• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2013

The safe management of radioactive waste is a national task required for sustainable generation of nuclear power and for energy self-reliance in Korea. Since the initial introduction of nuclear power to Korea in 1978, rapid growth in nuclear power has been achieved. This large nuclear power generation program has produced a significant amount of radioactive waste, both low- and intermediate-level waste (LILW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF); and the amount of waste is steadily growing. For the management of LILW, the Wolsong LILW Disposal Center, which has a final waste disposal capacity of 800,000 drums, is under construction, and is expected to be completed by June 2014. Korean policy about how to manage the SNF has not yet been decided. In 2004, the Atomic Energy Commission decided that a national policy for SNF management should be established considering both technological development and public consensus. Currently, SNF is being stored at reactor sites under the responsibility of plant operator. The at-reactor SNF storage capacity will run out starting in 2024. In this paper, the fundamental principles and steps for implementation of a Korean policy for national radioactive waste management are introduced. Korean practices and prospects regarding radioactive waste management are also summarized, with a focus on strategy for policy-making on SNF management.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.77-86
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• 2021

In this study, to use as basic data for the organic waste resource energy incentive system, the energy efficiency is evaluated through the mass balance and energy balance calculation results of the anaerobic digester where food waste, food waste leachate and various organic wastes are treated. As a result of the mass balance analysis for 11 biogasification facilities, it was confirmed that 21.1% of process water and 25.7% of tap water were input in large amounts, excluding organic waste. Accordingly, it accounted for 87.6% of the total effluent of linked treated water. In addition, considering that 15.7% of the total input volume is converted to biogas and the average total solids (TS) is 22%, an average material conversion rate of 75% was confirmed. As a result of the energy balance analysis, the energy conversion rate was confirmed to be 78.5% on average by analyzing the biogas calorific value compared to the potential energy of the influent. The average biogas production efficiency including external energy sources for biogas production was 69.4%, and the biogas plant efficiency to which unused effluent energy was applied was 58.9% on average.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.175-182
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• 2010

As part of a fundamental study on the volume reduction of contaminated concrete wastes, the separation characteristics of the aggregates and the distribution of the radioactivity in the aggregates were investigated. Radioisotope $^{60}Co$ was artificially used as a model contaminant for non-radioactive crushed concrete waste. Volume reduction for radioactively contaminated dismantled concrete wastes was carried out using activated heavy weight concrete taken from the Korea Research Reactor 2 (KRR-2) and light weight concrete from the Uranium Conversion Plant (UCP). The results showed that most of the $^{60}Co$ nuclide was easily separated from the contaminated dismantled concrete waste and was concentrated mainly in the porous fine cement paste. The heating temperature was found to be one of the effective parameters in the removal of the radionuclide from concrete waste. The volume reduction rate achieved was above 80% for the KRR-2 concrete wastes and above 75% for the UCP concrete wastes by thermal and mechanical treatment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.185-186
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• 2019

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1037-1040
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• 2019

For the past 50 years, graphite has been widely used as a moderator, reflector and fuel matrix in different kinds of gas-cooled reactors. Resulting in approximately 250,000 metric tons of irradiated graphite waste. One of the most significant long-lived radioisotope from graphite reactors is carbon-14 ($^{14}C$) with a half-life of 5730 years, this makes it a huge concern for deep geologic disposal of nuclear graphite (NG). Considering the lifecycle of NG a number of waste management options have been developed, mainly focused on the achievement the radiological requirements for disposal. The existing approaches for recycling depend on the cost to be economically viable. In this new study, an affordable process to remove $^{14}C$ has been proposed using samples taken from the Nuclear Power Plant in Latina (Italy) which have been used to investigate the capability of organic and inorganic solvents in removing $^{14}C$ from exfoliated nuclear graphite, with the aim to design a practicable approach to obtain graphite for recycling or/and safety disposed as L& LLW.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.329-345
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• 2023

This paper described a method for analyzing the structural performance of a metal container used for disposing radioactive waste generated during the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, and numerical analysis results of a method for reinforcing the container. The containers to be analyzed were those that can be used in near-surface and landfill disposal facilities scheduled to be operated at the Gyeongju radioactive waste disposal facility. Structural reinforcement of the container was performed by lattice reinforcement, column reinforcement, and bottom plate reinforcement. Accordingly, a total of 14 reinforcement cases were modeled. The external force causing damage to the container was set equivalent to the impact of a 9-m fall, accounting for the height of the vault at the near-surface disposal facility. The reinforcement methods with a high contribution to the structural performance of the container were concluded to be lattice and column reinforcements.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.319-328
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• 2005

This paper describes a compartment dynamic model for evaluating the contamination level of kritium in agricultural plants exposed by accidentally released tritium. The present model uses a time-dependent growth equation of plant so that it can predict the effect of growth stage of plant during the exposure time. The model including atmosphere, soil and plant compartments is described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and is able to predict time-dependent concentrations of tritium in the compartments. To validate the model, a series of exposure experiments of HTO vapor on Chinese cabbage and radish was carried out at the different growth stage of each plant. At the end of exposure, the tissue free water(TFWT) and the organically bound tritium(OBT) were measured. The measured concentrations were agreed well with model predictions.

• Journal of Korea Society of Waste Management
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.600-605
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• 2018

In this study, the combustion characteristics were investigated based on the biodrying solid recovered fuel (SRF) in a 5 Ton/day scale combustion boiler. The composition of the combustion gas containing the biodrying SRF was analyzed, the particulate matter, and its HCl content was determined with the air pollutant process test method. Mass balance, carbon balance, and combustion efficiency were calculated according to the equivalence ratio (ER) method; the energy recovery efficiency of the combustion boiler was also analyzed. The overall combustion efficiency of the biodrying SRF was 97.3 % and the energy recovery efficiency was 80.2%.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.317-323
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• 2017

In this study, the heating performance and the energy saving effect of the heat pump system using hot waste water(waste heat) of the thermal power plant discharged from a thermal power plant to the sea were analyzed. The greenhouse area was $5,280m^2$ and scale of the heat pump system was 120 RT(Refrigeration Ton), which was divided into 30 RT, 40 RT and 50 RT. The heat pump system consisted of the roll type heat exchangers, hot waste water transfer pipes, heat pumps(30, 40, 50 RT), a heat storage tank and fan coil units. The roll type heat exchangers was made of PE(Poly Ethylene) pipes in consideration of low cost and durability against corrosion, because hot waste water(sea water) is highly corrosive. And the heating period was 5 months from October to February. During the heating performance test(12 hours), the inlet water temperature of evaporator was changed from $32^{\circ}C$ to $26^{\circ}C$, and heat absorption of he evaporator was changed from 175 kW to 120 kW. The inlet water temperature of the condenser rose linearly from $15^{\circ}C$ to $50^{\circ}C$, and the heat release of condenser was reduced by 40 kW from 200 kW to 160 kW. And the power consumption of the heat pump system increased from 30 kW to 42 kW. When the inlet water temperature of condenser was $15^{\circ}C$, the heating COP(Coefficient Of Performance) was over 7.0. When it was $30^{\circ}C$, it dropped to 5.0, and when it was above $40^{\circ}C$, it decreased to less than 4.0. It was analyzed that the reduction of heating energy cost was 87% when compared to the duty free diesel that the carbon dioxide emission reduction effect was 62% by recycling the waste heat of the thermal power plant as a heat source of the heat pump system.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.14-19
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• 2016

Biomass is a renewable and sustainable source of energy used to create electricity or pressurized steam. In biomass-fueled power plants, wood waste or other waste is burned to produce steam that runs a turbine to make electricity, or that provides heat to industries and homes. Biomass power plants, apart from producing energy, help to reduce the $CO_2$ emission. However, the main problem is the high-temperature corrosion due to fuel corrosivity, especially of the straw. This limits both the temperature of the steam and also the effectiveness of the power plant. The corrosion in biomass-fueled plant was described.