• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2012

This study was carried out to remove (/recover) the uranium from the Uranium-bearing Lime Precipitate (ULP). An oxidative dissolution of ULP with carbonate-acidified precipitation and a dissolution of ULP with nitric acid-hydrogen peroxide precipitation were discussed, respectively. In point of view the dissolution of uranium in ULP, nitric acid dissolution which could dissolved more than 98% of uranium was more effective than carbonate dissolution. However, in this case, uranium was dissolved together with a large amount of impurities such as Al, Ca, Fe, Mg, Si, etc. and some impurities were also co-precipitated with uranium during a hydrogen peroxide precipitation. On the other hand, in the case of carbonate dissolution-acidified precipitation, U was dissolved less than 90%. Therefore, it was less effective than nitric acid dissolution for the volume reduction of radioactive solid waste. However, it was very effective to recover the pure uranium, because impurities were hardly dissolved and hardly co-precipitated with uranium.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.203-212
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• 2019

Disposal nonconformity of radioactive wastes refers to radioactive wastes that need to be treated, solidified and packaged during operation or decommissioning of NPPs, and are typically exemplified by particulate radioactive wastes with dispersion characteristics. These wastes include the dried powders of concentrated wastes generated in the process of operating NPPs, slurry and sludge, various powdered wastes generated in the decommissioning process (crushed concrete, decontamination sludge, etc.), and fine radioactive soil, which is not easy to decontaminate. As these particulate wastes must be packaged so that they become non-dispersive, they are solidified with solidification agents such as cement and polymer. If they are treated using existing solidification methods, however, the volume of the final wastes will increase. This drawback may increase the disposal cost and reduce the acceptability of disposal sites. Accordingly, to solve these problems, this study investigates the pelletization of particulate radioactive wastes in order to reduce final waste volume.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.325-332
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• 2013

Pyroporcessing of spent nuclear fuel generates a considerable amount of LiCl-KCl eutectic waste salt containing radioactive rare earth (RE) chlorides. In this study, a series of processes, which consist of a phosphorylation/distillation process and a solidification process, were performed to minimize volume of the LiCl-KCl eutectic waste salt and solidify a residual waste into a stable form at a relatively low temperature. Over 99wt% of RE chlorides in LiCl-KCl eutectic salt was converted and separated into $REPO_4$ in the phosphorylation/distillation process using a mixture of $Li_3PO_4-K_3PO_4$. The separated $REPO_4$ was solidified into a homogeneous and fine-grained form at $1,050^{\circ}C$ using LIP(Lead Iron Phosphate) as a solidification agent. The final waste volume was reduced below about 10% through the series of the processes.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.165-174
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• 2004

In order to simultaneously vitrify the ion exchange resin(IER) and combustible dry active waste(DAW) generated from Korean nuclear power plants, a vitrification pilot test was conducted using an induction cold crucible melter(CCM) . The energy necessary for startup of the glass using a Ti-ring was evaluated as about 290 kWh. The power supplied from a high frequency generator to melt the glass properly was ranged from 160 to 190 kW without any interruption. When the mixture of the IER and DAW was fed into the CCM, the concentration of CO was lowered up to 1/40 compared to feeding the IER solely. It may be caused by the DAW which can produce about 1.8 times higher heat compared to the IER. When the swelling phenomenon occurred in the glass melt, the concentration of $NO_2$, oxidizing gas, was higher than NO, reducing gas. Total feed amounts of the IER and DAW were 368 and 751 kg, respectively. And then, about 74 of volume reduction factor was achieved.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.285-297
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• 2021

Globally, nuclear-decommissioning facilities have been increased in number, and thereby hundreds of thousands of wastes, such as concrete, soil, and metal, have been generated. For this reason, there have been numerous efforts and researches on the development of technology for volume reduction and recycling of solid radioactive wastes, and this study reviewed and examined thoroughly such previous studies. The waste concrete powder is rehydrated by other processes such as grinding and sintering, and the processes rendered aluminate (C3A), C4AF, C3S, and ��-C2S, which are the significant compounds controlling the hydration reaction of concrete and the compressive strength of the solidified matrix. The review of the previous studies confirmed that waste concretes could be used as recycling cement, but there remain problems with the decreasing strength of solidified matrix due to mingling with aggregates. There have been further efforts to improve the performance of recycling concrete via mixing with reactive agents using industrial by-products, such as blast furnace slag and fly ash. As a result, the compressive strength of the solidified matrix was proved to be enhanced. On the contrary, there have been few kinds of researches on manufacturing recycled concretes using soil wastes. Illite and zeolite in soil waste show the high adsorption capacity on radioactive nuclides, and they can be recycled as solidification agents. If the soil wastes are recycled as much as possible, the volume of wastes generated from the decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is not only significantly reduced, but collateral benefits also are received because radioactive wastes are safely disposed of by solidification agents made from such soil wastes. Thus, it is required to study the production of non-sintered cement using clay minerals in soil wastes. This paper reviewed related domestic and foreign researches to consider the sustainable recycling of concrete waste from NPPs as recycling cement and utilizing clay minerals in soil waste to produce unsintered cement.