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Shipping out the spent fuel of the research reactors at the Institute for reprocessing is examined. The spent fuel is characterized by a great diversity of structural characteristics of the fuel assemblies and fuel elements, fuel compositions, and the enrichment, burnup, and cool-down times of the fuel as well as the state of the components of the assemblies and the structural materials. A classification and quantitative indicators of the accumulated spent fuel from the standpoint of the modern state of its reprocessing technology and the requirements for delivery to the Mayak Industrial Association are presented. The structural features of the TKU-19 and -128 shipment containers are presented, and the loading of spent fuel assemblies into them for shipment to reprocessing is described. The plans and goals of further work on the removal of spent fuel from the Institute's territory are presented.Twelve research nuclear reactors, about 20 experimental critical and subcritical nuclear stands, hot materials science laboratories for performing research with irradiated nuclear fuel, and some other unique physical factilities have operated as part of the experimental base at the Russian Science Center Kurchatov Institute [1, 2]. As a result of many years of experimental operation of the reactor base, a substantial amount of spent nuclear fuel with total activity exceeding 10 16 Bq has accumulated in the course of various scientific programs. This high level of activity is what dictates the urgency of removing this fuel from the Institute's territory to reprocessing facilities.Storage Conditions, Characteristics, and Classification of Spent Fuel. The irradiated fuel is primarily in the form of spent fuel assemblies, fuel elements, and their fragments in research reactors which were disassembled at different times: RFT, IRT, Romashka, Enisei, VVR-2 and OR, MR operated in the final shutdown regime, and the IR-8 and rebuilt OR which are currently operating.After being off-loaded, the irradiated fuel was put into temporary storage sites at the Institute, which were built so that the reactors could meet their operational requirements and that the spent fuel is handled safely. The technical state of the storage sites meets the modern nuclear and radiation safety as well as physical protection requirements. Spent IR-8 fuel is located in a storage pond at the reactor site; IRT, RFT, and MR fuel is located in a centralized dry storage facility on the main site of the Institute; Romashka and Enisei fuel is located in a dry storage facility of complex "R" as well as on the main site; VVR-2 and OR fuel is located in storage ponds of a complex of research reactors and critical stands (Gazovyi Zavod complex) that is located on an auxiliary site at the Institute.

Construction and exploitation of a buildings at loess foundations is the significant problem for southern regions of Russia and Kazakhstan. There are many methods for loess subsidence removal. The most common of them is preconstruction compaction by pinning. However, when the loess thickness is more than 4-6 meters or an exploiting building foundation improvement is required the chemical grouting by sodium silicate solutions is preferable way. Efficiency of such soil improvement will depend on the chemical composition and structure of loesses.From the author's viewpoint loesses are divided at three groups: the high active loesses, the moderate active ones and the inactive ones. This loess classification is caused by some geochemical criteria. The main ones are: absorption alkali capacity (AAC), gypsum content, water-soluble salts content, pH value and carbonate content (table 1).Grouting and Deep Mixing 2012 Downloaded from ascelibrary.org by New York University on 08/02/15.

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