• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.57-63
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• 1996

The Dalsung copper-tungsten mine in the Taegu area, Korea was closed in 1975 and may be the sources of the heavy metal contamination in the tributary system and soil-plant system due to the mine drainage derived from the mine wastes and tailings. To examine the degree and extent of heavy metal contamination in the vicinity of Dalsung mine area, stream water and soil samples were taken and analyzed for heavy metals by ICP-AES and AAS. Highly contaminated soils are found near the Lower Tunnel No.0 ranging up to $1760{\mu}g/g$ As, $2060{\mu}g/g$ Cu, $1120{\mu}g/g$ Pb and 346 ${\mu}g/g$ Zn. From the results of the sequential extraction methods for the metal speciation, the heavy metals in soils may be derived from soil parent materials and acid mine drainage. With the processes for the heavy metal removal, most of the heavy metal ions in the acid mine drainage are removed by being exchanged with Ca ions held by the bentonite, hydroxyapatite and calcium hydoxide.

• Journal of the Korean Ceramic Society
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.180-185
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• 2015

Low-cost ceramic membrane supports with pore sizes in the range of $0.52-0.62{\mu}m$ were successfully prepared by uniaxial dry compaction method using inexpensive raw materials including kaolin, bentonite, talc, sodium borate, and alkaline-earth oxides in carbonate forms (e.g., $MgCO_3$, $CaCO_3$, and $SrCO_3$). The prepared green supports were sintered at $1000^{\circ}C$ for 8 hr in air. The effect of alkaline-earth oxide additives on the flexural strength of clay-based membrane supports was investigated. The porosity of the clay-based membrane supports was found to be in the range of 33-34%. The flexural strength of the clay-based membrane supports with 1% alkaline-earth carbonates was found to be in the range of 42.8-52.7 MPa. The addition of alkaline-earth carbonates to clay-based membrane supports resulted in large increases (47-80%) in the flexural strength of the membrane supports, compared to that of membrane supports without alkaline-earth carbonates. The typical flexural strength of the clay-based membrane support with 1% $SrCO_3$ was 52.7 MPa at 33.8% porosity.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.421-433
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• 2023

The final disposal of spent nuclear fuel(SNF) from nuclear power plants takes place in a deep geological repository. The metal canister encasing the SNF is made of cast iron and copper, and is engineered to effectively isolate radioactive isotopes for a long period of time. The SNF is further shielded by a multi-barrier disposal system comprising both engineering and natural barriers. The deep disposal environment gradually changes to an anaerobic reducing environment. In this environment, sulfide is one of the most probable substances to induce corrosion of copper canister. Stress-corrosion cracking(SCC) triggered by sulfide can carry substantial implications for the integrity of the copper canister, potentially posing a significant threat to the long-term safety of the deep disposal repository. Sulfate can exist in various forms within the deep disposal environment or be introduced from the geosphere. Sulfate has the potential to be transformed into sulfide by sulfate-reducing bacteria(SRB), and this converted sulfide can contribute to the corrosion of the copper canister. Bentonite, which is considered as a potential material for buffering and backfilling, contains oxidized sulfate minerals such as gypsum(CaSO4). If there is sufficient space for microorganisms to thrive in the deep disposal environment and if electron donors such as organic carbon are adequately supplied, sulfate can be converted to sulfide through microbial activity. However, the majority of the sulfides generated in the deep disposal system or introduced from the geosphere will be intercepted by the buffer, with only a small amount reaching the metal canister. Pyrite, one of the potential sulfide minerals present in the deep disposal environment, can generate sulfates during the dissolution process, thereby contributing to the corrosion of the copper canister. However, the quantity of oxidation byproducts from pyrite is anticipated to be minimal due to its extremely low solubility. Moreover, the migration of these oxidized byproducts to the metal canister will be restricted by the low hydraulic conductivity of saturated bentonite. We have comprehensively analyzed and summarized key research cases related to the presence of sulfates, reduction processes, and the formation and behavior characteristics of sulfides and pyrite in the deep disposal environment. Our objective was to gain an understanding of the impact of sulfates and sulfides on the long-term safety of high-level radioactive waste disposal repository.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.261-270
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• 2018

In this study, to replace the 'J-slot joint', a joint device between a disposal canister and an emplacement jig in Deep Borehole Disposal process, a novel joint device was designed and tested. The novel joint device was composed of a wedge on top of a disposal canister and a hook box at the end of a winch system. The designed joint device had merits in that it can recombine an emplaced canister freely without the replacement of the joint component. Moreover, it can be applied to various emplacement jigs such as drill pipes, wire-lines, and coiled tubing. To demonstrate the designed joint device, the joint device (${\Phi}110mm$, H 148 mm), a twin canister string (${\Phi}140mm$, H 1,105 mm), and a water tube (${\Phi}150mm$, H 1,500 mm) as a borehole model were manufactured at 1/3 scale. As deployment muds, Na-type bentonite (MX-80) and Ca-type (GJ II) bentonite muds were prepared at solid contents of 7wt% and 28wt%, respectively. The manufactured joint device showed good performance in pure water and viscous muds, with an operation speed of $10m{\cdot}min^{-1}$. It was concluded that the newly developed joint device can be used for the emplacement and retrieval of a deep disposal canister, below 3~5 km, in the future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.29-40
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• 2013

Two different kinds of nuclear power plants produce a substantial amount of spent fuel annually in Korea. According to the current projection, it is expected that around 60,000 MtU of spent fuel will be produced from 36 PWR and APR reactors and 4 CANDU reactors by the end of 2089. In 2006, KAERI proposed a conceptual design of a geological disposal system (called KRS, Korean Reference disposal System for spent fuel) for PWR and CANDU spent fuel, as a product of a 4-year research project from 2003 to 2006. The major result of the research was that it was feasible to construct a direct disposal system for 20,000 MtU of PWR spent fuels and 16,000 MtU of CANDU spent fuel in the Korean peninsula. Recently, KAERI and MEST launched a project to develop an advanced fuel cycle based on the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel to reduce the amount of HLW and reuse the valuable fissile material in PWR spent fuel. Thus, KAERI has developed a geological disposal system for high-level waste from the pyroprocessing of PWR spent fuel since 2007. However, since no decision was made for the CANDU spent fuel, KAERI improved the disposal density of KRS by introducing several improved concepts for the disposal canister. In this paper, the geological disposal systems developed so far are briefly outlined. The amount and characteristics of spent fuel and HLW, 4 kinds of disposal canisters, the characteristics of a buffer with domestic Ca-bentonite, and the results of a thermal design of deposition holes and disposal tunnels are described. The different disposal systems are compared in terms of their disposal density.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.329-344
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• 2002

Mineralogical and chemical characterization of some domestic bentonites, such as quantitative XRD analysis, chemical leaching experiments, pH and CEC determinations, were done without any separation procedures to understand their relationships among mineral composition, characteristics, and cation exchange properties. XRD quantification results based on Rietveld method reveal that the bentonites contain totally more than 25 wt% of impurities, such as zeolites, opal-CT, and feldspars, in addition to montmorillonite ranging 30～75 wt%. Cation exchange properties of the zeolitic bentonites are deeply affected by the content of zeolites identified as clinoptilolite-heulandite series. Clinoptilolite is common in the silicic bentonites with lighter color. and occurs closely in association with opal-CT. Ca is mostly the dominant exchangeable cation, but some zeolitic bentonites have K as a major exchangeable cation, The values of cation exchange capacity (CEC) determined by Methylene Blue method are comparatively low and have roughly a linear relationship with the montmorillonite content of the bentonite, though the correlated data tend to be rather dispersed. Compared to this, the CEC determined by Ammonium Acetate method, i.e.‘Total CEC’, has much higher values (50～115 meq/100 g). The differences between those CEC values are much greater in zeolitic bentonites, which obviously indicates the CEC increase affected by zeolite. Other impurities such as opal-CT and feldspars seem to affect insignificantly on the CEC of bentonites. When dispersed in distilled water, the pH of bentonites roughly tends to increase up to 9.3 with increasing the alkali abundance, especially Na, in exchangeable cation composition. However, some bentonites exhibit lower pH (5～6) so as to regard as ‘acid clay’. This may be due to the presence of $H^{＋}$ in part as an exchangeable cation in the layer site of montmorillonite. All the works of this study ultimately suggest that an assesment of domestic bentonites in grade and quality should be accomplished through the quantitative XRD analysis and the ‘Total CEC’measurement.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.674-684
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to construct ecological pond using LID technique in order to create naturally comfortable community space in urban idle space. The specification of the ecological pond is $110m^2$ of surface area, $0.45{\pm}0.02m$ of average depth, and bed material is composed of gravel (diameter ${\leq}60mm$), sand (diameter ${\leq}2mm$) and bentonite. Rainfall and water depth monitoring were conducted to determine the annual characteristics of inflow of the water for the ecological pond, result of total rainfall was 1,287 mm and showed a seasonal imbalance that accounted for 71.3% (918 mm) during July to August, but the annual mean water depth was kept constant at $0.45{\pm}0.02m$ due to the secondary water source. Annual trends of basic water quality showed a significant changes according to the season, such as water temperature ($5.2{\sim}28.8^{\circ}C$), DO (5.0 ~ 13.8 mg/L), EC ($113{\sim}265{\mu}S/cm$). BOD, COD, TN, and TP in physicochemical water quality tended to increase after October, but the ion parameters such as $NH_3$ and $PO_4{^{3-}}$ were generally low. Phytoplankton indicators Chl-a and BGA (blue green algae) showed a sharp increase from July to August, and green algae (Selenastrum bibraianum, Pediastrum boryanum etc.) and filamentous blue green algae (Phormidium sp.) emerged as a dominant species. The ion parameters ($F^-$, $Na^+$, $K^+$, $Mg^{2+}$, $Ca^{2+}$) were strongly correlated with the $Cl^-$ as a conservative substance (R=0.70~0.97, p<0.05). Water quality was influenced by the ambient environment such as seasonal changes or rainfall, and it was closely related to fluctuation of the inflow of the water. In the future, it is necessary to consider ecological connections by referring to the characteristics surveyed in this study in order to effectively manage the water quality and biodiversity of the ecological pond in idle space.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.421-428
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• 2016

In this work, pozzolanic activities of various waste materials were compared with those of well-known by-product pozzolanic materials. Undensified and densified silica fume, ASTM class F and class C fly ash, and metakaolin were chosen as well-known pozzolanic materials, and bentonite powder, ceramic powder obtained from wash basin, and waste glass wool, which can possibly possess pozzolanic property, were chosen for comparison. Drop in electrical conductivity at $40^{\circ}C$ saturated lime solution was measured for each materials. The amount of Ca(OH)2 decomposed from cement paste at $450{\sim}500^{\circ}C$ was also measured to evaluate pozzolanic activity. The 28 day compressive strength were used to observe the mechanical property enhanced by incorporation of various waste materials. According to the experimental results, using "difference between maximum conductivity value and conductivity value at 4 hour" was found to be a reasonable approach to determine pozzolanic activity of a material. Pozzolanic activity measured using electrical conductivity correlates very well with that measured using the amount of Ca(OH)2 remained in the cement paste. Relatively good agreement was also found with electrical conductivity and 28 day compressive strength. It was found that electrical conductivity measurement can be used to evaluate pozzolanic activity of unknown materials.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.373-387
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• 2009

Considering the current construction technology and research status of deep repository tunnels for radioactive waste disposal, it is inevitable to use cementitious materials in spite of serious concern about their long-term environmental stability. Thus, it is an emerging task to develop low pH cementitious materials. This study reviews the state of the technology on low pH cements developed in Sweden, Switzerland, France, and Japan as well as in Finland which is constructing a real deep repository site for high-level radioactive waste disposal. Considering the physical and chemical stability of bentonite which acts as a buffer material, a low pH cement limits to $pH{\leq}11$ and pozzolan-type admixtures are used to lower the pH of cement. To attain this pH requirement, silica fume, which is one of the most promising admixtures, should occupy at least 40 wt% of total dry materials in cement and the Ca/Si ratio should be maintained below 0.8 in cement. Additionally, selective super-plasticizer needs to be used because a high amount of water is demanded from the use of a large amount of silica fume.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.377-393
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• 2010

Pumiceous tuffs occurring in the Beomgockri Group are examined applied-mineralogical characteristics and their controling factors to evaluate their potentials as the adsorption-functional mineral resources. The pumiceous tuffs are diagenetically altered to low-grade zeolitcs and bentonites in the Janggi area. Compositional specialty due to the presence of pumice fragments induces the altered tuffs to exhibit the characteristic adsorption property combined with cation exchange capacity, specific surface area, and acidic pH. Unusual lower pH in the adsorption-functional mineral substances is turned out to be originated from the presence of H-smectite having $H^+$ in the interlayer site of the sheet structure. On account of disordered crystallinity resulting from the exchanged $H^+$ in the interlayer site, the smectite commonly forms crenulated edges in the planar crystal form and exhibits characteristic X-ray diffraction patterns showing comparatively lower intensities of basal spacings including (001) peak than conventional Ca-smectite. Based on the interpretation of paragenetic relations and precursor of the H-smectite, a genetic model of the peculiar clay mineral was proposed. The smectite formation may be facilitated resulting from the precipitation of opal-CT at decreasing pH condition caused by the release of H+ during diagenetic alteration of pumice fragments. Because of the acidic smectite, the low-grade mineral resources from the Beomgockri Group may be applicable to the adsorption industry as the raw materials of acid clays and bed-soil.