• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.201-209
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• 2015

Currently, 23 nuclear power plants are in operation at Kori, Uljin, Younggwang and Wolsong site and a reference deep geological disposal system has been developed for the spent fuels generated by them. The reference spent fuel for this disposal system has 4.5wt% of initial enrichment, 55 GWd/MtU of burn-up, and 40 years of cooling time. In this paper, to improve disposal efficiency and economic feasibility, the characteristics of spent fuels from nuclear power plants, such as type and burn-up, were reviewed. A disposal canister concept for shorter length and relatively lower burn-up spent fuels than the reference spent fuels was developed. Based on this canister concept, thermal analyses were carried out and a deep geological disposal concept was proposed. Measures of disposal efficiency such as unit disposal area and disposal density were compared between this disposal system and the reference disposal system. Also, economic feasibility, such as the volume reduction of copper, cast iron, and bentonite, was analyzed and the results of these analyses showed that the disposal system proposed in this paper has an efficiency of at least 20%. These results could be used for establishing spent fuel management policy and designing practical disposal systems for spent fuels.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1996.05c
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• pp.583-588
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• 1996

방사성폐기물 처분후 처분장에서는 금속의 부시, 셀룰로스의 미생물분해, 방사선에 의한 분해등으로 인하여 기체가 발생하게 된다. 이 논문에서는 저준위 폐기물 수송시스템에서 고려하고 있는 폐기물모듈 개념중 6-Pack 모듈을 사용하여 치분할 때 기체발생에 미치는 영향을 평가하여 보았다. 계산은 방사성폐기물 처분장에 대한 초기 건설용량으로 고려중이었던 10만드럼 용량의 처분장을 기준으로 수행하였다. 평가결과, 6-Pack 모듈을 사용하여 처분할 때 6-pack 모듈을 사용하지 않고 처분하는 경우에 비해 H$_2$의 발생량은 1.4배 정도 증가하며, $CO_2$, CH$_4$ 등에 있어서는 영향이 거의 없는 것으로 나타났다.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.151-159
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• 2017

A deep geological disposal at a depth of 500 m in stable host rock is considered to be the safest method with current technologies for disposal of spent fuels classified as high-level radioactive waste. The most important requirement is that the temperature of the bentonite buffer, which is a component of the engineered barrier, should not exceed $100^{\circ}C$. In Korea, the amount of spent fuel generated by nuclear power generation, which accounts for about 30% of the total electricity, is continuously increasing and accumulating. Accordingly, the area required to dispose of it is also increasing. In this study, various duplex disposal concepts were derived for the purpose of improving the disposal efficiency by reducing the disposal area. Based on these concepts, thermal analyses were carried out to confirm whether the critical disposal system requirements were met, and the thermal stability of the disposal system was evaluated by analyzing the results. The results showed that upward 75 m or downward 75 m apart from the reference disposal system location of 500 m depth would qualify for the double layered disposal concept. The results of this study can be applied to the establishment of spent fuel management policy and the design of practical commercial disposal system. Detailed analyses with data of a real disposal site are necessary.

• 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.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

A long-term R&D program for HLW disposal technology development was launched in 1997 in Korea and Korea Reference disposal System(KRS) for spent fuels had been developed. After then, a recycling process for PWR spent fuels to get the reusable material such as uranium or TRU and to reduce the volume of radioactive waste, called Pyro-process, is being developed. This Pyro-process produces several kinds of wastes including metal waste and ceramic waste. In this study, the characteristics of the waste from Pyro-process and the concepts of a disposal container for the wastes were described. Based on these concepts, thermal analyses were carried out to determine a layout of the disposal area of the ceramic wastes which was classified as a high level waste and to develop the disposal system called A-KRS. The location of the final repository for A-KRS is not determined yet, thus to review the potential repository domains, the possible layout in the geological characteristics of KURT facility site was proposed. These results will be used in developing a repository system design and in performing the safety assessment.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.183-202
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• 2019

For design and performance assessment of a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) disposal system, it is necessary to understand the characteristics of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical (THM) behavior. However, in previous studies for the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS), thermal analysis was performed to determine the spacing of disposal tunnels and interval of disposition holes without consideration of the coupled THM behavior. Therefore, in this study, TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D is used to conduct THM modeling for performance assessment of the Korean Reference HLW Disposal System (KRS). The peak temperature remains below the temperature limit of $100^{\circ}C$ for the whole period. A rapid rise of temperature caused by decay heat occurs in the early years, and then temperature begins to decrease as decay heat from the waste decreases. The peak temperature at the bentonite buffer is around $96.2^{\circ}C$ after about 3 years, and peak temperature at the rockmass is $68.2^{\circ}C$ after about 17 years. Saturation of the bentonite block near the canister decreases in the early stage, because water evaporation occurs owing to temperature increase. Then, saturation of the bentonite buffer and backfill increases because of water intake from the rockmass, and bentonite buffer and backfill are fully saturated after about 266 years. The stress is calculated to investigate the effect of thermal stress and swelling pressure on the mechanical behavior of the rockmass. The calculated stress is compared to a spalling criterion and the Mohr-Coulumb criterion for investigation of potential failure. The stress at the rockmass remains below the spalling strength and Mohr-Coulumb criterion for the whole period. The methodology of using the TOUGH2-MP/FLAC3D simulator can be applied to predict the long-term behavior of the KRS under various conditions; these methods will be useful for the design and performance assessment of alternative concepts such as multi-layer and multi-canister concepts for geological spent fuel repositories.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2015

In the safety assessment of the geological disposal system of the radioactive wastes, the abnormal scenarios, in which the system is impacted by the abnormal events, need to be considered in addition to the reference scenario. In this study, characterization and prediction of well intrusion as one of the abnormal events which will impact the disposal system were conducted probabilistically and statistically for the safety assessment. The domestic well development data were analyzed, and the prediction methodologies of the well intrusion were suggested with a computation example. From the results, the annual well development rate per unit area in Korea was about 0.8 well/yr/km² in the conservative point of view. Considering the area of the overall disposal system which is about 1.5 km², the annual well development rate within the disposal system could be 1.2 well/yr. That is, it could be expected that more than one well would be installed within the disposal system every year after the institutional management period. From the statistical analysis, the probabilistic distribution of the well depth followed the log-normal distribution with 3.0363 m of mean value and 1.1467 m of standard deviation. This study will be followed by the study about the impacts of the well intrusion on the geological disposal system, and the both studies will contribute to the increased reliability of safety assessment.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.65-78
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• 2007

The pollutants (Rn, CH, CO, HS, radioactive gas from radiolysis) were generated from the process of construction and operation of underground repository, and after disposal of low-intermediate radioactive waste inside there must be controlled by a ventilation system to distribute them in area where enough air is supported. Therefore, a suitable technical approach is needed especially at an underground repository that is equipped with many entry tunnels, storage tunnels, exhaust-blowing tunnels, and vertical shafts in complicated network form. For the technical approach of such a ventilation system, WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) in U. S and SFR (Slutforvar for Reaktorafall) low-intermediate radioactive waste repository in Sweden were selected as the models, for calculating the required air quantity, organizing a ventilation network considering cross section, length, surface roughness of the air passage, and describing a calculation of resistance of each circuit. Based on these procedures, a best suited ventilation system was completed with designing proper capacity of fans and operating plan of vertical shafts. As a result of comparing the two repositories based on the geometry dimensions and ventilation facility equipment operation, more parallel circuit as in WIPP, brought decrease in resistance for entire system leading to reduce of operating costs, and the larger cross-sectional area of the SFR, the greater the percentage of disposal capacity. Accordingly, the mixture of parallel circuit of WIPP repository for reducing resistance and SFR repository formation for enlargement of disposal capacity would be the most rational and efficient ventilation system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.87-98
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• 2015

Safety assessments of geological radioactive waste disposal systems, need to consider the abnormal scenario in which a system is impacted by external events in addition to a reference scenario. In this study, the characterization and prediction of an earthquake as an external event which will impact disposal systems were conducted probabilistically and statistically for the safety assessment. The domestic earthquake data were analyzed, and the prediction methodologies of the earthquake were suggested with a computational example. From the results, the earthquake occurrence rates in Korea ranged from 0.4 /yr to 36.2 /yr depending on the data set and the completeness magnitude. From a conservative point of view, the earthquake occurrence rate in the disposal system was suggested as 5.4×10^-4 /yr considering the area of the disposal system. At that time, the completeness magnitude of an earthquake was 2.3. This study will be followed by an appraisal of impacts associated with external events on the geological disposal system, and it will contribute to improvements in reliability of the safety assessment.

• Proceedings of the Korea Society for Energy Engineering kosee Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.331-336
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• 2001

한국원자력연구소에서는 고준위 방사성폐기물 처분 시스템의 안전성을 투명하게평가하기 위한 방안의 하나로 처분 안전성 관련 시나리오와 구성 요소들인 FEP, 그리고 각 시나리오 별 안전성 평가 방안들을 종합한 프로그램인 FEAS를 개발하고 있다. 고준위 방사성 폐기물 처분 연구는 관련 전문가 뿐 아니라 일반 국민들도 안전성에 관해 많은 관심을 표명하고 있는 바 현재 국내에서 고려하고 있는 처분 개념은 무엇이며 처분장 안전성 평가를 위해서 고려하고 있는 제 사건들은 무엇이며 이들 시나리오를 구성하는 세부 사건들은 무엇인가에 관한 합의를 도출하고 이와 관련된 기록들을 보존하고 각각 세부 사건들에 관해 현재의 평가 방안과 데이터 수집 현황 그리고 해외 사례 등을 체계적으로 정리하는 일은 중요하다. 현재 개발되고 있는 FEAS는 이와 같은 역할을 수행할 뿐 아니라 이 프로그램과 동시에 개발되고 있는 입력 자료 데이터 시스템, 웹을 기반으로 한 품질 보증 체제 및 안전성 평가 방안 등과 향후 연계되어 모든 국민들이 방사성 폐기물 처분장의 안전성을 쉽게 이해할 수 있는 수단으로 확장될 예정이다.