18th - 25th May 2010, Würenlingen, St Ursanne and Meiringen Switzerland

A 8 day course, with lab and field visits, held in Switzerland. Register on-line using the registration form.

Course Programme

This eight-day course is presented by the ITC in collaboration with PSI (Paul Scherrer Institute), Swisstopo and Nagra. The course is designed for anyone with an interest in contaminant retardation in a waste repository host rock and, although focussed primarily on diffusive-transport dominated argillaceous rocks, also looks at advective-transport dominated fractured hard rocks.

This is a novel course looking at all aspects of the definition of contaminant retardation in a repository host rock and begins with the basic definition of clays and works through various features of PSI laboratory and modelling investigation of contaminant retardation properties (http://les.web.psi.ch/groups/index.html). The course includes demonstration of various laboratory procedures and visits to two Underground Research Laboratories (URL): Mont Terri (www.mont-terri.ch), in St Ursanne in northern Switzerland and the Grimsel Test Site (www.grimsel.com) just below the Grimsel Pass in southern Switzerland.

The 8-day programme for 2010 consists of;

1. Lectures on topics ranging from basic characterisation methods, through the theoretical and practical aspects of contaminant sorption processes to modelling of retardation processes. Sufficient time will be allocated for questions and discussions in each presentation module.
2. Time in the laboratories of PSI where various practical aspects of the ongoing studies of contaminant retardation will be presented.
3. A full day visit to Swisstopos Mont Terri URL will enable participants to go underground into the tunnels and learn directly about experiments to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of geological disposal. Focus here is on long-term experiments to study contaminant retardation in a diffusive-transport dominated host rock.
4. Two days at a second Swiss URL, Nagras Grimsel Test Site, where the focus will be on contaminant retardation in an advective-transport dominated (fractured) host rock. The visit will also include time in the underground research tunnels used for field testing of deep geological disposal methods and technologies.

While the course is ideal for those involved in any component of a national waste disposal programme, the main focus is on those researchers and modellers working on contaminant retardation and transport. The course should be attended by participants from a wide range of stakeholders in sectors such as national/provincial level decision-making authorities, implementing and regulating organisations, research organisations and universities, including both member and non-member organisations of the ITC-School. Sufficient time will be allocated for questions and discussions in each presentation module and afterwards, over coffee, lunch and dinner.

In addition to formal teaching, each course participant is required to prepare a pre-assignment related to the course. The purpose of the assignment is that the participants devise a specific contaminant retardation-related topic to focus on during the course (see details and application form below).

Course Location

The course will take place at the Paul Scherrer Institute, at Würenlingen/Villigen in northeast Switzerland along with the Mont Terri URL at St Ursanne in northwest Switzerland and the Grimsel Test Site in south-central Switzerland.

Other activities

On Saturday, 22nd May, the course participants will have the day free to enjoy the scenery of the Jura Mountains in northern Switzerland or, if they prefer, the cities of Basel or Berne are within easy reach by train. On Sunday, 23rd, the participants will travel to the Meiringen area in the Bernese Alps, where there will be additional possibilities for sightseeing en route.

Getting to PSI

The course participants will be accommodated in the Hotel Schloss Böttstein (www.schlossboettstein.ch) in the charming small village of Böttstein, near the Paul Scherrer Institute. The nearest airport is Zürich, but there are also excellent connections from Basel and Geneva airports.

By train, from Zürich airport, there are some 7 trains an hour from the station within the airport to the nearby town of Brugg (http://www.brugg.ch/) and the journey takes between 37 and 53 minutes. From Basel airport, it is necessary to take the airport shuttle bus (bus stop is well signposted in the airport) to Basel main station. From here, there are 5 trains an hour which take between 39 and 86 minutes to Brugg. From Geneva airport, there are 2 trains an hour which take between 167 and 172 minutes. For all trains, please see the Swiss Federal Railways website (www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm) for full details of times, reservations and costs.

A bus can be taken from Brugg railway station (north side of the station, well signposted throughout) to across the street from the hotel (see http://www.boettstein.ch/Ortsplan_boettstein.htm for a plan of the village with bus stops). There are two buses an hour (once again, see www.sbb.ch/en/index.htm for full details) and the journey takes 25 minutes. Please note that the bus’ final destination (on the front of the bus) is Döttingen, not Böttstein.

By car, the easiest option is to use Google Maps to calculate your route to the hotel (enter ‘Hotel Schloss Böttstein, Böttstein, Switzerland’ in the Search Maps field). It takes about 45-60 minutes to drive there from Zürich airport, about 60 minutes from Basel airport and around 3 hours from Geneva airport.

Travel from the hotel to the various meeting rooms and laboratories during the course is the responsibility of the ITC and you will be informed of the details during the course.

If you have any problems with your travel planning, please contact Gabi Vonlanthen at the ITC. Otherwise, the course director, Russell Alexander, will be available on 076 531 3607 on the Monday afternoon in case you get lost on the way to the hotel!

Course Organiser

The course is organised by the ITC-School in collaboration with the Paul Scherrer Institute, Swisstopo and Nagra.

Teaching

The course will be held in an informal, workshop atmosphere and participants will be encouraged to interact and question at all times. Each course topic will be taught by highly qualified and internationally recognised specialists from around the world. They will provide the most up to date and comprehensive information and discussions. Course materials will be provided for each topic. Modules will generally be taught throughout the day, with an extended lunch break. In addition, the course tutors will be present at dinner and afterwards in the hotel for free discussion and information exchange. The course language is English and course materials are printed in English.

Participants profile: is this course for you ?

The course is ideal for those involved in any component of a national waste programme and who have a desire to learn about all aspects of working on contaminant retardation in waste disposal. While some background in either radioactive or chemo-toxic waste is useful, the modules have been so designed as to ensure that any participant who currently only has a rough idea of the role of contaminant retardation in waste disposal, will profit from this course. A basic grasp of chemistry is required, but more important is a genuine interest in being involved in contaminant retardation-related issues in waste disposal. If you are unsure if this course is for you, please feel free to contact the course director, Russell Alexander ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ), for an informal chat.

To help you to get the most out of this course, we would like you to produce a short pre-course assignment. But dont worry, we are not asking you for much effort, just a little thought in advance of attending the course which will focus your thinking and give us an insight into your requirements. And dont worry if you cannot express yourself fluently, this is not a test, rather it is simply intended to help us get to know you a bit in advance. In return, you will be given the course tutors CVs when you start the course.

The Course Assignment can be found at the bottom of the application form and should be returned by 6th April, 2010.

Course Fees

The course fees cover tuition, accommodation, breakfast, lunch, dinner and morning and afternoon refreshments for nine days (arriving Monday 17th May, departing Wednesday 26th May), plus a course dinner and a welcome reception. Course notes and other materials are also covered by the fee, as are transport during the course to field sites, labs etc.

CHF8100- ITC Members

CHF8950- non-members

Final deadline for registration is 6th April, 2010. The course fee is due within four weeks of your registration and registration is not guaranteed until we have received the course fee. If you have to withdraw from the course after paying your fee, it will be refunded in full up to 19th April, 2010. After this date, it is not refundable.

Application form

You can register on-line using the registration form. The number of places is limited, so we would advise you to register early.

Insurance

Please note that participants on this course, or their employing organisations, are responsible for their own personal insurance.

Course Programme

And finally.

Course Assignment please email to Gabi Vonlanthen ( This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ) by 6th April, 2010 with Contaminant retardation in the subject line.

• why have you chosen this course?
• what are your learning objectives for the course?
• what other objectives do you have for the course?
• tell us a little (a couple of sentences) about your educational and professional background
• tell us a little about your current job and about any relevant projects you are currently working on or have recently completed. How do these relate to contaminant retardation in waste disposal?