• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.315-319
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• 2015

A high-throughput electrorefiner has been developed for commercialization use by enhancing the uranium recovery from the reduced metal which is produced from the oxide reduction process. It is necessary to scrap and effectively collect uranium dendrites from the surface of the solid cathode for high yield. When a steel electrode is used as the cathode in the electrorefining process, uranium is deposited and regularly stuck to the steel cathode during electrorefining. The sticking coefficient of a steel cathode is very high. In order to decrease the sticking coefficient of the steel cathode effectively, vibration mode was applied to the electrode in this study. Uranium dendrites were scraped and fell apart from the steel cathode by a vibration force. The vibrational scraping of the steel cathode was compared to the self-scraping of the graphite cathode. Effects of the applied current density and the vibration stroke on the scraping of the uranium dendrites were also investigated.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.283-293
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• 2015

The buffer is a key component of the engineered barrier system in a high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository. The present study reviewed the requirements and functional criteria of the buffer reported in literature, and also based on the results, proposed an approach to establish a buffer concept which is applicable to an HLW repository in Korea. The hydraulic conductivity, radionuclide-retarding capacity (equilibrium distribution coefficient and diffusion coefficient), swelling pressure, thermal conductivity, mechanical properties, organic carbon content, and illitization rate were considered as major technical parameters for the functional criteria of the buffer. Domestic bentonite (Ca-bentonite) and, as an alternative, MX-80 (Na-bentonite) were proposed for the buffer of an HLW repository in Korea. The technical specifications for those proposed bentonites were set to parameter values that conservatively satisfy Korea's functional criteria for the Ca-bentonite and Swedish criteria for the Na-bentonite. The thickness of the buffer was determined by evaluating the means of shear behavior, radionuclide release, and heat conduction, which resulted in the proper buffer thickness of 0.25 to 0.5 m. However, the final thickness of the buffer should be determined by considering coupled thermal-hydraulic-mechanical evaluation and economics and engineering aspects as well.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.117-123
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• 2012

In order to dispose of the LILW(low and intermediate level radioactive waste) stored at KAERI, the radwaste drum assay system will be introduced to evaluate the radioisotopes inventory of stored drums. At present, the construction project of the dedicated assay facility to operate it and carry out routine maintenance of that equipment has been conducting at the radwaste treatment facility. Since that facility will be constructed in front of a 1st radwaste storage facility as well as the radwaste drums to be assayed and the transmission source in the radwaste drum assay system are in that facility, they could act as the radioactive sources and then, would affect the dose rate at the inside and the outside of the facility. Therefore, the radiation shielding should be evaluated through the concrete wall near to the radioactive sources whether the wall thickness is sufficient against the regulations. In this study, the radiation safety for the concrete wall around the radiation controlled area in the radwaste drum assay facility was evaluated by the MCNP code. From the evaluation results, the thickness of those concrete walls which are under consideration of about 30 cm was enough to shield the radiation from the radioactive sources.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.295-303
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• 2012

Based on the data observed and analyzed on a groundwater flow system in the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) site, the transport of radionuclides, which were assumed to be released at the supposed position, was calculated on the time-domain. A groundwater pathway from the release position to the surface was identified by simulating the groundwater flow model with the hydrogeological characteristics measured from the field tests in the KURT site. The elapsed time when the radionuclides moved through the pathway is evaluated using TDRW (Time Domain Random Walk) method for simulating the transport on the time-domain. Some retention mechanisms, such as radioactive decay, equilibrium sorption, and matrix diffusion, as well as the advection-dispersion were selected as the factors to influence on the elapsed time. From the simulation results, the effects of the sorption and matrix diffusion, determined by the properties of the radionuclides and underground media, on the transport of the radionuclides were analyzed and a decay chain of the radionuclides was also examined. The radionuclide ratio of the mass discharge into the surface environment to the mass released from the supposed repository did not exceed $10^{-3}$, and it decreased when the matrix diffusion were considered. The method used in this study could be used in preparing the data on radionuclide transport for a safety assessment of a geological disposal facility because the method could evaluate the travel time of the radionuclides considering the transport retention mechanism.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.273-280
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• 2012

The electrochemical behaviors of 10 g-scale fresh and oxidized Zircaloy-4 cladding hulls were examined in $500^{\circ}C$ LiCl-KCl molten salts to confirm the feasibility of the electrorefining process for the treatment of hull wastes. In the results of measuring the potential-current response using a stainless steel basket filled with oxidized Zircaloy-4 hull specimens, the oxidation peak of Zr appears to be at -0.7 to -0.8 V vs. Ag/AgCl, which is similar to that of fresh Zircaloy-4 hulls, while the oxidation current is found to be much smaller than that of fresh Zircaloy-4 hulls. These results are congruent with the outcome of current-time curves at -0.78 V and of measuring the change in the average weight and thickness after the electrochemical dissolution process. Although the oxide layer on the surface affects the uniformity and rate of dissolution by decreasing the conductivity of Zircaloy-4 hulls, electrochemical dissolution is considered to occur owing to the defect of the surface and phase properties of the Zr oxide layer.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.367-384
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• 2016

Many countries have developed a safety case suitable to their own countries in order to improve the confidence of disposal safety in deep geological disposal of high-level radioactive waste as well as to develop a disposal program and obtain its license. This study introduces and summarizes the meaning, necessity, and development process of the safety case for radioactive waste disposal. The disposal safety is also discussed in various aspects of the safety case. In addition, the status of safety case development in the foreign countries is briefly introduced for Switzerland, Japan, the United States of America, Sweden, and Finland. The strategy for the safety case development that is being developed by KAERI is also briefly introduced. Based on the safety case, we analyze the efforts necessary to improve confidence in disposal safety for high-level radioactive waste. Considering domestic situations, we propose and discuss some implementing methods for the improvement of disposal safety, such as construction of a reliable information database, understanding of processes related to safety, reduction of uncertainties in safety assessment, communication with stakeholders, and ensuring justice and transparency. This study will contribute to the understanding of the safety case for deep geological disposal and to improving confidence in disposal safety through the development of the safety case in Korea for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.385-410
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• 2016

The disposal facility in Gyeongju is planning to dispose of 800,000 packages of low- and intermediate- level radioactive waste. This facility will be developed as a complex disposal facility that has various types of disposal facilities and accompanying management. In this study, based on the comprehensive development plan of the disposal facility, a preliminary post-closure safety assessment is performed to predict the phase development of the total capacity for the 800,000 packages to be disposed of at the site. The results for each scenario meet the performance target of the disposal facility. The assessment revealed that there is a significant impact of the inventory of intermediate-level radionuclide waste on the safety evaluation. Due to this finding, we introduce a disposal limit value for intermediate-level radioactive waste. With stepwise development of safety case, this development plan will increase the safety of disposal facilities by reducing uncertainties within the future development of the underground silo disposal facilities.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.271-305
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• 2020

An effect of coupled thermo-hydro-mechanical and chemical (THMC) behavior is an essential part of the performance and safety assessment of geological disposal systems for high-level radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. Furthermore, numerical models and modeling techniques are necessary to analyze and predict the coupled THMC behavior in the disposal systems. However, phenomena associated with the coupled THMC behavior are nonlinear, and the constitutive relationships between them are not well known. Therefore, it is challenging to develop numerical models and modeling techniques to analyze and predict the coupled THMC behavior in the geological disposal systems. It is also difficult to verify and validate the development of the models and techniques because it requires expensive laboratory tests and in-situ experiments that need to be performed for a long time. DECOVALEX was initiated in 1992 to efficiently develop numerical models and modeling techniques and validate the developed models and techniques against the lab and in-situ experiments. In Korea, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has participated in DECOVALEX-2011, DECOVALEX-2015, and DECOVALEX-2019 since 2008. In this study, all tasks in the three DECOVALEX projects were introduced to the researcher in the field of rock mechanics and geotechnical engineering in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.365-372
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• 2006

A dynamic compartment model is presented to predict the contamination level of agricultural plant by $^{137}C_s$ as a result of a soil deposition. The model considered the processes of a percolation, soil mixing by a plowing before transplanting, plant uptake, leaching to a deep soil, and fixation to a clay mineral. The effects of the soil properties (pH, clay mineral, organic matter content, and exchangeable K), which are spatially varied, on a plant uptake and the leaching rates of $^{137}C_s$ in a root zone soil were modeled by the Absalom model. To test the validity of the model, the $^{137}C_s$ aggregated transfer factors(TFa) for rice plants were compared with those observed from some simulated $^{137}C_s$ soil deposition experiments, which were carried out with respect to rice plants cultivated in seventeen paddy soils of different properties for two consecutive years. Observed $^{137}C_s$ TFa values of the rice plants did not show an evident trend for the pH and clay content of the soil properties, while they increased with an increasing organic matter content or a decreasing exchangeable K concentration. Predicted $^{137}C_s$ TFa values of the rice plants were found to be comparable with those observed.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.321-328
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• 2006

A basic research was conducted on the mineral weathering and geochemical characteristics in the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel), which was recently constructed at a site in KAERI. Some rock samples exposed during the KURT construction were examined using a microscope and chemical analysis for some micro-changes of the rocks caused by the chemical weathering. The weathered granite has some small and fine cracks around the rock-forming minerals. In particular, there are a characteristic weathering of feldspar mineral and a preferential leaching of Ca component from the mineral dissolution. In addition, by the dissolution of biotite containing $Fe^{2+}$ component there were iron-oxides precipitates as secondary products into the microcracks of around minerals. The results also show that the micro-cracks initiated from the mineral interior are extended and connected into the larger cracks along the grain boundary with the progress of the weathering. Thus, it is considered that some chemicals dissolved from the fresh rock would be involved in the formation of secondary minerals and migrate interacting with them.