• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.647-656
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• 2011

In radioactive waste repositories constructed in underground, concrete member could be in contact with groundwater for a long time. However, this pure water creates concentration gradients which lead to the diffusion of Ca ions from the pore water and the degradation of underground concrete. Therefore, this study is aimed at investigating the alteration of pore structure and loss of compressive strength associated with dissolution. The results showed that as the leaching period became longer, the pore volume within 50 nm to 500 nm in diameter is greatly increased. Also, the volume of pores larger than 200 nm rapidly increased during initial leaching time and those below 200 nm gradually increased. Furthermore, the compressive strength gradually decreased with increase of degraded thickness. The residual strength of the degraded concrete with OPC was in the range of 33% to 58%.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.137-164
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• 2018

The guarantee of the performance of the engineered barriers in a geological repository is very important for the long-term safety of disposal as well as the efficient design of the repository. Therefore, the performance of the engineered barriers under repository condition should be demonstrated by in-situ experiments conducted in an underground research laboratory. This article provides a review of the major in-situ experiments that have been carried out over the past several decades at underground research laboratories around the world to validate the performance of engineered barriers of a repository, as well as their results. In-situ experiments to study the coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical behavior of the engineered barrier system used to simulate the post-closure performance of the repository are analyzed as a priority. In addition, in-situ experiments to investigate the performance of the buffer material under a real repository environment have been reviewed. State-of-the art in-situ validations of the buffer-concrete interaction, and the installation of the buffer, backfill and plug, as well as characterization of the near-field rock and the corrosion of the canister materials are, also performed.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.135-142
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• 2010

To obtain the input data for the design and long-term performance assessment of a high-level waste repository, the thermal conductivities of several granite rocks which were taken from the rock cores from the declined borehole were measured. The thermal conductivities of granite were measured under the different conditions of water content to investigate the effects of the water content on the thermal conductivity. A simple empirical correlation was proposed to predict the thermal conductivity of granite as a function of effective porosity and water content which can be measured with relative ease while neglecting the possible effects of mineralogy, structure and anisotropy. The correlation could predict the thermal conductivity of granite with the effective porosity below 2.7% from the KURT site with an estimated error below 10%.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.7
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• pp.55-64
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• 2017

A geological repository has been considered one of the most adequate options for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste. A geological repository will be constructed in a host rock at a depth of 500~1,000 meters below the ground surface. The geological repository system consists of a disposal canister with packed spent fuel, buffer material, backfill material, and intact rock. The buffer is very important to assure the disposal safety of high-level radioactive waste. It can restrain the release of radionuclide and protect the canister from the inflow of groundwater. High temperature in a disposal canister is released into the surrounding buffer material, and thus the thermal transfer behavior of the buffer material is very important to analyze the entire disposal safety. Therefore, this paper presents a thermal conductivity prediction model for the Kyungju compacted bentonite buffer material which is the only bentonite produced in Korea. Thermal conductivity of Kyungju bentonite was measured using a hot wire method according to various water contents and dry densities. With 39 data obtained by the hot wire method, a regression model to predict the thermal conductivity of Kyungju bentonite was suggested.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.725-736
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• 2023

The compliance of deep geological disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste with safety objectives requires consideration of uncertainties owing to temporal changes in the disposal system. A comprehensive review and analysis of the characteristics of this evolution should be undertaken to identify the effects on multiple barriers and the biosphere. We analyzed the evolution of the buffer, backfill, plug, and closure regions during the early phase of the post-closure period as part of a long-term performance assessment for an operating license application for a deep geological repository in Finland. Degradation mechanisms generally expected in engineered barriers were considered, and long-term evolution features were examined for use in performance assessments. The importance of evolution features was classified into six categories based on the design of the Finnish case. Results are expected to be useful as a technical basis for performance and safety assessment in developing the Korean deep geological disposal system for high-level radioactive waste. However, for a more detailed review and evaluation of each feature, it is necessary to obtain data for the final disposal site and facility-specific design, and to assess its impact in advance.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.121-130
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• 2018

The KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) is a research tunnel which is located in KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) site. At KURT, researches on engineering and natural barrier system, which are the most important components for geological disposal system for high level radioactive waste, have been conducted. In this study, we synthesized the site characteristics obtained by various types of site investigation to introduce the geological model for KURT site, and induced the 3-D hydrogeological model for KURT site from the geological model. From the geological investigation at the surface and boreholes, four geological elements such as subsurface weathered zone, upper fractured rock, lower fractured rock and fracture zones were determined for the geological model. In addition, the geometries of these geological elements were also analyzed for the geological model to be three-dimensional. The results from 3-D geological model were used to construct the hydro-geological model for KURT site, which is one of the input data for groundwater flow modeling and safety assessment.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.23-34
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• 2004

To validate the previous conceptual design of cover system, construction of the engineered barrier test facility is completed and the performance tests of the disposal cover system are conducted. The disposal test facility is composed of the multi-purpose working space, the six test cells and the disposal information space for the PR center. The dedicated detection system measures the water content, the temperature, the matric potential of each cover layer and the accumulated water volume of lateral drainage. Short-term experiments on the disposal cover layer using the artificial rainfall system are implemented. The sand drainage layer shows the satisfactory performance as intended in the design stage. The artificial rainfall does not affect the temperature of cover layers. It is investigated that high water infiltration of the artificial rainfall changes the matric potential in each cover layer. This facility is expected to increase the public information about the national radioactive waste disposal program and the effort for the safety of the planned disposal facility.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.643-650
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• 1997

경제성장과 생활향상에 따라 증가일로에 있는 전력에너지를 효율적으로 공급하기 위해서는 원자력발전소의 증설이 불가피하다고 판단하여 정부는 이에 대한 중장기계획을 수립하여 추진하고 있다. 아울러 원전에서 발생하는 방사성폐기물을 처분할 시설의 입지를 위해서도 수차에 걸쳐 노력을 하여왔다. 그러나, 1970년대에 건설이 이미 완료되었거나 건설을 착수한 것 외에는 원자력시설의 입지에 지금까지 성공한 것이 없다. 입지실패의 원인 중 하나는 그간 입지정책을 추진해 오는 과정에서 입지 접근방식에 대한 검토가 부족하여 입지전략이 제대로 수립되지 않았던 때문인 것으로 사료된다. 본 연구는 원자력시설을 입지시키기 위해 널리 활용되어 온 시설입지 접근방식들을 구체적으로 고찰하여 시설입지에 대한 반발현상을 체계적으로 이해함으로써 원자력시설의 성공적인 입지에 첩경이 되고자 하는데 그 목적이 있다. 연구 결과, 성공적인 시설입지를 위해서는 어느 하나의 특정 접근방식에만 주안점을 둔 전략 모색은 결코 바람직하지 못하고 입지추진단계와 절차 및 대상 등에 따라 세 가지 접근방식을 적절하게 활용하는 전략을 모색하여야만 시설입지에 대한 반발을 효과적으로 극복하고 시설을 성공적으로 입지시킬 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

• Journal of Environmental Policy
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.105-134
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• 2008

Local opposition and protest constitute single greatest hurdle to the siting of locally unwanted land uses(LULUs), especially siting of high-level radioactive disposal not only throughout Korea but also throughout the industrialized world. It can be attributed mainly to the NIMBYism, equity problem, and lack of participation. These problems are arisen from rational planning process which emphasizes instrumental rationality. But planning is a value-laden political activity, in which substantive rationality is central. To achieve this goals, we need a sound planning process for siting LULUs, which should improve the ability of citizens to influence the decisions that affects them. By a sound planning process, we mean one that is open to citizen input and contains accurate and complete information. In other word, the public is also part of the goal setting process and, as the information and analyses developed by the planners are evaluated by the public, strategies for solutions can be developed through consensus-building. This method is called as a co-operative siting process, and must be structured in order to arrive at publicly acceptable decisions. The followings are decided by consensus-building method. 1. Negotiation will be held? 2. What is the benefits and risks of negotiation? 3. What are solutions when collisions between national interests and local ones come into? 4. What are the agendas? 5. What is the community' role in site selection? 6. Are there incentives to negotiation. 7. Who are the parties to the negotiation? 8. Who will represent the community? 9. What groundwork of negotiation is set up? 10. How do we assure that the community access to information and expert? 11. What happens if negotiation is failed? 12. Is it necessary to trust each other in negotiations? 13. Is a mediator needed in negotiations?

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.19-30
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• 1991

The trend of Radio active waste disposal project is generally to choose The Rock Cavern type because it is the most safest and easy to get concent from The neighbor hood. On the Construction of rock Cavern for R -A. W.0 has to take care follows ; The first of all, to survey rock crack formation. 2nd, The Movement of Underground water. 3rd, Nuclear and Geochemical problems. 4th, to examine physical feature of rocks ets.