• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.876-883
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• 2023

Radioactive waste should be solidified before being disposed of in the repository to eliminate liquidity or dispersibility. Cement is a widely used solidifying media for radioactive waste, and cement solidified waste should satisfy the minimum compressive strength of the waste acceptance criteria of a radioactive repository. Although the compressive strength of waste should be measured by the test method provided by the waste acceptance criteria, the method differs depending on the operating repository of different countries. Considering the measured compressive strength changes depending on test conditions, the effect of test conditions should be analyzed to avoid overestimation or underestimation of the compressive strength during disposal. We selected test conditions such as the height-to-diameter ratio, loading rate, and porosity as the main factors affecting the compressive strength of cement solidified radioactive waste. Owing to the large variance in measured compressive strength, the effects of the test conditions were analyzed via statistical analyses using parametric and nonparametric methods. The results showed that the test condition of the lower loading rate, with a height-to-diameter ratio of two, reflected the actual cement content well, while the porosity showed no correlation. The compressive strength assessment method that reflects the large variance of strengths was suggested.

• Journal of Industrial Technology
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• v.30 no.A
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• pp.37-43
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• 2010

Polymeric materials in addition to Portland cement and hydrated limes were used to solidify heavy metal contaminated tailings from five abandoned metal mines in Korea. Mine tailings were mixed separately with Portland cement and hydrated lime at a concentration of 20-30 wt% and 6-9 wt%, respectively and Ethylene Vinyl Acetate(EVA) powder was added to each specimen at a ratio of 2.5 and 5.0 wt% to binders. Polymer-added and polymer-free solidified forms were evaluated for their appropriateness in accordance with the suggested test methods. Regardless of addition of polymeric materials, all solidified forms satisfy the uniaxial compressive strength(UCS) requirements(0.35MPa) for land reclamation and show remarkably reduced leaching concentrations of heavy metals such as As, Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn less than the toxicity criteria of Korean standard leaching test(KSLT). The addition of polymeric materials increased the UCS of solidified forms to improve a long-term stability of solidified mine tailings.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.32-37
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• 2003

The amount of 4,500 drums of soil waste are temporarily stored in KAERI. In order to develop a technology for safe treatment of the soil waste, a number of tests were performed by applying cement and polymer as solidifier. Immobilization specimens were adequately made by mixing soil waste with cement or polymer Compressive strength and leaching tests were performed in order to see the fulfillment to standard of disposal following the storage. A compressive strength, about 5,300psi was obtained from both solidifiers of cement containing 40% of soil waste and polymer containing 60%. The obtained leaching index was larger than 11, which was satisfied with the relevant standard. It was shown that the integrity of the solidified waste much depends on homogenization in solidifying process and hardness of the specimen. Volume reduction of solidified waste with polymer was better than that of cement by 20%.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2010

As a reinforced fabric, asbestos has been utilized as a fire-resistant material as it has a superior flexural stiffness and heat resistance up to $1500^{\circ}C$. However, due to its harmfulness, its use has been prohibited recently and the even the installed asbestos materials are being repaired or supplemented if there is a concern about flying. Asbestos is mainly used for construction panels as a reinforced fabric and coating materials to ensure the fire-resistance of steel frames. Asbestos was used as fire-resistant materials for steel frames until 1991 and then prohibited as Act on Industrial Safety and Health limits the concentration of asbestos in the air. Classified as a designated waste according to Act on Waste Control, asbestos must be buried if there is no possibility of flying (panel-type materials) or cement-solidified and then buried if there is a possibility of flying (spray coating material) In general, it is required that a new waste landfill include a certain landfill facility for designated waste, but in reality there is an absolute storage of landfill facilities for designated waste as they only install facilities of the size required by the regulations. This could result in the 2nd environmental pollution as they cannot process asbestos wastes which will be generated in large volume in the future. This study explores a method that melts asbestos wastes at $700^{\circ}C$ rather than cement-solidifying the waste asbestos from construction sites, especially asbestos-containing spray coating. The study results showed that there was no change in the composition and shape even though asbestos wastes was melted at $1300^{\circ}C$, but there was a change for the specimen which was process in advance for low temperature melting and then melt at $900^{\circ}C$.