• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.26 no.1
• /
• pp.79-85
• /
• 2016

A concrete silo plays an important role in subsurface low- and intermediate-level waste facilities (LILW) by limiting the release of radionuclides from the silo geosphere. However, due to several physical and chemical processes the performance of the concrete structure decreases over time and consequently the concrete loses its effectiveness as a barrier against groundwater inflow and the release of radionuclides. Although a number of processes are responsible for degradation of the silo concrete, it is determined that the main cause is corrosion of the reinforcing steel. Therefore, the time it takes for the silo concrete to fail is calculated based on two factors: the initiation time of corrosion, defined as the time it takes for chloride ions to penetrate through the concrete cover, and the propagation time of corrosion. This paper aims to estimate the time taken for concrete to fail in a LILW disposal facility. Based on the United States Department of Energy (DOE) approach, which indicates that concrete fails completely once 50% of the volume of the reinforcing steel corrodes, the corrosion propagation time is calculated to be 640 years, which is the time it takes for corrosion to penetrate 0.640 cm into the reinforcing steel. In addition to the corrosion propagation time, a diffusion equation is used to calculate the initiation time of corrosion, yielding a time of 1284 years, which post-dates the closure time of the LILW disposal facility if we also consider the 640 years of corrosion propagation. The electrochemical conditions of the passive rebar surface were modified using an acceleration method. This is a useful approach because it can reduce the test time significantly by accelerating the transport of chlorides. Using instrumental analysis, the physicochemical properties of corrosion products were determined, thereby confirming that corrosion occurred, although we did not observe significant cracks in, or expansion of, the concrete. These results are consistent with those of Smartet al., 2006 who reported that corrosion products are easily compressed, meaning that cracks cannot be discerned by eye. Therefore, it is worth noting that rebar corrosion does not strongly influence the hydraulic conductivity of the concrete.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.411-424
• /
• 2013

Assessment and damage reduction strategy of acidic rock drainage were conducted in a section of ${\bigcirc}{\bigcirc}$ highway construction site. The geology of the studied section consists of Icheonri sandstone and intermediate to acidic volcanic rocks. Sulfides occur as a disseminated type in sandstone and volcanics which were altered by the hydrothermal solution of granite intrusion. Volcanics and sandstone with a high content of sulfide were classified as a potentially acid rock drainage(ARD) forming rock. The drainage originated from those rocks may acidify and contaminate the surrounding area during the highway construction. Therefore, the drainage should be treated before it is discharged. A slope landslide hazard due to the ARD was also expected and the coating technology was recommended for the reduction of ARD generation as a preemptive measure before reinforcement work for enhancing slope stability such as shotcrete and anchor. According to the ARD risk analysis, those rocks should not be used as cement aggregate, but only to be used as a bank fill material of a filling-up system that allows minimal contact with rainfall and groundwater.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 2012

To provide domestic values of input parameters in a safety assessment of radioactive waste disposal under domestic deep underground environments, various kinds of experiments have been carried out under KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) conditions. The input parameters were classified, and some of them were selected for this study by the criteria of importance. The domestic experimental data under KURT environments were given top priority in the data review process. Foreign data under similar conditions to KURT were also gathered. The collected data were arranged and the statistical calculations were processed. The properties and distribution of the data were explained and compared to foreign values in view of their validity. The following parameters were analysed: failure time and early time failure rate of a container, solubility of nuclides, porosity and density of the buffer, and distribution coefficients of nuclides in the geomedia, hydraulic conductivity, diffusion depth of nuclides, groundwater flow rate, fracture aperture, length of internal fracture, and width of faulted rock mass in the host rock.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
• /
• v.9 no.5
• /
• pp.1334-1343
• /
• 2008

Growing needs for efficient management of water resources urge the joint operation of dams and integrated management of whole basin. As one of the tools for supporting above tasks, this study aims to constitute a hydrologic model that can simulate the streamflow discharges at some control points located both upper and down stream of dams. One of the currently available models is being studied to be applied with a least effort in order to support the ongoing project of KWATER (Korea Water Resources Corporation), "Establishment of integrated operation scheme for the dams in Han River Basin". On this study, following works have been carried out : division of Han River Basin into 24 sub-basins, use of rainfall data of 151 stations to make spatial distribution of rainfall, selection of control points such as Soyanggang Dam, Chungju Dam, Chungju Release Control Dam, Heongseong Dam, Hwachun Dam, Chuncheon Dam, Uiam Dam, Cheongpyung Dam and Paldang Dam, selection of SSARR (Streamflow Synthesis and Reservoir Regulation) model as a hydrologic model, preparation of input data of SSARR model, sensitivity analysis of parameter using hydrologic data of 2002. The sensitivity analysis showed that soil moisture index versus runoff percent (SMI-ROP), baseflow infiltration index versus baseflow percent (BII-BFP) and surface-subsurface separation (S-SS) parameters are higher sensitive parameters to the simulation result.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.32 no.7
• /
• pp.690-698
• /
• 2010

Contamination of groundwater resources by organic chemicals has become an issue of increasing environmental concern. Surfactant-enhanced aquifer remediation (SEAR) is widely recognized as one of the most promising techniques to remediate organic contaminations in-situ. Solutions of surfactant or surfactant with polymer are used to dramatically expedite the process, which in turn, may reduce the treatment time of a site compared to use of water alone. In the design of surfactant-based technologies for remediation of organic contaminated aquifers, it is very important to have a considerable analysis using extensive numerical simulations prior to full-scale implementation. This study investigated the formation and flow of microemulsions during SEAR of organic-contaminated aquifer using the finite difference model UTCHEM, a three-dimensional, multicomponent, multiphase, compositional model. The remediation process variables considered in this study were the sequence of injection fluids, the injection and extraction rate, the concentrations of polymer in surfactant slug and chase water, and the duration of surfactant injection. For each variable, temporal changes in injection and production wells and spatial distributions of relative saturations in the organic phase were compared. Cleanup time and cumulative organic recovery were also quantified. The study would provide useful information to design strategies for the remediation of nonaqueous phase liquid-contaminated aquifers.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.5-21
• /
• 2014

It has been pointed out that the collapses of unsaturated road embankments caused by earthquake are attributed to high water content caused by the seepage of the underground water and/or the rainfall infiltration. Hence, it is important to study influences of water content on the dynamic stability and deformation mode of unsaturated road embankments for development of a proper design scheme including an effective reinforcement to prevent severe damage. This study demonstrates dynamic centrifugal model tests with different water contents to investigate the effect of water content on deformation and failure behaviors of unsaturated road embankments. Based on the measurement of displacement, the pore water pressure and the acceleration during dynamic loading, dynamic behavior of the unsaturated road embankments with about optimum water content and the higher water content than the optimum one have been examined. In addition, an image analysis has revealed the displacement field and the distributions of strains in the road embankment, by which deformation mode of the road embankment with higher water content has been clarified. It has been confirmed that in the case of higher water content the settlement of the crown is large mainly owing to the volume compression underneath the crown, while the small confining pressure at the toe and near the slope surface induces large shear deformation with volume expansion.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.124-132
• /
• 2001

Electrical resistivity survey has been conducted for delineating geological fault structure in Kaekok-ri near Kyungju. In general, electrical resistivity survey has an advantage of searching buried faults and its traces compared with other geophysical survey methods. Distribution of electrical conductivity in the ground is influenced by the ratio of pores, groundwater and clay minerals. These properties are evidenced indirectly to explain for weathering condition, faults and fracture Bones. Thus the electrical resistivity survey can be an effective method to find buried faults. We have carried out two dimensional (2-D) interpretation by means of smoothness-constrained least-squares and finite element method. Field data used in this paper was acquired at Kaekok-ri, Wuedong-eup, Kyungju-si, where is Ulsan Fault and is close to the region in which debatable quaternary fault traces were found recently. The dipole-dipole array resistivity survey which could show the 2-D subsurface electrical resistivity structure, was carried out in the area with three lines. The results showed good property of fault, fracture zone and fault traces which we estimated were congruous with the results. Through this study, 2-D electrical resistivity survey interpretation for fault is useful to apply.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Biology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.292-303
• /
• 2016

This study described the spatial distributions of marine environmental factors such as water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a concentration and turbidity, and characteristics of phytoplankton community such as species composition, standing crops and dominant species at 19 fishing ports around Jeju Island during the early summer of 2016. I analyzed bio-oceanographical characteristics using principal component analysis (PCA) of the environmental factors and biological parameters. Water temperature, salinity, chlorophyll a and turbidity ranged from 17.6 to $20.7^{\circ}C$, from 26.19 to 32.33 psu, from 0.76 to $7.13{\mu}g\;L^{-1}$, and from 0.51 to 14.49 FTU, respectively. A total of 51 species of phytoplankton belonging to 35 genera were identified. In particular, diatoms and dinoflagellates accounted for more than 56.8% and 27.4% of all the species, respectively. Moreover, the number of phytoplankton species was controlled by salinity. Phytoplankton cell density ranged from $2.9cells\;mL^{-1}$ to $185.9cells\;mL^{-1}$. The dominant species were Navicula spp. Stephanopyxis turris, Eutreptiella gymnastica and Mesodinium rubrum. Environmental factors and the phytoplankton community varied greatly between sampling sites. According to PCA, the biological oceanographic characteristics of the around Jeju Island were characterized by meteorological factors such as air temperature, precipitation and discharge of ground water during early summer.

• Explosives and Blasting
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.11-19
• /
• 2008

The development of an excavation damaged zone, EDZ, due to the blasting impact and stress redistribution after excavation, can influence on the long tenn stability, economy, and safety of the underground excavation. In this study, the size and characteristics of an EDZ around an underground research tunnel, which was excavated by controlled blasting, in KAERI were investigated. The results were implemented into the modelling for evaluating the influence of an EDZ on hydro-mechanical behavior of the tunnel. From in situ tests at KURT, it was possible to determine that the size of EDZ was about l.5rn. Goodman jack tests and laboratory tests showed that the rock properties in the EDZ were changed about 50% compared to the rock properties before blasting. The size and property change in the EDZ were implemented to a hydro-mechanical coupling analysis. In the modeling, rock strengths and elastic modulus were assumed to be decreased 50% and. the hydraulic conductivity was increased 1 order. From the analysis, it was possible to see that the displacement was increased while the stress was decreased because of an EDZ. When an EDZ was considered in the model, the tunnel inflow was increased about 20% compared to the case without an EDZ.

• Journal of Korea Soil Environment Society
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.73-81
• /
• 1996

The self-diffusion coefficients of chloride and tritiated water ranged from 4.8 $\times$ 10-7 to 7.2 $\times$ 10-7 cm2/sec and 5.5 $\times$ 10-5 to 1.6 $\times$ 10-4 cm2/sec for three different depths of soil constituents at about 50% water content by volume, respectively Mobility of solute and water was conducted under steady-state flow conditions in a field soil consisting of 70 cm of clay to silty clay over a medium sand. A steady-state water flow conditions was maintained by applying irrigation water at a constant flux of 2cm per day. The water labeled with chloride and tritium was leached into the plot during the steady-state condition for 87 days. The positions of tritium and chloride as a function of soil depth and the time was measured by extracting samples of the soil solution with suction probes. Extremes in solute displacement occurred at equal and different depths within the plot. An analysis of these measurements indicated the observations of the pore-water velocity and the apparent diffusion coefficient were log normally disturbed. Twenty-four soil suction probes, used to identify the rate at which a solute was displaced in the soil, will yield an estimate of the mean pore-water velocity of this soils within a range of approximately 5% of its true value providing the effects of potential solute-soil interaction are taken into account.