• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.95-102
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• 2013

There was a study for biological characteristics, except for physico-chemical and mineralogical properties, on the natural bentonite that is considered as a buffer material for the high-level radioactive waste disposal site. A bentonite slurry that was prepared from a local 'Gyeongju bentonite' in Korea was incubated in a serum bottle with nutrient media over 1 week and its stepwise change was observed with time. From the activated bentonite in the nutrient media, we can find a certain change of both solid and liquid phases. Some dark and fine sulfides began to be generated from dissolved sulfate solution, and 4 species of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) were identified as living cells in samples that were periodically taken and incubated. These results show that sulfate-reducing (or metal-reducing) bacteria are adhering and existing in the powder of bentonite, suggesting that there may be a potential occurrence of longterm biogeochemical effects in and around the bentonite buffer in underground anoxic environmental conditions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.169-179
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• 2011

There are two types of nuclear reactors in Korea and they are PWR type and CANDU type. The safe management of the spent fuels from these reactors is very important factor to maintain the sustainable energy supply with nuclear power plant. In Korea, a reference disposal system for the spent fuels has been developed through a study on the direct disposal of the PWR and CANDU spent fuel. Recently, the research on the demonstration and the efficiency analyses of the disposal system has been performed to make the disposal system safer and more economic. PWR spent fuels which include a lot of reusable material can be considered being recycled and a study on the disposal of HLW from this recycling process is being performed. CANDU spent fuels are considered being disposed of directly in deep geological formation, since they have little reusable material. In this study, based on the Korean Reference spent fuel disposal System (KRS) which was to dispose of both PWR type and CANDU type, the more effective CANDU spent fuel disposal systems were developed. To do this, the disposal canister for CANDU spent fuels was modified to hold the storage basket for 60 bundles which is used in nuclear power plant. With these modified disposal canister concepts, the disposal concepts to meet the thermal requirement that the temperature of the buffer materials should not be over $100^{\circ}C$ were developed. These disposal concepts were reviewed and analyzed in terms of disposal effective factors which were thermal effectiveness, U-density, disposal area, excavation volume, material volume etc. and the most effective concept was proposed. The results of this study will be used in the development of various wastes disposal system together with the HLW wastes from the PWR spent fuel recycling process.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.411-434
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• 2022

In deep geological disposal concept for spent nuclear fuel, it is well-known that rock mass at near-field experiences the thermal-hydraulic-mechanical (THM) coupled behavior. The mechanical properties of rock changes during the coupled process, and it is important to consider the changes into the analysis of numerical simulation and in-situ tests for long-term stability evaluation of nuclear waste disposal repository. This report collected the previous studies on indirect coupled behaviors of rock. The effects of water saturation and temperature on some mechanical properties of rock was considered, while the change in hydraulic conductivity of rock due to stress was included in the indirect coupled behavior.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 1994

The rock matrix diffusion provides a retarding mechanism for sorbing and especially non-sorbing radionuclides. It has to be verified not only theoretically and experimentally but also from natural phenomena, before the mechanism can be incorporated fully into transport codes. The natural analogue studies, such as the concentration variation of radionuclides in profiles perpendicular to fluid-conducting fractures and to intrusive contact zones, have been believed to provide a validation. In thermal alteration zones of Naeduckri granite intruded by a pegmatite, large alkali and alkaline earth elements such as K, Rb, Sr, and Ba were moderately migrated during thermal alteration. Li, V. and Nb were also migrated about 9cm in width from the contact between the granite and the pegmatite. The concentration variation of these elements in thermally altered zones seems to be resulted from the local migration due to the re-equilibration among the elements released from the breakdown of primary minerals in the granite. Most of these natural analogue studies simply show only the concentration variation of elements without detailed informations on the diffusion time and other important data fir interpreting the behaviour of radionuclides, because of the absence of appropriate minerals for age data. Despite this problem, natural analogue studies will be needed for transport models of radionuclides in safety assessment.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.270-278
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• 2003

Transparency on the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) is the key issue to enhance the public acceptance for a permanent high level radioactive repository. Traditionally, the study on features, events and processes (FEPs) and associated scenarios has been regarded as the starting point to open the communicative discussion on TSPA such as what to evaluate, how to evaluate and how to translate outcomes into more friendly language that many stakeholders can easily understand and react with. However, in most cases, it has been limited to one way communication, because it is difficult for stakeholders outside the performance assessment field to assess the details on the story of the safety assessment, scenario and technical background of it. Fortunately, the advent of the internet era opens up the possibility of two way communication from the beginning of the performance assessment so that every stakeholder can exchange their keen opinions on the safety issues. To achieve it, KAERI develops the systematic approach from the FEPs to Assessment methods flow chart. All information is integrated into the web based program named FEAS (FEp to Assessment through Scenario development) under development in KAERI. In parallel, two independent systems are also under development the web based QA(Quality Assurance) system and the PA(Performance Assessment) input database. It is ideal to integrate the input data base with the QA system so that every data in the system can checked whenever necessary. Throughout the next phase R&D starting from the year 2003, these three systems will be consolidated into one unified system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.135-147
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• 2016

The buffer in geological disposal system is one of the major elements to restrain the release of radionuclide and to protect the container from the inflow of groundwater. The buffer material requires long-term stability, low hydraulic conductivity, low organic content, high retardation of radionuclide, high swelling pressure, and high thermal conductivity. These requirements could be determined by the quantitative analysis results. In case of South Korea, the bentonites produced in Gyeongju area have been regarded as candidate buffer/backfill materials at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) since 1997. According to the study on several physical and chemical characteristics of domestic bentonite in the same district, this is the Ca-type bentonite with about 65% of montmorillonite content. Through this study, we present the criteria for the performance evaluation items and methods when collecting new buffer/backfill materials.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.419-434
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• 2020

In this study, the damage parameters of Mazars model for KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) granite are measured form uniaxial compressive and Brazilian tests under the simulated coupled condition of a deep geological disposal. The tests are conducted in three different temperatures (15℃, 45℃, and 75℃) and dry/saturated conditions. Major model parameters such as maximum effective tensile strain (𝜖_d0), A_t, B_t, A_c, and B_c differ from the typical reference values of concrete specimens. This is likely due to the difference in elastic modulus between rock and concrete. It is found that the saturation of specimens causes an increase in value of B_t and B_c while, the rise in temperature increases 𝜖_d0 and B_t and decreases B_c. The damage model obtained from this study will be used as the primary input parameters in the development of coupled Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical Damage numerical model in KAERI.

• Korean Journal of Mineralogy and Petrology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2022

The mobility and transport of radioactive cesium are crucial factors to consider for the safety assessment of high-level radioactive waste disposal sites in granite. The retardation of radionuclides in the fractured crystalline rock is mainly controlled by the hydrochemical condition of groundwater and surface reactions with minerals present in the fractures. This paper reports the experimental results of cesium sorption to the Wonju Granite, a typical Mesozoic granite in Korea, performed in an anaerobic chamber that mimics the anoxic environment of a deep disposal site. We measured the rates and amounts of cesium (¹³³Cs) removed by crushed granite samples in different electrolyte (NaCl, KCl, and CaCl₂) solutions and a synthetic groundwater solution, with variations in the initial cesium concentration (10^-5, 5×10^-6, 10^-6, 5×10^-7 M). The cesium sorption kinetic and isotherm data were successfully simulated by the pseudo-second-order kinetic model (r²= 0.99) and the Freundlich isotherm model (r²= 0.99), respectively. The sorption distribution coefficient of granite increased almost linearly with increasing biotite content in granite samples, indicating that biotite is an effective cesium scavenger. The cesium removal was minimal in KCl solution compared to that in NaCl or CaCl₂ solution, regardless of the ionic strength and initial cesium concentration that we examined, showing that K⁺ is the most competitive ion against cesium in sorption to granite. Because it is the main source mineral of K⁺ in fracture fluids, biotite may also hinder the sorption of cesium, which warrants further research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.311-318
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• 2005

Transparency on the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) is the key issue to enhance the public acceptance for a permanent high level radioactive repository. To approve it, all performances on TSPA through Quality Assurance is necessary. The integrated Cyber R&D Platform is developed by KAERI using the T2R3 principles applicable for five major steps in R&D's. The proposed system is implemented in the web-based system so that all participants in TSPA are able to access the system. It is composed of FEAS (FEp to Assessment through Scenario development) showing systematic approach from the FEPs to Assessment methods flow chart, PAID (Performance Assessment Input Databases) showing PA(Performance Assessment) input data set in web based system and QA system receding those data. All information is integrated into Cyber R&D Platform so that every data in the system can be checked whenever necessary. For more user-friendly system, system upgrade included input data & documentation package is under development. Throughout the next phase R&D, Cyber R&D Platform will be connected with the assessment tool for TSPA so that it will be expected to search the whole information in one unified system.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.211-222
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• 2011

In this paper a structural analysis of the PWR(pressurized water reactor) canister with 102cm diameter is carried out to evaluate the structural safety of the canister for the impact force occurring at the moment of collision with the ground in the falling plumb down accident from the carriage vehicle which may happen during the canister handling at the spent nuclear fuel disposal repository. For this, a rigid body dynamic analysis of the canister is executed to compute the impact force using the commercial CAE system, RecurDyn, and a nonlinear structural analysis is performed to compute stresses and deformations occurring inside the canister for this computed impact force using the commercial FEM code, NISA. From these analysis results, the structural safety of the canister is evaluated for the falling plumb down accident from the carriage vehicle due to the inattention during the canister handling at the repository. The rigid body dynamic analysis performed assuming the canister as a rigid body shows that the canister falls plumb down to the ground in two types. And also it shows that early collision impact force is the biggest one and following impact forces decrease gradually. The height of the carriage vehicle in the repository is assumed as 5m in order to obtain the stable structural safety evaluation result. The nonlinear structural analysis of the canister is executed for the biggest early impact force. The structural analysis result of the canister shows that the structural safety of the PWR canister is not secured for the falling plumb down accident from the moving carriage vehicle because the maximum stresses occurring in the cast iron insert of canister are bigger than the yield stress of the cast iron.