• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.107-119
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• 2014

The worldwide Status-of-Art survey for the in-situ experiments of the engineered barrier system for HLW underground disposal was performed as a preliminary action for the design of the in-situ demonstration at KURT. Some nations, which have executed or is ongoing the in-situ experiments at their underground research facilities, were summarized in this review. The demonstration projects reviewed were TBT/Sweden-France, LOT/Sweden, HE-E/Switzerland, PRACLAY/Belgium, FEBEX/Spain, HORONOBE/Japan, and BCE/Canada. The investigated items for the projects were mainly their purposes, constitutional structures, test conditions, monitoring parameters and the measuring tools, and test results. In this review, the hardware design and the assembling of the test system were more concentrated rather than their experimental results, because the purpose of this review is to achieve the necessary information for the practical design of the in-situ experiment to be installed at KURT. A mid scale in-situ demonstration of EBS at KURT, that is called IN-DBES, will be launched right after the completion the expanding project of KURT in 2015. It is hoped that the structural design, installing methods, hardware equipments required in the establishment of IN-DEBS will be referred on this review.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.189-199
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• 2010

In a high-level waste (HLW) repository, heat is generated by the radioactive decay of the waste. This can affect the safety of the repository because the surrounding environment can be changed by the heat transfer through the rock. Thus, it is important to determine the heat transfer coefficient of the atmosphere in the underground repository. In this study, the heat transfer coefficient was estimated by measuring the indoor environmental factors in the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) under forced convection. For the experiment, a heater of 5 kw capacity, 2 meters long, was inserted through the tunnel wall in the heating section of KURT in order to heat up the inside of the rock to $90^{\circ}C$, and fresh air was provided by an air supply fan connected to the outside of the tunnel. The results showed that the average air velocity in the heating section after the provision of the air from outside of the tunnel was 0.81 m/s with the Reynolds number of 310,000~340,000. The seasonal heat transfer coefficient in the heating section under forced convection was $7.68\;W/m^2{\cdot}K$ in the summer and $7.24\;W/m^2{\cdot}K$ in the winter.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.109-125
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• 2023

Disposal repository for high-level radioactive waste secures its safety by means of engineered and natural barriers. The performance of these barriers should be tested and verified through various aspects in terms of short and/or long-term. KAERI has been conducting various in-situ demonstrations in KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). After completing previous experiment, a conceptual design of an improved in-situ experiment, i.e. K-COIN (KURT experiment of THMC COupled and INteraction), was established and detailed planning for the experiment is underway. Preliminary characterizations were conducted in KURT for siting a K-COIN test site. 15 boreholes with a depth of about 20 m were drilled in three research galleries in KURT and intact rock specimens were prepared for laboratory tests. Using the specimens, physical measurements, uniaxial compression, indirect tension, and triaxial compression tests were conducted. As a result, specific gravity, porosity, elastic wave velocities, uniaxial compressive strength, Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio, Brazilian tensile strength, cohesion, and internal friction angle were estimated. Statistical analyses revealed that there did not exist meaningful differences in intact rock properties according to the drilled sites and the depth. Judging from the uniaxial compressive strength, which is one of the most important properties, all the specimens were classified as very strong rock so that mechanical safety was secured in all the regions.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.5 no.3
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• pp.239-255
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• 2007

An underground research tunnel is essential to validate the integrity of a high-level waste disposal system, and the safety of geological disposal. In this study, KAERI underground research tunnel(KURT) was constructed in the site of Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute(KAERI). The results of the site investigation and the design of underground tunnel were presented. The procedure for the construction permits and the construction of KURT were described briefly. The in-situ experiments being carried out at KURT were also introduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.639-652
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• 2012

A three-dimensional discrete fracture network model was developed in order to simulate the hydraulic characteristics of a granitic rock mass at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) Underground Research Tunnel (KURT). The model used a three-dimensional discrete fracture network (DFN), assuming a correlation between the length and aperture of the fractures, and a trapezoid flow path in the fractures. These assumptions that previous studies have not considered could make the developed model more practical and reasonable. The geologic and hydraulic data of the fractures were obtained in the rock mass at the KURT. Then, these data were applied to the developed fracture discrete network model. The model was applied in estimating the representative elementary volume (REV), the equivalent hydraulic conductivity tensors, and the amount of groundwater inflow into the tunnel. The developed discrete fracture network model can determine the REV size for the rock mass with respect to the hydraulic behavior and estimate the groundwater flow into the tunnel at the KURT. Therefore, the assumptions that the fracture length is correlated to the fracture aperture and the flow in a fracture occurs in a trapezoid shape appear to be effective in the DFN analysis used to estimate the hydraulic behavior of the fractured rock mass.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2011

A mobile laser-induced breakdown detection (LIBD) system was developed for the field measurement of the size and concentration of aquatic colloidal nanoparticles sampled from Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute Underground Research Tunnel (KURT). The established LIBD apparatus is based on the optical detection of a laser-induced plasma by means of a two-dimensional optical imaging method for determining the size of nanoparticle. Calibration curve for determining the size of nanoparticle was obtained from the polystyrene reference particles of a well-defined size. The first direct application was made at KURT for investigating the particle sizes in groundwater. By comparing the size of particles in groundwater with the sizes of reference particles, the mean particle size of approximately $108{\pm}26$ nm with the concentration lower than 50 ppb was determined.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2012

To develop site characterization technologies for a radioactive waste disposal research in KAERI, the geological and hydrogeological investigations have been carried out since 1997. In 2006, the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) was constructed to study a solute migration, a microbiology and an engineered barrier system as well as deeply to understand geological environments in in-situ condition. This study is performed as one of the site characterization works around KURT. Several investigations such as a lineament analysis, a borehole/tunnel survey, a geophyscial survey and logging in borehole, were used to construct the geological model. As a result, the geological model is constructed, which includes the lithological model and geo-structural model in this study. Moreover, from the results of the in-situ hydraulic tests, the hydrogeological properties of elements in geological model were evaluated.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.295-304
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• 2011

The first step in improving our understanding of uncertainties suclt as rock mass strength parameters and deformation modulus in rock masses around high-level radioactive waste disposal repositories, for improved safety, is to study the process of crack development in intact rock. Therefore, in this study, the fracture process and crack development were examined in samples of KURT granite taken from the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT), based on acoustic emission (AE) and moment tensor analysis. The results show that crack initiation, coalescence, and unstable crack occurred at rock uniaxial compressive strengths of 0.45, 0.73, and 0.84, respectively. In addition, moment tensor analysis indicated that during the early stage of loading, tensile cracks were predominant. With increasing applied stress, the number of shear cracks gradually increased. When the applied stress exceeded the stress level required for crack damage, unstable shear cracks which directly result in failure of the rock were generated along the failure plane.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.431-439
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• 2014

The purposes of this research were to investigate the enrichment of metal-reducing bacteria from KURT groundwater and the identification of the microbial diversity by 16S rRNA as well as to examine microbial Fe(III)/Mn(IV) reduction and to analyze morphological features of interactions between microbes and precipitates and their mineralogical composition. To cultivate metal-reducing bacteria from groundwater sampled at the KURT in S. Korea, different electron donors such as glucose, acetate, lactate, formate, pyruvate and Fe(III)-citrate as an electron accepter were added into growth media. The enriched culture was identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis for the diversity of microbial species. The effect of electron donors (i.e., glucose, acetate, lactate, formate, pyruvate) and electron acceptors (i.e., akaganeite, manganese oxide) on microbial iron/manganese reduction and biomineralization were examined using the 1st enriched culture, respectively. SEM, EDX, and XRD analyses were used to determine morphological features, chemical composition of microbes and mineralogical characteristics of the iron and manganese minerals. Based on 16S rRNA gene analysis, the four species, Fusibacter, Desulfuromonas, Actinobacteria, Pseudomonas sp., from KURT groundwater were identified as anaerobic metal reducers and these microbes precipitated metals outside of cells in common. XRD and EDX analyses showed that Fe(III)-containing mineral, akaganeite (${\beta}$-FeOOH), reduced into Fe(II)/Fe(III)-containing magnetite ($Fe_3O_4$) and Mn(IV)-containing manganese oxide (${\lambda}-MnO_2$) into Mn(II)-containing rhodochrosite ($MnCO_3$) by the microbes. These results implicate that microbial metabolism and respiratory activities under anaerobic condition result in reduction and biomineralization of iron and manganese minerals. Therefore, the microbes cultivated from groundwater in KURT might play a major role to reduce various metals from highly toxic, mobile to less toxic, immobile.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2011

To characterize the site specific properties of a study area for high-level radioactive waste disposal research in KAERI, the several geological investigations such as surface geological surveys and borehole drillings were carried out since 1997. Especially, KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) was constructed to understand the further study of geological environments in 2006. As a result, the first geological model of a study area was constructed by using the results of geological investigation. The objective of this research is to construct a hydrogeological model around KURT area on the basis of the geological model. Hydrogeological data which were obtained from in-situ hydraulic tests in the 9 boreholes were estimated to accomplish the objective. And, the hydrogeological properties of the 4 geological elements in the geological model, which were the subsurface weathering zone, the log angle fracture zone, the fracture zones and the bedrock were suggested. The hydrogeological model suggested in this study will be used as input parameters to carry out the groundwater flow modeling as a next step of the site characterization around KURT area.