• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2012

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) stand at the frontier of nanotechnology and are destined to stimulate the next industrial revolution. Rapid increase in their production and use in the technology industry have led to concerns over the effects of CNT on human health and the environment. The prominent use of CNTs in biomedical applications also increases the possibility of human exposure, while properties such as their high aspect ratio (fiber-like shape) and large surface area raise safety concerns for human health if exposure does occur. It is crucial to develop viable alternatives to in vivo tests in order to evaluate the toxicity of engineered CNTs and develop validated experimental models capable of identifying CNTs' toxic effects and predicting their level of toxicity in the human respiratory system. Human lung epithelial cells serve as a barrier at the interface between the surrounding air and lung tissues in response to exogenous particles such as air-pollutants, including CNTs. Monolayer culture of the key individual cell types has provided abundant fundamental information on the response of these cells to external perturbations. However, such systems are limited by the absence of cell-cell interactions and their dynamic nature, which are both present in vivo. In this review, we suggested two viable alternatives to in vivo tests to evaluate the health risk of human exposure to CNTs.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2004

A safety assessment code, called SAGE (Safety Assessment Groundwater Evaluation), has been developed to describe post-closure radionuclide releases and potential radiological doses for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) disposal in an engineered vault facility in Korea. The conceptual model implemented in the code is focused on the release of radionuclide from a gradually degrading engineered barrier system to an underlying unsaturated zone, thence to a saturated groundwater zone. The radionuclide transport equations are solved by spatially discretizing the disposal system into a series of compartments. Mass transfer between compartments is by diffusion/dispersion and advection. In all compartments, radionuclides ate decayed either as a single-member chain or as multi-member chains. The biosphere is represented as a set of steady-state, radionuclide-specific pathway dose conversion factors that are multiplied by the appropriate release rate from the far field for each pathway. The code has the capability to treat input parameters either deterministically or probabilistically. Parameter input is achieved through a user-friendly Graphical User Interface. An application is presented, which is compared against safety assessment results from the other computer codes, to benchmark the reliability of system-level conceptual modeling of the code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.78-89
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• 1994

The radionuclide release rates from the engineered barrier composed of concrete structure and clay-based backfill in a low and intermediate level waste repository were assessed. Four types of release pathway were considered, and the contribution of each pathway to the total release were analyzed. To quantify the effect of uncertainties of input parameter values on the assessment of radionuclide release rates, the Latin Hypercube sampling method was used, and the resulting release rate distribution were determined through a goodness-of-fit test. Finally, the ranges of maxi-mum release rates ore estimated statistically with a confidence level of 95%.

• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.35-45
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• 2016

Clays, which are abundant in nature and eco-friendly, have been utilized throughout human history due to their characteristic physicochemical properties. Recently, a variety of clays such as montmorillonite, kaolinite, sepiolite and layered double hydroxide with or without chemical modification have been extensively studied for potential application in industries. Clays that possess a large specific surface area, high aspect ratio, nanometer sized layer thickness and controllable surface charge could be utilized as polymer fillers after appropriate chemical modifications. These modified clays can improve mechanical and gas barrier properties of polymer materials but also provide sustained antibacterial activity to polymer films. Furthermore, engineered clays can be utilized as scavengers for chemical or biological pollutants in water or soil, because they have desirable adsorption properties and chemical specificity. In this review, we are going to introduce recent researches on engineered clays for potential applications in future industries such as food packaging and environmental remediation.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.725-736
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• 2023

The compliance of deep geological disposal facilities for high-level radioactive waste with safety objectives requires consideration of uncertainties owing to temporal changes in the disposal system. A comprehensive review and analysis of the characteristics of this evolution should be undertaken to identify the effects on multiple barriers and the biosphere. We analyzed the evolution of the buffer, backfill, plug, and closure regions during the early phase of the post-closure period as part of a long-term performance assessment for an operating license application for a deep geological repository in Finland. Degradation mechanisms generally expected in engineered barriers were considered, and long-term evolution features were examined for use in performance assessments. The importance of evolution features was classified into six categories based on the design of the Finnish case. Results are expected to be useful as a technical basis for performance and safety assessment in developing the Korean deep geological disposal system for high-level radioactive waste. However, for a more detailed review and evaluation of each feature, it is necessary to obtain data for the final disposal site and facility-specific design, and to assess its impact in advance.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.29-36
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• 2019

High-level radioactive waste (HLW) such as spent fuel is inevitably produced when nuclear power plants are operated. A geological repository has been considered as one of the most adequate options for the disposal of HLW, and it will be constructed in host rock at a depth of 500~1,000 meters below ground level with the concept of an engineered barrier system (EBS) and a natural barrier system. The compacted bentonite buffer is one of the most important components of the EBS. As the compacted bentonite buffer is located between disposal canisters with spent fuel and the host rock, it can restrain the release of radionuclides and protect canisters from the inflow of groundwater. Because of inflow of groundwater into the compacted bentonite buffer, it is essential to investigate soil-water characteristic curves (SWCC) of the compacted bentonite buffer in order to evaluate the entire safety performance of the EBS. Therefore, this paper conducted laboratory experiments to analyze the SWCC for a Korean Ca-type compacted bentonite buffer considering dry density, confined or unconfined condition, and drying or wetting path. There was no significant difference of SWCC considering dry density under unconfined condition. Furthermore, it was found that there was higher water suction in unconfined condition that in confined condition, and higher water suction during drying path than during wetting path.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.167-183
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• 2021

It is essential to understand the complex thermo-hydro-mechanical-chemical (THMC) coupled behavior in the engineered barrier system and natural barrier system to secure the high-level radioactive waste repository's long-term safety. The heat from the high-level radioactive waste induces thermal pressurization and vaporization of groundwater in the repository system. Groundwater inflow affects the saturation variation in the engineered barrier system, and the saturation change influences the heat transfer and multi-phase flow characteristics in the buffer. Due to the complexity of the coupled behavior, a numerical simulation is a valuable tool to predict and evaluate the THMC interaction effect on the disposal system and safety assessment. To enhance the knowledge of THMC coupled interaction and validate modeling techniques in geological systems. DECOVALEX, an international cooperation project, was initiated in 1992, and KAERI has participated in the projects since 2008 in Korea. In this study, we introduced the main contents of all tasks in the DECOVALEX-2023, the current DECOVALEX phase, to the rock mechanics and geotechnical researchers in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.24-25
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• 2008

The effect of heat treatment in $HfO_2$ as charge trap with $SiO_2/Si_3N_4/SiO_2$ as tunnel oxide layer in capacitors has been investigated. Rapid thermal annealing (RTA) were carried out at the temperature range of 600 - $900^{\circ}C$. It is found that all devices carried out heat treatment have large threshold voltage shift Especially, device performed heat treatment at $900^{\circ}C$ has been confirmed the largest memory window. Also, Threshold voltage shift of device used conventional $SiO_2$ as tunnel oxide layer was smaller than that with $SiO_2/Si_3N_4/SiO_2$.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.11-19
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• 2016

This paper focuses on the estimation of durability and service-life of reinforced concrete structures in Wolsong Low- and intermediate-level wastes Disposal Center (WLDC) in Korea. There are six disposal silos located in the saturated environment. The silo concrete is degraded due to reactions with groundwater and chemical attacks, and finally it will lose its properties as a transport barrier. The infiltration of sulfate and magnesium, leaching of potassium hydroxide, and chlorine induced corrosion are the most significant factors for degradation of reinforced concrete structure in underground environment. From the result of evaluation of the degradation time for each factor, the degradation rate of the reinforced concrete due to sulfate and magnesium is $1.308{\times}10^{-3}cm/yr$, and it is estimated to take 48,000 years for full degradation while potassium hydroxide is leached in depth of less than 1.5 cm at 1,000 years after the initiation of degradation. In case of chlorine induced corrosion, it takes 1,648 years to initiate corrosion in the main reinforced bar and 2,288 years to reach the lifetime limit of the structural integrity, and thus it is evaluated as the most significant factor.

• Proceedings of the Korean Vacuum Society Conference
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.128-128
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• 2011

Polysilicon thin-film transistors (poly-Si TFTs)는 능동행렬 액정 표시 소자(AMLCD : Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display)와 DRAM과 같은 메모리 분야에 폭넓게 적용이 가능하기 때문에 많은 연구가 진행되고 있다. 최근 poly-Si TFTs의 우수한 특성으로 인하여 주변 driving circuits에 직접화가 가능하게 되었다. 또한 디스플레이 LCD 패널에 controller와 메모리와 같은 다 기능의 장치을 직접화 하여 비용의 절감과 소자의 소형화가 가능한 SOP (System on panels)에 연구 또한 진행 되고 있다. 이미 잘 알려진 바와 같이 비휘발성 메모리는 낮은 소비전력과 비휘발성이라는 특성 때문에 이동식 디바이스에 데이터 저장 장치로 많이 사용되고 있다. 하지만 플로팅 타입의 비휘발성 메모리는 제작공정의 문제로 인하여 SOP의 적용에 어려움을 가지고 있다. SONOS 타입의 메모리는 빠른 쓰기/지우기 효율과 긴 데이터 유지 특성을 가지고 있으나 소자의 스케일링 따른 누설전류의 증가와 10년의 데이터 보존 특성을 만족 시킬 수 가 없는 문제가 발생한다. 본 연구에서는 SOP 적용을 위하여 ELA 방법을 통하여 결정화한 poly-Si TFT memory를 SiO2/Si3N4/SiO2 Tunnel barrier와 High-k HfO2과 Al2O3을 Trapping layer와 Blocking layer로 적용, 비휘발성 메모리을 제작하여 전기적 특성을 알아보았다.