Measurement of Ultrasonic Speed for Evaluating Compressive Strength of Solidified Low & Intermediate-Level Radioactive Wastes

중·저준위 방사성폐기물 고화체의 압축강도 평가를 위한 초음파속도 측정

In order to ship low & Intermediate level radioactive waste drums, which have been temporarily stored on site, to a disposal facility, their physical and chemical properties should be evaluated and proven to meet the acceptance guideline prior to their shipment. Ultrasonic velocity method, which has been used to estimate the strength of concrete, can be suggested to evaluate the compressive strength of solidified radioactive waste, which is one of the evaluated properties. The strength is estimated from acoustic velocity. However, a guided wave traveling along a drum is generated when applying ultrasonic method to the drum, and this makes it difficult to analyze the signal due to overlap between transmitted wave through the contents in drum and the guided wave. This paper reported feasibility of ultrasonic method to evaluate of the compressive strength of the solidified LLW. It is observed that the guide wave is greater than transmitted wave, and ultrasonic velocity could be estimated from transmitted wave signal arriving prior to the guided wave