• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear decommissioning

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Repurposing a Spent Nuclear Fuel Cask for Disposal of Solid Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste From Decommissioning of a Nuclear Power Plant in Korea

  • Mah, Wonjune;Kim, Chang-Lak
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.20 no.3
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    • pp.365-369
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    • 2022
  • Operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants generates radioactive waste. This radioactive waste can be categorized into several different levels, for example, low, intermediate, and high, according to the regulations. Currently, low and intermediate-level waste are stored in conventional 200-liter drums to be disposed. However, in Korea, the disposal of intermediate-level radioactive waste is virtually impossible as there are no available facilities. Furthermore, large-sized intermediate-level radioactive waste, such as reactor internals from decommissioning, need to be segmented into smaller sizes so they can be adequately stored in the conventional drums. This segmentation process requires additional costs and also produces secondary waste. Therefore, this paper suggests repurposing the no-longer-used spent nuclear fuel casks. The casks are larger in size than the conventional drums, thus requiring less segmentation of waste. Furthermore, the safety requirements of the spent nuclear fuel casks are severer than those of the drums. Hence, repurposed spent nuclear fuel casks could better address potential risks such as dropping, submerging, or a fire. In addition, the spent nuclear fuel casks need to be disposed in compliance with the regulations for low level radioactive waste. This cost may be avoided by repurposing the casks.

Consideration of Regulatory Systems for Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants (원자력발전소 해체 규제제도 개선을 위한 각국의 제도 고찰)

  • Ahn, Sang-Kyu;Jeon, In-Young;Cheong, Jae-Hak;Choi, Kyung-Woo;Jeong, Chan-Woo;Lee, Youn-Keun
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.4 no.4
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    • pp.401-409
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    • 2006
  • Regulatory systems for decommissioning of nuclear power plants in several countries, such as Japan, United States of America, Germany, United Kingdom, France, and Republic of Korea, are surveyed. In the survey, regulatory policies, legislations, licensing process, inspection and public involvements for decommissioning are identified and compared. Afterwards, the survey results will be utilized as a reference to establish the improvement directions of domestic regulatory system.

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CBD process applying for DEFACS (원자력 해체시설 특성관리 시스템을 위한 CBD 프로세스의 적용 방안)

  • Cho, Woonhyoung;Park, Seungkook;Choi, Yundong;Moon, Jeikwon
    • Journal of Software Engineering Society
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    • v.25 no.1
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    • pp.11-18
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    • 2012
  • Characteristic of decommissioning target facility investigate and understand is very important. because radioactive materials occurs in the decommissioning and dismantling, so it is difficult to use a general dismantling method. Decommissioning nuclear facilities, the characteristics of the target of research to predict the amount of decommissioning waste, decommission projects costing is largely utilized. For this purpose, we developed DEFACS(Decommissioning Facility Characterization DB System) that manage characteristic of decommissioning target facility. But nuclear facility decommissioning takes long time. so we inevitably developed system during decommissioning works, it occurs many system changes. For this reason, it is difficult to apply general development process, so we take CBD process that divide CD(Component Development) and CBSD(Component Based Software Development) for handling change of requirement. it make Component of the overall system for changes to minimize changes by strengthening the independence of components and processes due to changes in requirements were to minimize stopping of the process.

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Requirement Management through Connection between Regulatory Requirements and Technical Criteria for Dismantling of Nuclear Installations (원자력시설 해체 규제요건과 기술기준 연계를 통한 요구관리)

  • Park, Hee Seoung;Park, Jong Sun;Hong, Yun Jeong;Kim, Jeong Guk;Hong, Dae Seok
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.63-71
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    • 2018
  • This paper discusses decommissioning procedure requirements management using requirement engineering to systematically manage the technical requirements and criteria that are required in decontamination and decommissioning activities, and the regulatory requirements that should be complied with in a decommissioning strategy for research reactors and nuclear power plants. A schema was designed to establish the traceability and change management related to the linkage between the regulatory requirements and technical criteria after classifying the procedures into four groups during the full life-cycle of the decommissioning. The results confirmed that the designed schema was successfully traced in accordance with the regulatory requirements and technical criteria required by various fields in terms of decontamination and decommissioning activities. In addition, the changes before and after the revision of the Nuclear Safety Act were also determined. The dismantling procedure requirement management system secured through this study is expected to be a useful tool in the integrated management of radioactive waste, as well as in the dismantling of research reactor and nuclear facilities.

Preparation of the Applicable Regulatory Guideline on Mixed Waste in Korea Based on the Analysis of US Laws and Regulations

  • Sim, Eun-Jin;Lee, Sun-Kee;Kim, Chang-Lak;Kim, Tae-Man
    • 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.

A Study on the Applicability for Primary System Decontamination through Analysis on NPP Decommission Technology and International Experience (원전 제염기술 및 해외경험 분석을 통한 1차 계통 제염 적용 연구)

  • Song, Jong Soon;Jung, Min Young;Lee, Sang-Heon
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.14 no.1
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    • pp.45-55
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    • 2016
  • Decontamination is one of the most important technologies for the decommissioning of NPP. The purpose of decontamination is to reduce the Risk of exposure of the decommissioning workers, and to recycle parts of the plant components. Currently, there is a lack of data on the efficiency of the decontamination technologies for decommissioning. In most cases, the local radiation level can be lowered below a regulatory limitation by decontamination. Therefore, more efficient decontamination technology must be continuously developed. This work describes the practical experiences in the United States and the European countries for NPP decommissioning using these decontamination technologies. When the decommissioning of domestic nuclear power plant is planned and implemented, this work will be helpful as a reference of previous cases.

Preliminary ALARA residual radioactivity levels for Kori-1 decommissioning and analysis of results and effects of remediation area

  • Seo, Hyung-Woo;Yu, Ji-Hwan;Kim, Gi-Lim;Son, Jin-Won
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.54 no.3
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    • pp.1136-1144
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    • 2022
  • The effects of nearby residents and the public by the residual contamination from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities should comply with the dose criteria, and whether additional remediation action is necessary from the ALARA perspective must be determined. Therefore, we analyzed the requirements of ALARA action levels and performed preliminary ALARA evaluation. The ratio of residual contamination concentration to DCGL was calculated for the basement fill and the building occupancy mode. The results showed that the additional remediation actions below DCGL are not justified. In addition, we analyzed the effect of remediation area. It was noted that the increase of the remediation area showed a positive correlation with the Conc/DCGL value in the basement fill mode. On the other hand, in the building occupancy mode, since the floor area of the building is the target of remediation and has the effect of increasing the same as the evaluation area of the building occupants, but due to the difference in the amount of increase, the Conc/DCGL showed a negative correlation. We expect the approach and method of ALARA evaluation can be utilized for concrete cost-benefit calculation during the decommissioning or at the time of remediation.

Evaluation of dissolution characteristics of magnetite in an inorganic acidic solution for the PHWR system decontamination

  • Ayantika Banerjee ;Wangkyu Choi ;Byung-Seon Choi ;Sangyoon Park;Seon-Byeong Kim
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.5
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    • pp.1892-1900
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    • 2023
  • A protective oxide layer forms on the material surfaces of a Nuclear Power Plant during operation due to high temperature. These oxides can host radionuclides, the activated corrosion products of fission products, resulting in decommissioning workers' exposure. These deposited oxides are iron oxides such as Fe3O4, Fe2O3 and mixed ferrites such as nickel ferrites, chromium ferrites, and cobalt ferrites. Developing a new chemical decontamination technology for domestic CANDU-type reactors is challenging due to variations in oxide compositions from different structural materials in a Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) system. The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has already developed a chemical decontamination process for PWRs called 'HyBRID' (Hydrazine-Based Reductive metal Ion Decontamination) that does not use organic acids or organic chelating agents at all. As the first step to developing a new chemical decontamination technology for the Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor (PHWR) system, we investigated magnetite dissolution behaviors in various HyBRID inorganic acidic solutions to assess their applicability to the PHWR reactor system, which forms a thicker oxide film.

A Study on the Application of Standards for Clearance of Metal Waste Generated During the Decommissioning of NPP by Using the RESRAD-RECYCLE (RESRAD-RECYCLE을 활용한 원전 해체 시 발생하는 금속폐기물의 자체처분 기준 적용 연구)

  • Song, Jong Soon;Kim, Dong Min;Lee, Sang Heon
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.14 no.4
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    • pp.305-320
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    • 2016
  • The metal waste generated during nuclear power plant decommissioning constitutes a large proportion of the total radioactive waste. This study investigates the current status of domestic and international regulatory requirements for clearance and the clearance experience of domestic institutions. The RESRAD-RECYCLE code was used for analyzing the clearance of the metal wastes generated during actual nuclear power plant decommissioning, and assessment of the exposure dose of twenty-six scenarios was carried out. The evaluation results will be useful in preliminary analysis of clearance and recycling during nuclear power plant decommissioning. As a next step, the effects of reducing disposal costs by clearance can be studied.