed that the dissolution rate of Al visibly increases with temperature and pH. The dissolution rate constant was calculated from the initial data assuming the dissolution of the matrix as a primary reaction. The logarithmic rate constant showed a good linear correlation with the pH and the reciprocal of temperature. The 27Al-NMR analysis of the solutions of the dissolved matrix showed that the major chemical species present in the solutions was Al(OH)4-. This indicated that the dissolution of the matrix can be described by the following equation: Al2O3 + 2OH- + 3H2O → 2Al(OH)4-. Subsequently, the empirical equation of the rate of dissolution of the matrix as a function of the temperature and pH was derived. It will be used to evaluate the iodine release behavior from the synthetic rock.

Radiogenic iodine is one of the more difficult fission products to capture and immobilize during the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel.

However, for metallic fuels reprocessed by electrometallurgical treatment, it is believed that the majority of fission-product iodine is retained during the various processing steps. Spent fuel from the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is being treated by a combination of electrochemical and pyrometallurgical methods to deactivate the bond sodium of the fuel, recover uranium, and immobilize fission products for disposal. This paper discusses the progress of various strategies and experiments to confirm the expected retention of iodine during the electrometallurgical treatment of EBR-II spent fuel. This includes surveys of previous observations and measurements, and the direct measurement of iodine from various process samples. Current measurements are aimed at iodine determination in the bond sodium and plenum regions of the fuel, refined iodine measurements in electrorefiner salt, and the retention of iodine during waste form production.

We investigated the synthesis of bismuth oxy-iodide and iodate compounds, in an effort to develop materials for iodine recovery from caustic waste streams and/or final waste disposal if repository conditions included ambient conditions similar to those under which the iodine was initially captured. The results presented involve the in-situ crystallization of layered bismuth oxide compounds with aqueous dissolved iodine (which resides as both iodide and iodate in solution). Although single-phase bismuth oxy-iodide materials have already been described in the context of capturing radioiodine, our unique contribution is the discovery that there is a mixture of Bi-O-I compositions, not described in the prior work, which optimize both the uptake and the degree of insolubility (and leachability) of iodine. The optimized combination produces a durable material that is suitable as a waste form for repository conditions such as are predicted at the Yucca Mountain repository (YMP) or in a similar type of repository that could be developed in coordination with iodine production via Global Nuclear Energy Program (GNEP) production cycles.

Aqueous dissolution tests of AgI were performed in Na2S solutions in order to evaluate, empirically, dissolution of AgI to release iodine under reducing conditions with sulfide. The results indicated that AgI dissolves to release iodine being controlled by mainly precipitation of Ag2S. However, the dissolution of AgI can be depressed to proceed, and the thermodynamic equilibrium cannot be attained easily. Solid phase analysis for the reacted AgI suggested that a thin layer of solid silver forming at AgI surface may evolve to be protective against transportation of reactant species, which can lead to the depression in the dissolution of AgI.

The costs of higher education in the UK have shifted increasingly from the state to the student (and students' families). In 1998, a fee contribution of £1,000 per annum was introduced for new entrants to full-time degree courses. This paper examines its effect on debt, term-time employment and student satisfaction. The analysis uses data from a survey of two cohorts of students and identifies how the impact varied with student and course characteristics. Fees led to an increase in student debt (particularly for disabled students and for students who did not receive financial support from their families) and a decline in student satisfaction. No general impact on term-time employment was identified, but term-time employment increased for students who did not receive financial support from their families. Whilst for these two groups inequality was increased, fees appeared to lead to greater equality, in terms of term-time employment, between children of graduate and non-graduate parents. The paper discusses the implications for the introduction of top-up fees in 2006.

Excess claims lead to an unsatisfactory behavior of standard linear credibility estimators. We suggest in this paper to use robust methods in order to obtain better estimators. Our first proposal is the linear credibility estimator with the claims replaced by a robust M-estimator of scale calculed from the claims. This corresponds to a truncation of the claims with a truncation point depending on the data and different for each contract. We discuss the properties of the robust M-estimator and present several examples. In order to improve the performance for a very small number of years, we propose a second estimator, which incorporates information from other claims into the M-estimator.