• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.455-468
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• 2022

Colloid Formation and Migration (CFM) project is being carried out within the Grimsel Test Site (GTS) Phase Ⅵ. Since 2008, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) has joined CFM to investigate the behavior of colloid-facilitated radionuclide transport in a generic Underground Research Laboratory (URL). The CFM project includes a long-term in-situ test (LIT) and an in-rock bentonite erosion test (i-BET) to assess the in-situ colloid-facilitated radionuclide transport through the bentonite erosion in the natural flow field. In the LIT experiment, radionuclide-containing compacted bentonite was equipped with a triple-packer system and then positioned at the borehole in the shear zone. It was observed that colloid transport was limited owing to the low swelling pressure and low hydraulic conductivity. Therefore, a postmortem analysis is being conducted to estimate the partial migration and diffusion of radionuclides. The i-BET experiment, that focuses more on bentonite erosion, was newly designed to assess colloid formation in another flow field. The i-BET experiment started with the placement of compacted bentonite rings in the double-packer system, and the hydraulic parameters and bentonite erosion have been monitored since December 2018.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 1999.03a
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• pp.497-504
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• 1999

This study presents the physical and engineering characteristics of soil-bentonite admixed liner in I landfill. Main focus was the hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil-bentonite admixed and mechanisms governing low permeable properties of the admixed liner. Laboratory and field tests such as compaction, hydraulic conductivity, density, water content for the soil-bentonite admixed liner were carried out. Quality control criteria for the best construction of the soil-bentonite admixed liner was suggested through laboratory and field test results.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.199-206
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• 2017

A geological repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste is generally constructed in host rock at depths of 500~1,000 meters below the ground surface. A geological repository system consists of a disposal canister with packed spent fuel, buffer material, backfill material, and intact rock. The buffer is indispensable to assure the disposal safety of high-level radioactive waste, and it can restrain the release of radionuclides and protect the canister from the inflow of groundwater. Since high temperature in a disposal canister is released to the surrounding buffer material, the thermal properties of the buffer material are very important in determining the entire disposal safety. Even though there have been many studies on thermal conductivity, there have been only few studies that have investigates the specific heat capacity of the bentonite buffer. Therefore, this paper presents a specific heat capacity prediction model for compacted Gyeongju bentonite buffer material, which is a Ca-bentonite produced in Korea. Specific heat capacity of the compacted bentonite buffer was measured using a dual probe method according to various degrees of saturation and dry density. A regression model to predict the specific heat capacity of the compacted bentonite buffer was suggested and fitted using 33 sets of data obtained by the dual probe method.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.3 no.4
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• pp.341-348
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• 2005

Bentonite has been considered as a candidate buffer material in the underground repository for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste because of its low permeability, high sorption capacity, self sealing characteristics, and durability in nature. In this study, the potential for separation of bentonite particles caused by the groundwater erosion was studied experimentally for a Korean Ca-bentonite under the relevant repository conditions. Results showed that bentonite particles can be generated at the bentonite/granite interface and mobilized by the water flow although the intrusion of bentonite into fracture by swelling pressure was observed to be small. Different processes of mobilization of theses colloids from the compacted bentonite block have been identified in this study. The concentration of particles eluted in water was increased as the flow rate increased. Thus the result reveals that the erosion of the bentonite surface due to the groundwater flow together with intrusion processes is the main mechanism that can mobilize bentonite colloids in the fracture of the granite.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.469-477
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• 2021

Safe storage of spent nuclear fuel in deep underground repositories necessitates an understanding of the long-term alteration of metal canisters and buffer materials. A small-scale laboratory alteration test was performed on metal (Cu or Fe) chips embedded in compacted bentonite blocks placed in anaerobic water for 1 year. Lactate, sulfate, and bacteria were separately added to the water to promote biochemical reactions in the system. The bentonite blocks immersed in the water were dismantled after 1 year, showing that their alteration was insignificant. However, the Cu chip exhibited some microscopic etch pits on its surface, wherein a slight sulfur component was detected. Overall, the Fe chip was more corroded than the Cu chip under the same conditions. The secondary phase of the Fe chip was locally found as carbonate materials, such as siderite (FeCO₃) and calcite ((Ca, Fe)CO₃). These secondary products can imply that the local carbonate occurrence on the Fe chip may be initiated and developed by an evolution (alteration) of bentonite and a diffusive provision of biogenic CO₂ gas. These laboratory scale results suggest that the actual long-term alteration of metal canisters/bentonite blocks in the engineered barrier could be possible by microbial activities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.285-293
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• 1994

The transport of radionuclides in a compacted bentonite is dominated by diffusion. Through-diffusion tests for iodide were performed to investigate the diffusion characteristics of anionic radionuclides in a domestic bentonite. The bentonite used was sampled from the southeastern area of Korea and the solution was synthetic groundwater spiked with a tracer of I -125(as Na$^{125}$ I). The dry densities of compacted bentonite were 1.2, 1.4, and 1.7 Mg/㎥. The apparent diffusion coefficients and the effective diffusion coefficients of the iodide decrease with increasing dry density. The values were from 3.80 to 7.12$\times$10$^{-11}$ $m^2$/s for the apparent diffusion coefficients and from 1.25 to 7.97$\times$10$^{-12}$ $m^2$/s for the effective diffusion coefficient, respectively. The experimental results also showed that the apparent diffusion coefficients depended on the pore structure of compacted bentonite and the effective diffusion coefficients were attributed to the pore structure and the effective porosity that represents the available pathway for the diffusional transport of iodide. The results obtained will be used as basic data for the safety assessment of a repository.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.167-173
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• 2004

The amount of cesium released from the leaching of spent fuels in contact with and without the compacted bentonite bloc]t which was compacted as the density of $1.4g/\textrm{cm}^3$, up to 5.7 years were measured and the empirical formula of the fractional release rate of cesium were derived from these measured values. The empirical formulas show that the long-term release rate of cesium under a repository would become a constant, as about $3{\times}10_{-6}$ fraction/day, after a certain period. The cumulative fractions of cesium released from the spent fuel with bentonite and with copper and stainless steel sheets were steadily increased, but the fraction from bare fuel was rapidly increased and then sluggishly increased. However, the remained value except its gap inventory from the cumulative fraction of cesium released from bare fuel was almost very close to the others. This suggests that the initial release of cesium from bare fuel might be dependant on its gap inventory.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1854-1862
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• 2024

This study aims to investigate the strain-dependent-deformation property of Gyeongju bentonite buffer material. A series of unconfined compressive tests were performed with cylindrical specimens prepared at varying dry densities (𝜌_d = 1.58 g/cm³ to 1.74 g/cm³) using cold isostatic pressing technique. It is found that as 𝜌_d increase, the unconfined compressive strength (q_u), failure strain, and elastic modulus (E) of Gyeongju compacted bentonite (GCB) increases. Normalized elastic modulus (E_sec/E_max) degradation curves of GCB specimens are fitted using Ramberg-Osgood model and the elastic threshold strain (𝜀_e,th) is determined through the fitted curves. The strain-dependency of E and Poisson's ratio (v) of GCB were observed. E and v were measured constant below 𝜀_e,th of 0.14 %. Then, E decreases while v increases after exceeding the strain threshold. The E_sec/E_max degradation curves of GCB in this study suggests wider linear range and higher linearity than those of sedimentary clay in previous study. On top of that, the influence of 𝜌_d is observed on E_sec/E_max degradation curves of GCB, showing a slight increase in 𝜀_e,th with increase in 𝜌_d. Furthermore, an empirical model of q_u with 𝜌_d and a correlation model between q_u and E are proposed for Gyeongju bentonite buffer materials.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.23 no.7
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• pp.47-55
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• 2007

In this study, applicability of electrical conductivity monitoring technique for containment barrier such as soil-bentonite wall was evaluated. Laboratory tests including permeability tests and column tests were performed to understand variations in electrical conductivity at different bentonite contents, hydraulic conductivities, and heavy metal concentrations. The electrical conductivity of compacted soil-bentonite mixtures was found to increase proportionally with bentonite content. Accordingly, the hydraulic conductivity of compacted soil-bentonite mixtures which decreases linearly with increasing bentonite content was found to have an inversely proportional relationship with the electrical conductivity. In column tests, electrical conductivity breakthrough curves and concentration breakthrough curves were simultaneously obtained. These results indicated that electrical conductivity measurement can be an effective means of detecting heavy metal transport at the desired locations within barriers and verifying possible contaminant leakage. Experimental results obtained from this study showed that the electrical conductivity measurement can be a promising tool for monitoring of containment barrier.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.1090-1099
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• 2006

Tensile strength of soil is one of the important strength parameters in geotechnical engineering. The importance of the tensile strength of soil has been pointed out and given considerable attention in many highway pavements and earthfill dams. Recently, one of tensile strength problems, cracking failure of clay liners which is related to leakage of polluted water has been reported. Thus, the tensile strength of compacted sand-bentonite mixtures, which are used widely in the landfill construction site as clay liners was measured by Improved Unconfined Penetration (IUP) test. In addition, to find out the effects of contamination levels of water on the tensile strength and desiccation crack pattern, different pH levels of water were used for making specimens prepared with three different mixing contents of bentonite.