• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.263-264
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• 2017

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.339-340
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• 2018

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.243-244
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• 2017

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.141-160
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• 2021

Unit 1 of the Kori Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) and Unit 1 of the Wolsong NPP are being prepared for decommissioning; their decommissioning is expected to generate large amounts of intermediate-level, low-level, and very low level Waste. Mixed waste containing both radioactive and hazardous substances is expected to be produced. Nevertheless, laws and regulations, such as the Korean Nuclear Safety Act and Waste Management Act, do not define clear regulatory guidelines for mixed waste. However, the United States has strictly enforced regulations on mixed waste, focusing on the human health and environmental effects of its hazardous components. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy regulate the radioactive components of mixed waste under the Atomic Energy Act. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulates the hazardous waste component of mixed waste under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. In this study, the laws, regulations, and authorities pertaining to mixed waste in the United States are reviewed. Through comparison and analysis with waste management laws and regulations in Korea, a treatment direction for mixed waste is suggested. Such a treatment for mixed waste will increase the efficiency of managing mixed waste when decommissioning NPPs in the near future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.1959-1965
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• 2023

The objective of this study was the establishment of clearance method that can ensure radiological safety and reasonably minimize radioactive waste when demolishing contaminated buildings at KRR-1&2. By reviewing Korean and international laws related to decommissioning, the method for clearance of contaminated buildings presented in this study is to first decontaminate the building and then conduct a radiological safety assessment, such as measuring residual radioactivity, to determine whether the radiation dose criteria for clearance are satisfied. The measurement results meet the radiation dose criteria, the contaminated buildings are regarded as clearance and can be converted into the general buildings. The demolition of the cleared buildings is carried out using conventional demolition methods. The waste generated during the demolition is classified as general construction waste and is disposed of according to relevant laws. The proposed method significantly optimized the number of samples analyzed and reduced the time and cost associated with the decommissioning. The established method will be applied to the ongoing decommissioning of contaminated buildings at KRR-1&2, and its application will be verified by regulatory bodies. The study suggests that this method could be used for the decommissioning of contaminated buildings at other Korean nuclear facilities in the future.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.139-165
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• 2019

The current status and prospect of decommissioning technology development at KAERI are reviewed here. Specifically, this review focuses on four key technologies: decontamination, remote dismantling, decommissioning waste treatments, and site remediation. The decontamination technologies described are component decontamination and system decontamination. A cutting method and a remote handling method together with a decommissioning simulation are described as remote dismantling technologies. Although there are various types of radioactive waste generated by decommissioning activities, this review focuses on the major types of waste, such as metal waste, concrete waste, and soil waste together with certain special types, such as high-level and high-salt liquid waste, organic mixed waste, and uranium complex waste, which are known to be difficult to treat. Finally, in a site remediation technology review, a measurement and safety evaluation related to site reuse and a site remediation technique are described.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.583-592
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• 2011

The radiological characteristics for waste classification were assessed for neutron-activated decommissioning wastes from a CANDU reactor. The MCNP/ORIGEN2 code system was used for the source term analysis. The neutron flux and activation cross-section library for each structural component generated by MCNP simulation were used in the radionuclide buildup calculation in ORIGEN2. The specific activities of the relevant radionuclides in the activated metal waste were compared with the specified limits of the specific activities listed in the Korean standard and 10 CFR 61. The time-average full-core model of Wolsong Unit 1 was used as the neutron source for activation of in-core and ex-core structural components. The approximated levels of the neutron flux and cross-section, irradiated fuel composition, and a geometry simplification revealing good reliability in a previous study were used in the source term calculation as well. The results revealed the radioactivity, decay heat, hazard index, mass, and solid volume for the activated decommissioning waste to be $1.04{\times}10^{16}$ Bq, $2.09{\times}10^3$ W, $5.31{\times}10^{14}\;m^3$-water, $4.69{\times}10^5$ kg, and $7.38{\times}10^1\;m^3$, respectively. According to both Korean and US standards, the activated waste of the pressure tubes, calandria tubes, reactivity devices, and reactivity device supporters was greater than Class C, which should be disposed of in a deep geological disposal repository, whereas the side structural components were classified as low- and intermediate-level waste, which can be disposed of in a land disposal repository. Finally, this study confirmed that, regardless of the cooling time of the waste, 15% of the decommissioning waste cannot be disposed of in a land disposal repository. It is expected that the source terms and waste classification evaluated through this study can be widely used to establish a decommissioning/disposal strategy and fuel cycle analysis for CANDU reactors.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.537-548
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• 2020

Currently, radioactive waste for disposal has been restricted to low and intermediate level radioactive waste generated during operation of nuclear power plants, and these radioactive wastes were managed and disposed of the 200 L and 320 L of steel drums. However, it is expected that it will be difficult to manage a large amount of decommissioning waste of the Kori unit 1 with the existing drums and transportation containers. Accordingly, the KORAD is currently developing various and large-sized containers for packaging, transportation, and disposal of decommissioning waste. In this study, the radiation exposure doses of workers and the public were evaluated using RADTRAN computational analysis code in case of the domestic on-road transportation of new package and transportation containers under development. The results were compared with the domestic annual dose limit. In addition, the sensitivity of the expected exposure dose according to the change in the leakage rate of radionuclides in the waste packaging was evaluated. As a result of the evaluation, it was confirmed that the exposure dose under normal and accident condition was less than the domestic annual exposure dose limit. However, in the case of a number of loading and unloading operations, working systems should be prepared to reduce the exposure of workers.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.511-521
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• 2022

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants generates a large amount of radioactive waste in a short period. Moreover, Radioactive waste has various forms including a large volumes of metal, concrete, and solid waste. The disposal of decommissioning waste using 200 L drums is inefficient in terms of economics, work efficiency, and radiation safety. Therefore, The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency is developing large containers for the packaging, transportation, and disposal of decommissioning waste. Assessing disposability considering the characteristics of the radioactive waste and facility, convenience of operation, and safety of workers is necessary. In this study, the exposure dose rate of workers during the disposal of new containers was evaluated using Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport code. Six normal and four abnormal scenarios were derived for the assessment of the dose rate in a near surface disposal facility operation. The results showed that the calculated dose rates in all normal scenarios were lower than the direct exposure dose limitation of workers in the safety analysis report. In abnormal scenarios, the work hours with dose rates below 20 mSv·y^-1 were calculated. The results of this study will be useful in establishing the optimal radiation work conditions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.255-269
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• 2023

Compared to operational wastes, nuclear power plant (NPP) decommissioning wastes are generated in larger quantities within a short time and include diverse types with a wider range of radiation characteristics. Currently used 200 L drums and IP-2 type transport containers are inefficient and restrictive in packaging and transporting decommissioning wastes. Therefore, new packaging and transport containers with greater size, loading weight, and shielding performance have been developed. When transporting radioactive materials, radiological safety should be assessed by reflecting parameters such as the type and quantity of the package, transport route, and transport environment. Thus far, safety evaluations of radioactive waste transport have mainly targeted operational wastes, that have less radioactivity and a smaller amount per transport than decommissioning wastes. Therefore, in this study, the possible radiation effects during the transport from NPP to disposal facilities were evaluated to reflect the characteristics of the newly developed containers and decommissioning wastes. According to the evaluation results, the exposure dose to transport workers, handling workers, and the public was lower than the domestic regulatory limit. In addition, all exposure dose results were confirmed, through sensitivity analysis, to satisfy the evaluation criteria even under circumstances when radioactive materials were released 100% from the container.