• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.99 no.1
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• pp.144-152
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• 2010

This study was conducted to analyze the growth characteristics and aboveground carbon storage for old growth Zelkova serrata artificial forests (site1: age class IX, site2: age class VIII) in Gwangneung Experimental Forest. The trees were classified by crown classes for analyzing forest stand structure. The growth characteristics were analized through ringwidth increment by crown classes and stem analysis of dominant trees. There were a wide range of DBH (site1: 8~62 cm, site2: 14~40 cm) and height (site1: 8~26 m, site2: 12~26 m) distributions and revealed different growth characteristics by crown classes in both sites. The mean annual increment (MAI) of ringwidth for the last 5 years of dominant trees for site1 (3.3 mm) was higher than MAI of ringwidth of total growth period (2.3 mm) and MAI of ringwidth for the last 5 years of dominant trees for site2 (2.2 mm) was equal to MAI of ringwidth of total growth period (2.2 mm). Also, the growth increment of ringwidth by crown classes had significant differences between dominant tree and the others crown classes (p<0.01) in both sites. As a results of stem analysis of dominant trees in both sites, there were similar to their volume between site1 (1.106 $m^3$) and site2 (1.035 $m^3$). In spite of old age, the annual increment of volume has been increasing steadily until recent year. Meanwhile, total aboveground carbon storage of site1 (65.6 Mg C $ha^{-1}$) was higher than that of site2 (56.1 Mg C $ha^{-1}$). The proportion of dominant and co-dominant trees to total aboveground carbon storage was more than 90% and the greatest individual aboveground carbon storage by crown classes was dominant tree in all both sites. However, individual aboveground carbon storage of dominant tree in site1 had 0.054 Mg C $tree^{-1}$ more than site2 owing to the differences from average DBH of dominant trees by sites. We think that these results will contribute to the forest practice for Zelkova serrata artificial forests as a basic information.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.9-22
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• 2012

Though geologic storage of $CO_2$ (GS) is considered as an attractive technological option to enormously reduce greenhouse gases emission into the atmosphere, many concerns on potential environmental and health risks associated with $CO_2$ leakage have been raised. In particular, groundwater contamination due to the brine displacement by a pressure build-up and the acidification by leaked $CO_2$ is paid a special attention. Therefore, integrated regulatory frameworks have been established by law in many countries to secure the permanent containment of injected $CO_2$. Regulatory frameworks deal with entire processes of GS, including site selection, monitoring and post-closure environmental management. This review paper provides a summary of regulatory frameworks in USA (U.S. EPA Geologic Sequestration Rule) and EU (Geologic $CO_2$ Sequestration Directive). The regulatory framework to properly address environmental issues should be established for the deployment of CCS projects in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.94-101
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• 2015

To mitigate the greenhouse gas emission, many carbon capture and storage projects are underway all over the world. In Korea, many studies focus on the storage of $CO_2$ in the offshore sediment. Assurance of safety is one of the most important issues in the geological storage of $CO_2$. Especially, the assessment of possibility of leakage and amount of leaked $CO_2$ is very crucial to analyze the safety of marine geological storage of $CO_2$. In this study, the leakage of injected $CO_2$ through fault was numerically studied. TOUGH2-MP ECO2N was used to simulate the subsurface behavior of injected $CO_2$. The storage site was 150 m thick saline aquifer located 825 m under the continental shelf. It was assumed that $CO_2$ leak was happened through the fault located 1,000 m away from the injection well. The injected $CO_2$ could migrate through the aquifer by both pressure difference driven by injection and buoyancy force. The enough pressure differences made it possible the $CO_2$ to migrate to the bottom of the fault. The $CO_2$ could be leaked to seabed through the fault due to the buoyancy force. Prior to leakage of the injected $CO_2$, the formation water leaked to seabed. When $CO_2$ reached the seabed, leakage of formation water stopped but the same amount of sea water starts to flow into the underground as the amount of leaked $CO_2$. To analyze the effect of injection rate on the leakage behavior, the injection rate of $CO_2$ was varied as 0.5, 0.75, and $1MtCO_2/year$. The starting times of leakage at 1, 0.75 and $0.5MtCO_2/year$ injection rates are 11.3, 15.6 and 23.2 years after the injection, respectively. The leakage of $CO_2$ to the seabed continued for a period time after the end of $CO_2$ injection. The ratios of total leaked $CO_2$ to total injected $CO_2$ at 1, 0.75 and $0.5MtCO_2/year$ injection rates are 19.5%, 11.5% and 2.8%, respectively.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.26-32
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• 2014

CCS(Carbon Capture and Storage) which is technic to capture and storage the carbon-dioxide is the method that reduces the carbon-dioxide from the industries to prevent earth from the global warming. In order to apply to the practical site, it is inevitable to investigate the possibility of damage in the pipe or components by carbon-dioxide. In this paper, the immersion test is performed to estimate the suitability of the rubber which is used to seal or connect the pipelines because the rubber has not been validated. Also, the immersion test is carried out in a certain condition(pre- and supercritical state).

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.388-396
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• 2010

As a part of basic studies on monitoring and saturation estimation of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) storage using resistivity survey, laboratory experiment has been conducted to measure the change of the electrical resistivity through repeated experiments of supercritical $CO_2$ and brine water injection into homogeneous and heterogeneous sandstones. The $CO_2$ saturation is estimated by using resistivity index based on the resistivity measurements. The experimental results of two types of sandstones show that the effect of pore structure in the rock and the effect of contained clay minerals in the rock can be affected to calculate the $CO_2$ saturation. The result can be useful to evaluate the $CO_2$ saturation based on resistivity survey at the site where $CO_2 sequestrates.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.181-191
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• 2016

In geological storage of $CO_2$, the behavior of $CO_2$ is influenced by pore network of rock. In this study, the drilling cores from Pohang Basin were analyzed quantitatively using three-dimensional images acquired by X-ray micro computed tomography. The porosities of sandstone specimens around 740 m-depth (T1), 780 m-depth (T2) and 810 m-depth (T3) which were target strata were 25.22%, 23.97%, 6.28%, respectively. Equivalent diameter, volume, area, local thickness of pores inside the sandstone specimens were analyzed. As a result, the microstructural properties of T1 and T2 specimens were more suitable for geological storage of $CO_2$ than those of T3 specimens. The result of the study can be used as input data of the site for decision of injection condition, flow simulation and so on.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.547-556
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• 2014

Korea expects a shortage in storage capacity for spent fuels at reactor sites. Therefore, a need for more metal and/or concrete casks for storage systems is anticipated for either the reactor site or away from the reactor for interim storage. For the purpose of interim storage and transportation, a dual purpose metal cask that can load 21 spent fuel assemblies is being developed by Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corporation (KRMC) in Korea. At first the gamma and neutron flux for the design basis fuel were determined assuming in-core environment (the temperature, pressure, etc. of the moderator, boron, cladding, $UO_2$ pellets) in which the design basis fuel is loaded, as input data. The evaluation simulated burnup up to 45,000 MWD/MTU and decay during ten years of cooling using the SAS2H/OGIGEN-S module of the SCALE5.1 system. The results from the source term evaluation were used as input data for the final shielding evaluation utilizing the MCNP Code, which yielded the effective dose rate. The design of the cask is based on the safety requirements for normal storage conditions under 10 CFR Part 72. A radiation shielding analysis of the metal storage cask optimized for loading 21 design basis fuels was performed for two cases; one for a single cask and the other for a $2{\times}10$ cask array. For the single cask, dose rates at the external surface of the metal cask, 1m and 2m away from the cask surface, were evaluated. For the $2{\times}10$ cask array, dose rates at the center point of the array and at the center of the casks' height were evaluated. The results of the shielding analysis for the single cask show that dose rates were considerably higher at the lower side (from the bottom of the cask to the bottom of the neutron shielding) of the cask, at over 2mSv/hr at the external surface of the cask. However, this is not considered to be a significant issue since additional shielding will be installed at the storage facility. The shielding analysis results for the $2{\times}10$ cask array showed exponential decrease with distance off the sources. The controlled area boundary was calculated to be approximately 280m from the array, with a dose rate of 25mrem/yr. Actual dose rates within the controlled area boundary will be lower than 25mrem/yr, due to the decay of radioactivity of spent fuel in storage.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.335-353
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• 2023

Site selection processes for high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities in different countries differ in terms of local geology and degree of public engagement. There seem to be three alternative processes for site selection: (1) selection with community consent after government choice; (2) selection with continuous community engagement after exclusion of unsuitable areas based on existing survey data; or (3) site selection where communities have expressed a willingness to participate. The Yucca Mountain site in Nevada, USA, was selected as the final disposal site by process (1) through six stages, but its development was suspended owing to opposition from the local governor and environmental groups. In Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany, process (2) is used and sites are selected through three stages. Sweden and Switzerland have completed site selection, and Germany is currently engaged in the process. The UK adopted process (3) with six stages, although the process has been suspended owing to poor community participation. In Korea, temporary storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel will reach saturation from 2030, so site selection must be promoted through various laws and systems, with continuous communication with local communities based on transparent and scientifically undertaken procedures.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.217-246
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• 2018

During the selection and characterization of target formations in the Small-scale Offshore $CO_2$ Storage Demonstration Project in the Pohang Basin, we have carefully investigated the possibility of induced earthquakes and leakage of $CO_2$ during the injection, and have designed the storage processes to minimize these effects. However, people in Pohang city have a great concern on $CO_2$-injection-intrigued seismicity, since they have greatly suffered from the 5.4 magnitude earthquake on Nov. 15, 2017. The research team of the project performed an extensive self-investigation on the safety issues, especially on the possible $CO_2$ leakage from the target formation and induced earthquakes. The target formation is 10 km apart from the epicenter of the Pohang earthquake and the depth is also quite shallow, only 750 to 800 m from the sea bottom. The project performed a pilot injection in the target formation from Jan. 12 to Mar. 12, 2017, which implies that there are no direct correlation of the Pohang earthquake on Nov. 15, 2017. In addition, the $CO_2$ injection of the storage project does not fracture rock formations, instead, the supercritical $CO_2$ fluid replaces formation water in the pore space gradually. The self-investigation results show that there is almost no chance for the injection to induce significant earthquakes unless injection lasts for a very long time to build a very high pore pressure, which can be easily monitored. The amount of injected $CO_2$ in the project was around 100 metric-tonne that is irrelevant to the Pohang earthquake. The investigation result on long-term safety also shows that the induced earthquakes or the reactivation of existing faults can be prevented successfully when the injection pressure is controlled not to demage cap-rock formation nor exceed Coulomb stresses of existing faults. The project has been performing extensive studies on critical stress for fracturing neighboring formations, reactivation stress of existing faults, well-completion processes to minimize possible leakage, transport/leakage monitoring of injected $CO_2$, and operation procedures for ensuring the storage safety. These extensive studies showed that there will be little chance in $CO_2$ leakage that affects human life. In conclusion, the Small-scale Offshore $CO_2$ Storage Demonstration Project in the Pohang Basin would not cause any induced earthquakes nor signifiant $CO_2$ leakage that people can sense. The research team will give every effort to secure the safety of the storage site.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.313-317
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• 2018

Licenses for the storage of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and vitrified highly active waste in casks under dry conditions are limited to 40 years and have to be renewed for prolonged storage periods. If such a license renewal has to be expected since as in accordance with the new site selection procedure a final repository for spent fuel in Germany will not be available before the year 2050. For transport and possible unloading and loading in new casks for final storage, the integrity and the maintenance of the geometry of the cask's inventory is essential because the SNF rod cladding and the cladding of the vitrified highly active waste are stipulated as a barrier in the storage concept. For SNF, the cladding integrity is ensured currently by limiting the hoop stress and hoop strain as well as the maximum temperature to certain values for a 40-year storage period. For a prolonged storage period, other cladding degradation mechanisms such as inner and outer oxide layer formation, hydrogen pick up, irradiation damages in cladding material crystal structure, helium production from alpha decay, and long-term fission gas release may become leading effects driving degradation mechanisms that have to be discussed.