• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.229-232
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• 2003

A waste container, one of the key compartments in a multi-barrier system for a potential high level radioactive waste (HLW) repository in Korea ensures the mechanical stability against the lithostatic pressure of a deep geologic strata and the swelling pressure of the bentonite buffer. Also, it prohibits potential release of radionuclides for a certain period of time. before it is corroded by impurities. Even though the materials of a waste container is carefully chosen and all manufacturing processes are under heavy quality assurance, there might be a slight chance of intial defects in a waste container. Also, during the deposition of a waste container in a repository, there might be a chance of an incident affecting the integrity of a waste container. In this study, the FEP's and the scenarios over radiological impact of a potential initial waste container defect was developed. Then the total system performance assessment on this initial waste container failure (ICF) scenario was carried out by the MASCOT-K, one of the probabilistic safety assessment tools KAERI has developed. Results show that for the data set studied in this paper, the annual individual dose by the ICF scenario well meets the KINS regulation.

• 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.

• Explosives and Blasting
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.31-54
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• 2017

In the countries operating nuclear reactors, the development of high-level radioactive waste(HLW) disposal technique is considered as an urgent and important issue for sustainable utilization of nuclear energy. In Korea, in which a low and intermediate radioactive waste repository is already operating, the construction of an underground research laboratory for in situ validation studies became a matter of interest with increasing concerns on the management of HLW. In order to construct and to operate an underground HLW repository safely in deep underground, the stability of rock mass should be guaranteed. As an important factor on rock stability, excavation damaged zone (EDZ) has been studied in many underground research laboratories in foreign countries. For accurate evaluation of the characteristics and effects of EDZ under disposal condition, it is required to use reliable investigation method based on the analysis of previous studies in similar conditions. In this study, status of foreign underground research laboratories in other countries, approaches for investigation the characteristics, size, and effect of EDZ, and major findings from the researches were surveyed and reported. This will help the accomplishment of domestic researches for developing HLW management techniques in underground research laboratory.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.331-338
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• 2021

Extensive studies have been conducted on thermal conductivity of bentonite buffer materials, as it affects the safety performance of barriers engineered to contain high-level radioactive waste. Bentonite is composed of several minerals, and studies have shown that the difference in the thermal conductivity of bentonites is due to the variation in their mineral composition. However, the specific reasons contributing to the difference, especially with regard to the thermal conductivity of bentonites with similar mineral composition, have not been elucidated. Therefore, in this study, bentonites with significantly different thermal conductivities, but of similar mineral compositions, are investigated. Most bentonites contain more than 60% of montmorillonite. Therefore, it is believed that the exchangeable cations of montmorillonite could affect the thermal conductivity of bentonites. The effect of bentonite type was comparatively analyzed and was verified through the effective medium model for thermal conductivity. Our results show that Ca-type bentonites have a higher thermal conductivity than Na-type bentonites.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.3
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• pp.1041-1048
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• 2021

An engineered barrier system (EBS) for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) is composed of a disposal canister with spent fuel, a buffer material, a gap-filling material, and a backfill material. As the buffer is located in the empty space between the disposal canisters and the surrounding rock mass, it prevents the inflow of groundwater and retards the spill of radionuclides from the disposal canister. Due to the fact that the buffer gradually becomes saturated over a long time period, it is especially important to investigate its thermal-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) properties considering variations of saturated condition. Therefore, this paper suggests a new method of measuring thermal conductivity and water suction for single compacted bentonite at various levels of saturation. This paper also highlights a convenient method of saturating compacted bentonite. The proposed method was verified with a previous method by comparing thermal conductivity and water suction with respect to water content. The relative error between the thermal conductivity and water suction values obtained through the proposed method and the previous method was determined as within 5% for compacted bentonite with a given water content.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.253-262
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• 2004

Construction of tunnels in a deep crystalline host rock for a potential High-Level Radioactive Waste(HLW) repository inevitably generates an excavation disturbed zone (EDZ). There have been a series of debates on whether a permeability in an EDZ increases or not and what would be the maximum depth of an EDZ. Recent studies show mixed opinions on permeability. However, there has been an international consensus on the thickness of an EDZ; 30 cm for TBM and 1 meter for controlled blast. One of the impacts of an EDZ is on determining the distance between adjacent deposition holes. The void gap by the excavation hinders relaxation of temperature profiles so that the current Korean reference designing distance between holes should be stretched out more to keep the maximum temperature in a buffer region below 100 degrees Celsius. The other impact of an EDZ is on the long-term post closure radiological safety. To estimate the impact, the reference scenario, the well scenario, is chosen. Released nuclides diffuse through a bentonite buffer region experiencing strong sorption and reach a fracture surrounded by a porous medium. Inside a fractured porous region, radionuclides migrate by advection and dispersion with matrix diffusion into a porous medium. Finally, they reach a well assumed to be a source of potable water for local residents. The annual individual dose is assessed on this well scenario to find out the significance of an EDZ. A profound sensitivity study was performed, but all results show that the impact is negligible. Even though the role of an EDZ turns out to be limited on overall safety assessment, still it is worthwhile to study the chemical role of an EDZ, such as a potential source for natural colloids, potential sealing of an open fracture by fine clay particles generated by the process of an EDZ, and alteration of a sorption mechanism by an EDZ in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.33 no.10
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• pp.25-31
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• 2017

The buffer is one of the major components of an engineered barrier system (EBS) for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). As the buffer is located between a disposal canister and host rock, it is indispensable to assure the disposal safety of high-level radioactive waste. It can restrain the release of radionuclide and protect the canister from the inflow of groundwater. Since high quantity of heat from a disposal canister is released to the surrounding buffer, thermal properties of the buffer are very important parameters for the analysis of the entire disposal safety. Especially, temperature criteria of the compacted bentonite buffer can affect the design of HLW repository facility. Therefore, this paper investigated thermal properties for the Kyungju compacted bentonite buffer which is the only bentonite produced in South Korea. Hot wire method and dual probe method were used to measure thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity of the compacted bentonite buffer according to the temperature variation. Thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity were decreased dramatically when temperature variation was between $22^{\circ}C{\sim}110^{\circ}C$ as degree of saturation decreased according to the temperature variation. However, there was little variation under the high temperature condition at $110^{\circ}C{\sim}150^{\circ}C$.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.173-179
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• 2010

In a HLW repository, the buffer is exposed to an elevated temperature due to a radioactive decay and geochemical conditions for a long time and such a hydrothermal condition may cause a significant loss of its barrier function. This study carried out hydrothermal tests with a domestic smectite clay to investigate the changes in the expandibility, layer charge, and cation exchange capacity of the smectite. When the temperature and potassium concentration in solution was increased for the hydrothermal treatments, the expandibility decreased, the layer charge negatively increased, and the CEC also decreased.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.309-320
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• 2023

A multi-purpose canister (MPC) was developed for the purpose of transportation, storage and disposal of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and has the advantage of minimizing repackaging between management stages of SNF. Considering the typical rock characteristics in Korea, a disposal canister is expected to contain 4 assemblies of Pressurized water reactor (PWR) SNF. The capacity of the MPC should be similarly designed with the disposal canister. However, the MPC with four SNF assemblies is expected to be less efficient in transporting and storing compared to a large-capacity canister. Therefore, a preliminary concept was derived for an auxiliary equipment that can transport and store multiple MPCs in a large overpack. A previously derived concept from US was thoroughly reviewed, and the preliminary concept was revised considering domestic situations including crane capacity and others. In addition, the safety of the normal transportation and storage of the MPC placed in transportation and storage overpack was evaluated with the auxiliary equipment.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.19-26
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• 2021

The high-level radioactive waste (HLW) produced from nuclear power plants is disposed in a rock-mass at a depth of hundreds meters below the ground level. Since HLW is very dangerous to human being, it must be disposed of safely by the engineered barrier system (EBS). The EBS consists of a disposal canister, backfill material, buffer material, and so on. When the components of EBS are installed, gaps inevitably exist not only between the rock-mass and buffer material but also between the canister and buffer material. The gap can reduce water-retarding capacity and heat release efficiency of the buffer material, so it is necessary to investigate properties of gap-filling materials and to analyze gap spacing effect. Furthermore, there has been few researches considering domestic disposal system compared to overseas researches. In this reason, this research derived the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material considering domestic disposal system based on the numerical analysis. The gap between the canister and buffer material had a minor effect on the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material, but there was 40% difference of the peak temperature of the bentonite buffer material because of the gap existence between the buffer material and rock mass.