• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.29-38
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• 2021

The article summarises the status and competence of UJV Rez, a. s. (up to 2012, the Nuclear Research Institute Rez, Czech Republic) in the field of radioactive waste (RAW) management as a company managing of 95% of institutional radioactive wastes in Czech Republic. UJV Rez a. s. has been one of the Czech Republic's key research and engineering institutions in the field of nuclear energy production since 1955. The company processes and conditions prior to storage 95% of so-called institutional RAW and is the principal partner of the state with respect to the research support of the Czech deep geological repository development project. UJV Rez a. s. boasts its own accredited radiochemical analytical test laboratory, unique of its kind in the Czech Republic. Of equal importance is UJV Rez's active participation in a range of international organisations and associations and its involvement in wide range of international projects, and so as European projects. One of them is EU funded project PREDIS: Pre-disposal management of radioactive wastes, that has started at September 2020, focused on the field of low level radioactive waste (LLW) and intermediate level radioactive waste (ILW) pre-disposal.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.477-495
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• 2022

This study examined the sustainability of CO₂-rich water by analyzing the water level and water quality change pattern with the amount of its use in Angseong area, Chungju. The origin and supply of CO₂ component were discussed in consideration of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio, occurrence of CO₂-rich fluid inclusions in nearby W-Mo deposits and other surrounding geological characteristics. According to the data from 1986 to 2017, the depth of the water level of CO₂-rich water was significantly lowered in the late period (2009-2015) than in the early period (1986-1992) of the development of hot spa wells, and the optimal yields for pumping tests also showed a tendency to gradual decrease. Concentrations of CO₂ component also decreased continuously in the later stages compared to the early stages of development, but it has been stable since 2012. It is inferred that the geological environment related to forming W-Mo quartz vein deposits (0.5×1.5×several km) around the study area are largely involved in the origin and supply of CO₂ component, and the supply of CO₂ component is not infinitely supplied from deep current magma activity. Rather, since it is finitely supplied from a restricted subsurface region formed in the past geological period, it is necessary to efficiently control its use in order to maintain the sustainability of CO₂-rich water in the study area.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.329-340
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• 2013

A geologic survey of the Bukpyeong and Pohang basins, as candidate basins for the geological storage of $CO_2$, was performed to evaluate storage capacity and security. To analyze the mechanical stability of the storage reservoir and cap rocks, we measured the porosity, seismic velocity, uniaxial strength, internal frictional angle, and Young's modulus of core samples recovered from the two basins. It is costly and sometimes impossible to conduct tests over the entire range of drill holes, and continuous logging data do not yield the mechanical parameters directly. In this study, to derive the mechanical properties of geologic formations from the geophysical logging data, we determined the empirical relations between the physical properties (seismic velocity, porosity, and dynamic modulus) and the mechanical properties (uniaxial strength, internal friction angle) of the core samples. From the comparison with our core test data, the best fits to the two basins were selected from the relations suggested in previous studies. The relations between uniaxial strength, Young's modulus, and porosity of samples from the Bukpyeong and Pohang basins are more consistent with certain rock types than with the locality of the basins. The relations between the physical and mechanical properties were used to estimate the mechanical rock properties of geologic formations from seismic logging data. We expect that the mechanical properties could also be used as input data for a modeling study to understand the mechanical instability of rock formations prior to $CO_2$ injection.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.80-89
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• 2008

The influence of in-situ rock stress on the stability of an underground rock structure increases as the construction depth become deeper and the scale of a rock structure become larger. In general, hydraulic fracturing stress measurement has been performed in the surface boreholes of the target area at the design stage of an underground structure. However, for some areas where the high horizontal stresses were observed or where the overstressed conditions caused by topographical and geological factors are expected, it is desirable to conduct additional in-situ stress measurement in the underground construction site to obtain more detailed stress information for ensuring the stability of a rock structure and the propriety of current design. The study area was a construction site for the additional underground oil storage facility located in the south-east part of OO city, Jeollanam-do. Previous detailed site investigation prior to the design of underground structures revealed that the excessive horizontal stress field with the horizontal stress ratio(K) greater than 3.0 was observed in the construction area. In this study, a total of 13 hydraulic fracturing stress measurements was conducted in two boreholes drill from the two water tunnel sites in the study area. The investigation zone was from 180 m to 300 m in depth from the surface and all of the fracture tracing works were carried out by acoustic televiewer scanning. For some testing intervals at more than 200 m ind depth from surface, the high horizontal stress components the horizontal stress ratio(K) greater than 2.50 were observed. And the overall investigation results showed a good agreement with the previously performed test.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.14 no.3 s.40
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• pp.259-272
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of hydrochemical variation of groundwater on the gas tigtness in an unlined oil storage cavern. The groundwater chemistry is greatly influenced by the seawater mixing, the water curtain and the dissolution of grounting cements. The chemical composition of groundwater greatly varies ac-cording to both the location of monitoring wells and the sampling period. Most of groundwater shows alkaline pH and high electrical conductivity. The chemical types of groundwater show the dominant order as follows : Na-Cl type > Ca-Cl type > $Ca-HCO_3(CO_3)$ type. Thermodynamic equilibrium state between chemical composition of groundwater and major minerals indicates that carbonate minerals except clay minerals can be precipitated as a secondary mineral. It means that the secondary precipitates can not greatly exerts the clogging effect into fracture aperture in rock mass around oil storage cavern. The content of total organic carbon (TOC) shows a slightly increasing trend from initial stage to late stage. The $EpCO_2$ was computed so as to assess the gas contribution on the $CO_2$ in groundwater. The $EpCO_2$ of 0$\~$41.3 indicates that the contribution of oil gas on $CO_2$ pressure in groundwater system can be neglected.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.111-115
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• 2005

The concentration of atmosphere carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) which is one of the major greenhouse gas, continues to rise by the increase in fossil fuel consumption, forest destruction and decrease of biological diversity, etc. In order to weaken the global warming, a reduction of $CO_2$ discharge to the atmosphere is required. The $CO_2$ ocean sequestration technology utilizes the intrinsic oceanic capacity of $CO_2$ absorption, diluting and/or dispersing the liquefied $CO_2$ in the deep ocean (>2,000 m). This geo-engineering approach is regarded as one of the occasions to mitigate the $CO_2$ concentration in the atmosphere. Some developed centuries such as Japan, USA, Norway, etc. have intensively carried out the projects on the research and development of $CO_2$ ocean sequestration since 1990s. There have been several approaches to develop the relative technological system to mitigate the increasing $CO_2$, however, there was no systematic and practical R&D programme in the $CO_2$ ocean sequestration. This paper has described the state of the art on the three optional methods of $CO_2$ sequestration, and compared with them in the aspect of the applicable possibility.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.53 no.4
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• pp.491-504
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• 2020

Given the continued climate change and global warming, various technologies for greenhouse gas reduction were discussed worldwide as all 195 countries participated in the Paris Agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gases. The agreement was adopted at the 21st Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP21), which was held in Paris, France, in December 2015, and it revealed that reducing CO₂ is the most efficient method of greenhouse gas reduction. Accordingly, carbon capture/utilization/storage (CCUS) technology has been noted as a means of making practical contributions to CO₂ reduction, and research and development (R&D) activities in many countries are active in the field of CCUS technology. Therefore, this study aims to provide a basis for CCUS R&D and strategic support measures by analyzing patent trends in technologies related to CCUS. The patent analysis collected a total of 10,137 patents in the United States, Korea, Japan, Europe, and China; the number of patents in the United States was the highest according to patent analysis by country. According to an analysis by technology, capture-related technology was high at 60%, but given the recent increase in technology related to utilization, technology demonstration, R&D, and policy support should be continued.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.69-76
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• 2021

This study is to identify the mineralogical properties of caprock samples from drilling cores of the Pohang basin, which is the research area for the demonstration-scale CO2 storage project in Korea. The interaction of water-rock-gas that can occur due to CO2 injection was identified using geochemical modeling. Results of mineralogical studies, together with petrographic data of caprock and data on the physicochemical parameters of pore water were used for geochemical modeling. Modelling was carried out using the The Geochemist's Workbench 14.0.1 geochemical simulator. Two steps of modeling enabled prediction of immediate changes in the caprocks impacted by the first stage of CO2 injection and the assessment of long-term effects of sequestration. Results of minerlaogical analysis showed that the caprock samples are mainly composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase and a small amount of pyrite, calcite, kaolinite and montmollonite. After the injection of carbon dioxide, the porosity of the caprock increased due to the dissolution of calcite, and dawsonite and chalcedony were precipitated as a result of the dissolution of albite and k-feldspar. In the second step after the injection was completed, the precipitation of dawsonite and chalcedony occurred as a result of dissolution of calcite and albite, and the pH was increased due to this reaction. Results of these studies are expected to be used as data to quantitatively evaluate the efficiency of mineral trapping capture in long-term storage of carbon dioxide.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.141-148
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• 2020

A drone platform built by Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources (KIGAM) is introduced. The platform consists of various drone systems developed at KIGAM for photogrammetry, remote exploration, physical exploration, field operation methods, a vehicle-based drone control center, as well as a drone data platform for data storage, sharing, analysis, and visualization of the acquired data. The performance of the drone platform is verified using results obtained with the various systems, which are tested individually and in various combined applications. Finally, the possibility of using the KIGAM drone platform for geological surveys and mineral resource exploration is discussed.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.147-160
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• 2020

Unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of near-surface unconsolidated layers depends on the physical properties and water content of the unconsolidated layers. So far, many studies have been conducted on the unsaturated hydraulic conductivity of near-surface unconsolidated layers. However, researches on hydraulic conductivity of unsaturated fractured rocks have been relatively rare. In relation to the construction of a low/intermediate level radioactive waste surface-disposal facility, this study compared and analyzed van Genuchten parameters (α, n) in the laboratory and the hydraulic conductivity obtained in field tests for fractured hornfels at a radioactive-waste disposal site of Korea. The relationship between the field hydraulic conductivity and van Genuchten parameters using data from the ten depth intervals of three boreholes resulted in that the correlation coefficient (R) between the hydraulic conductivity and the van Genuchten parameter α was 0.7607, showing positive correlation whereas the R between the hydraulic conductivity and the van Genuchten shape-defining parameter n was -0.8720, showing negative correlation. Hence, this study confirmed the relationship between the field hydraulic conductivity and the van Genuchten unsaturated functions for the unsaturated fractured hornfels.