• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.421-425
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• 2003

The reductive extraction process is an important step to refine the TRU product from the electrorefining process for the preparation of transmutation reactor fuel. In this study, it was studied on the reductive extraction between the eutectic salt and Bi metal phases. The solutes were zirconium and the rare earth elements, where zirconium was used as a surrogate for the transuranic(TRU) elements. All the experiments were performed in a glove box filled with a argon gas. Li-Bi alloy was used as a reducing agent to reduce the high chemical activity of Li. The reductive extraction characteristics were examined using ICP, XRD and EPMA analysis. The reduction reaction was equilibrated within 3 hours after the Li addition. Three eutectic salt systems were compared and Zr was successfully separated from the rare earth elements in all the three salt systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.483-490
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• 2012

PWR spent fuels produced in the Republic of Korea are expected to be recycled by pyroprocess in the long term future. Even though pyroprocess waste amounts can be smaller than that of PWR spent fuel assembly in case of direct disposal, this process essentially will produce various and unique radioactive wastes. The goals of this article are to characterize these wastes, calculate the amount of wastes, design disposal systems for each waste and evaluate the radiation safety of each system by dose assessment. The absorbed dose results of the metal and ceramic waste for the engineering barrier system (EBS) showed $2.21{\times}10^{-2}$ Gy/h and $1.15{\times}10^{-2}$ Gy/h, which are lower than the recommended value of 1 Gy/h. These results confirmed that the newly proposed disposal systems have a safety margin for the radiation produced from each waste.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.8
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• pp.2889-2896
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• 2023

The waste acceptance criteria for heavy metals in mixed waste should be developed by reflecting the leaching behaviors that could highly depend on the repository design and environment surrounding the waste. The current standards widely used to evaluate the leaching characteristics of heavy metals would not be appropriate for the silo-type repository since they are developed for landfills, which are more common than a silo-type repository. This research aimed to explore the leaching behaviors of cementitious waste with Pb, Cd, and Sb metallic and oxide powders in an environment simulating a silo-type radioactive waste repository. The Toxicity Characteristic Leaching Procedure (TCLP) and the ANS 16.1 standard were employed with standard and two modified solutions: concrete-saturated deionized and underground water. The compositions and elemental distribution of leachates and specimens were analyzed using an inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy combined with scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDS). Lead and antimony demonstrated high leaching levels in the modified leaching solutions, while cadmium exhibited minimal leaching behavior and remained mainly within the cement matrix. The results emphasize the significance of understanding heavy metals' leaching behavior in the repository's geochemical environment, which could accelerate or mitigate the reaction.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.351-357
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• 2003

Transuranic elements such as Pu, Am and Cm in synthetic solution of spent nuclear fuel samples were determined by electrodeposition followed by alpha-spectrometry after separation using anion exchange and extraction chromatography in order to determine the transuranic elements in radwaste samples from nuclear power plants. Plutonium was separated by 12M HC1-0.1M HI as an eluent on anion exchange column. As a second step Am and Cm were separated in a group by DTPA-Lactic acid as the eluent on HDEHP coated column. The nuclides of $^{239}Pu$, $^{241}Am$및 $^{244}Cm$ separated were determined by alpha-spectrometry after electrodeposition in 0.1M $NaHSo_4$-0.53M $Na_2SO_4$buffer solution as an electrolyte. The recovery yields of $^{239}Pu$, $^{241}Am$및 $^{244}Cm$ were 83.8%, 85.2% and 86.3%, respectively, from the synthetic solution containing uranium and non-radioactive metal elements.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.139-165
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• 2019

The current status and prospect of decommissioning technology development at KAERI are reviewed here. Specifically, this review focuses on four key technologies: decontamination, remote dismantling, decommissioning waste treatments, and site remediation. The decontamination technologies described are component decontamination and system decontamination. A cutting method and a remote handling method together with a decommissioning simulation are described as remote dismantling technologies. Although there are various types of radioactive waste generated by decommissioning activities, this review focuses on the major types of waste, such as metal waste, concrete waste, and soil waste together with certain special types, such as high-level and high-salt liquid waste, organic mixed waste, and uranium complex waste, which are known to be difficult to treat. Finally, in a site remediation technology review, a measurement and safety evaluation related to site reuse and a site remediation technique are described.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.307-319
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• 2022

60+ Years of nuclear power generation has led to a significant legacy of radioactively contaminated land at a number of nuclear licenced "mega sites" around the world. The safe management and remediation of these sites is key to ensuring there environmental stewardship in the long term. Bioremediation utilizes a variety of microbially mediated processes such as, enzymatically driven metal reduction or biominerialisation, to sequester radioactive contaminants from the subsurface limiting their migration through the geosphere. Additionally, some of these process can provide environmentally stable sinks for radioactive contaminants, through formation of highly insoluble mineral phases such as calcium phosphates and carbonates, which can incorporate a range of radionuclides into their structure. Bioremediation options have been considered and deployed in preference to conventional remediation techniques at a number of nuclear "mega" sites. Here, we review the applications of bioremediation technologies at three key nuclear licenced sites; Rifle and Hanford, USA and Sellafield, UK, in the remediation of radioactively contaminated land.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.67-78
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• 2024

In this study, a nickel hexacyanoferrate and manganese dioxide-polyacrylonitrile (NM-PAN) composite was synthesized and used for the sorptive removal of Co²⁺, Sr²⁺, and Cs⁺ Cs⁺ in radioactive laundry wastewater. Single- and multi-solute competitive sorptions onto NM-PAN were investigated. The Freundlich (Fr), Langmuir (Lang), Kargi-Ozmıhci (K-O), Koble-Corrigan (K-C), and Langmuir-Freundlich (Lang-Fr) models satisfactorily predicted all the single sorption data. The sorption isotherms were nonlinearly favorable (Freundlich coefficient, N_F = 0.385-0.426). Cs⁺ has the highest maximum sorption capacity (q_mL = 0.855 mmol g^-1) for NM-PAN compared to Co²⁺ and Sr²⁺, wherein the primary mechanism was the physical process (mainly ion-exchange). The competition between the metal ions in the binary and ternary systems reduced the respective sorption capacities. Binary and ternary sorption models, such as the ideal adsorbed solution theory (IAST) model coupled with single sorption models of IAST-Fr, IAST-K-O, IAST-K-C and IAST-Lang-Fr, were fitted to the experimental data; among these, the IAST-Freundlich model showed the most satisfactory prediction for the binary and ternary systems. The presence of cationic surfactants highly affected the sorption on NM-PAN due to the increase in distribution coefficients (K_d) of Co²⁺ and Cs⁺.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

A long-term R&D program for HLW disposal technology development was launched in 1997 in Korea and Korea Reference disposal System(KRS) for spent fuels had been developed. After then, a recycling process for PWR spent fuels to get the reusable material such as uranium or TRU and to reduce the volume of radioactive waste, called Pyro-process, is being developed. This Pyro-process produces several kinds of wastes including metal waste and ceramic waste. In this study, the characteristics of the waste from Pyro-process and the concepts of a disposal container for the wastes were described. Based on these concepts, thermal analyses were carried out to determine a layout of the disposal area of the ceramic wastes which was classified as a high level waste and to develop the disposal system called A-KRS. The location of the final repository for A-KRS is not determined yet, thus to review the potential repository domains, the possible layout in the geological characteristics of KURT facility site was proposed. These results will be used in developing a repository system design and in performing the safety assessment.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2017

For the removal of cesium (Cs) from high radioactive/high salt-laden liquid waste, this study synthesized a highly efficient composite adsorbent (potassium cobalt ferrocyanide (PCFC)-loaded chabazite (CHA)) and evaluated its applicability. The composite adsorbent used CHA, which could accommodate Cs as well as other molecules, as a supporting material and was synthesized by immobilizing the PCFC in the pores of CHA through stepwise impregnation/precipitation with $CoCl_2$ and $K_4Fe(CN)_6$ solutions. When CHA, with average particle size of more than $10{\mu}m$, is used in synthesizing the composite adsorbent, the PCFC particles were immobilized in a stable form. Also, the physical stability of the composite adsorbent was improved by optimizing the washing methodology to increase the purity of the composite adsorbent during the synthesis. The composite adsorbent obtained from the optimal synthesis showed a high adsorption rate of Cs in both fresh water (salt-free condition) and seawater (high-salt condition), and had a relatively high value of distribution coefficient (larger than $10^4mL{\cdot}g^{-1}$) regardless of the salt concentration. Therefore, the composite adsorbent synthesized in this study is an optimized material considering both the high selectivity of PCFC on Cs and the physical stability of CHA. It is proved that this composite adsorbent can remove rapidly Cs contained in high radioactive/high salt-laden liquid waste with high efficiency.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.121-128
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• 2005

A study on the selective separation of $^{99}Tc,\;^{94}Nb,\;^{55}Fe,\;^{90}Sr$ and $^{59}Ni(^{63}Ni)$ from various radioactive wastes discharged from the nuclear power plants in Korea is being performed for use in their quantifications which are indispensible for the evaluation of the radionuclide inventory. Separation behaviour of Ce, Ca, Mg, Al, Cr, Ti, Mn and Cu recovered along with Ni during the separation of Re (as a surrogate of $^{99}Tc$), Nb, Fe and Sr by anion exchange and Sr-Spec extraction chromatography was investigated by cation exchange and Ni-Spec extraction chromatography using synthetic radioactive waste dissolved solutions containing matrix elements such as Re, Nb, Fe, Sr, Ni, B, Na, K, Ce, Co, Ca, Mg, Al, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, Mo, Mn, Cu, Zr, Ti and U. To purify the Ni fraction recovered and prepare a radionuclide source available for gas proportional counting, an application of the Ni precipitation procedure with dimethylglyoxime in the medium of ammonium citrate and tartaric acid solutions as a masking agent for co-existing metal ions was described in detail.