• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.41-52
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• 2013

Adequate design of engineered barriers, including canister, buffer and backfill, is important for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Three-dimensional computer simulations were carried out under different condition to examine the thermal and mechanical behavior of engineered barriers and rock mass. The research looked at five areas of importance, the effect of the swelling pressure, water content of buffer, density of compacted bentonite, emplacement type and the selection of failure criteria. The results highlighted the need to consider tensile stress in the outer shell of a canister due to thermal expansion of the canister and the swelling pressure from the buffer for a more reliable design of an underground repository system. In addition, an adequate failure criterion should be used for the buffer and backfill.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.605-618
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• 2001

For the mechanical stability assessment of a deep underground high-level waste repository. computer simulations using FLAC3D were carried out and important parameters including stress ratio, depth, tunnel size, joint spacing, and joint properties were chosen from sensitivity analysis. The main effect as well as the interaction effect between the important parameters could be investigated effectively using fractional factorial design . In order to analyze the stability of the disposal tunnel and deposition hole in a discontinuous rock mass, different modelings were performed under different conditions using 3DEC and the influence of joint distribution and properties, rock properties and stress ratio could be determined. From the three dimensional modelings, it was concluded that the conceptual repository design was mechanically stable even in a discontinuous rock mass.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.90-103
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• 2002

The thermal and mechanical properties of compacted bentonite and bentonite-sand mixture were collected from the literatures and compiled. The thermal conductivity of bentonite is found to increase almost linearly with increasing dry density and water content of the bentonite. The specific heat can also be expressed as a function of water ontent, and the coefficient of thermal expansion is almost independent on the dry density. The logarithm of unconfined compressive strength and Young’s modulus of elasticity increase linearly with increasing dry density, and in the case of constant dry density, it can be fitted to a second order polynomial of water content. Also the unconfined compressive strength and Young’s modulus of elasticity of the bentonite-sand mixture decreases with increasing sand content. The Poisson’s ratio remains constant at the dry density higher than 1.6 Mg/m$_3$, and the shear strength increases with increasing dry density.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.524-531
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• 2003

The usefulness of vitrification technology for low- and intermediate- level radioactive wastes was demonstrated because of high volume reduction, mechanical and chemical stability of final waste forms. Thus, a construction of the commercial vitrification plant Is currently promoted. Due to the high radiation level of the waste, shielding analysis has to be carried out for safe design in a vitrification facility. Because there has been no experience in the construction and operation of the vitrification facility in Korea, in this study, in order to get some information for help the detailed design and plan for operation in vitrification facility, shielding analysis for each facility in pilot plant is carried out by using source term from established study. For the selection of the shielding material, concrete was chosen compared to the lead because of economic advantage, weight consideration, and thermal resistance.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.947-955
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• 2023

This study was conducted to investigate the awareness of spent nuclear fuel among residents in nuclear power plant areas and use it as basic data for establishing a disposal facility for high-level radioactive waste. 204 questionnaires collected online were analyzed using SPSS Window Ver 28.0. To verify differences between groups, t-test and one-way ANOVA were performed. And correlation analysis was conducted to confirm the relationship between variables. As a result, first, risk perception regarding nuclear-related accidents showed statistically significant differences depending on gender and educational level. The position on the construction of a permanent disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel showed a statistically significant difference depending on gender, education, and age, and the perception of the importance of each evaluation standard for establishing a spent nuclear fuel management plan showed a statistically significant difference depending on education and age. In terms of trust in information-providing institutions, trust in the National Assembly was found to be the lowest. Second, the results of the correlation analysis between variables showed that local residents are aware that an alternative to the current disposal of spent nuclear fuel is needed, and that financial support for the construction of a permanent disposal facility is needed. Therefore, in order to build a high-level radioactive waste disposal site, it is believed that it is necessary to increase trust in the government, collect opinions from local residents, and provide economic support.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.259-266
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• 1995

In order to manufacture an attractive waste glass for the permanent and secure disposal of high-level radioactive waste, the complex composition of the simulated nuclear waste glass PNL-7668 was simplified to a composition of sodium borosilicate glass. The substitutions of $Fe_2O_3$ and $Al_2O_3$ were added to examine on the leaching characteristics of simulated nuclear waste glass with variable composition. The leach tests for these glasses were performed according to 'MCC-1, Static Leach Test Procedure' in acid and basic solution. In this study, for the $Al_2O_3$-containing glasses, Na ion release from these glasses was higher in acid solution than in basic solution. As the content of $Fe_2O_3$ was increased in glasses, Na ion release was increased in acid solution, in spite of decrease of amount of total mass diminution.

• Mycobiology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.128-130
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• 2006

The solid waste of sago industry using cassava was fermented by Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus terreus and Rhizopus stolonifer in solid state fermentation. Cassava waste contained 52 per cent starch and 2.9 per cent protein by dry weight. The amylase activity was maintained at a high level and the highest amylase activity was observed on the $8^{th}$ day in R. stolonifer mediated fermentation. R. stolonifer was more efficient than Aspergillus niger and Aspergillus terreus in bioconverting cassava waste into fungal protein (90.24 mg/g) by saccharifying 70% starch and releasing 44.5% reducing sugars in eight days of solid state fermentation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.683-690
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• 2007

Because of increasing concerns regarding global warming and the longevity of oil and gas reserves, the importance of nuclear energy as a major source of sustainable energy is gaining recognition worldwide. To make nuclear energy truly sustainable, it is necessary to ensure not only the sustainability of the fuel supply but also the sustained availability of waste repositories, especially those for high-level radioactive waste (HLW). From this perspective, the effort to maximize the waste loading density in a given repository is important for easing repository capacity problems. In most cases, the loading of a repository is controlled by the decay heat of the emplaced waste. In this paper, a comparison of the decay heat characteristics of HLW is made among the various fuel cycle options. It is suggested that, for a future fast breeder reactor (FBR) cycle, the removal and burning of minor actinides (MA) would significantly reduce the heat load in waste and would allow for a reduction of repository size by half.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.31 no.4 s.85
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• pp.294-300
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• 2005

Food waste can be a valuable carbon source in biological nutrient removal (BNR) systems because of high C/N and C/P ratios. However, food waste should be pretreated to promote its hydrolysis rate because hydrolysis reaction would be a rate-limiting step. This study investigates the influence of the enzymatic pretreatment on acid fermentation of food waste. Solubilization of particulate matter in food waste by using commercial enzymes was examined. The acidification efficiency and the volatile fatty acids (VFAs) production potential of enzymatically pretreated food waste were also examined. The highest volatile suspended solids (VSS) reduction was obtained with an enzyme mixture ratio of 1:2:1 of carbohydrase:protease:lipase. An optimum enzyme dosage for solubilization of food waste was $0.1\%$(V/V) with the enzyme mixture ratio of 1:2:1. In the acid fermentation of enzymatically pretreated food waste, $0.1\%$(V/V) enzyme mixture dosage for pretreatment result in the maximum VFAs production and the best VFAs fraction in soluble COD(SCOD). The VFAs production at this addition level was 3.3 times higher than that of no-enzyme added fermenter. The dominant VFAs present was n-butyrate followed by acetate.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.14 no.6 s.53
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• pp.429-439
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• 2004

The deep underground High Level Waste (HLW) repository to dispose of 36,000tons of spent fuel from the reactors in Korea needs about $4km^2$ repository area. In this study, the deep undergrond repository layout was optimized to minimize the excavation rock volume as well as underground repository area. In the optimization, the results from thermal analysis were used to define the influence of tunnel and deposition hole spacings on repository layout. The repository area and excavation rock volume could be reduced with longer disposal tunnel length. When it is necessary to reduce the repository area with satisfying thermal criteria, it is better to reduce tunnel spacing and increase deposition hole spacing. In contrast, the excavation rock volume can be reduced by increasing the tunnel spacing and decreasing the hole spacing.