• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.93-105
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• 2018

In Korea, a huge amount of radioactive concrete waste will be generated through decommissioning of nuclear facilities in the near future; therefore, optimum technology for the treatment of concrete waste should be reviewed thoroughly and the future direction of technology development should be discussed. In this paper, many domestic and foreign examples of generation of radioactive concrete waste were pieced together and the characteristics of radioactive concrete waste were examined. Moreover, we reviewed trends in technology development by analyzing the examples of various studies and practical applications of treatment technologies, such as mechanical decontamination, chemical decontamination, volume reduction, recycling and solidification, and also tried to understand the limitations of existing technologies and determine a direction for technical improvement.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2009

Concrete materials in nuclear facilities may become contaminated or activated by various radionuclides through different mechanism. Decommissioning and dismantling of these facilities produce considerable quantities such as concrete structure, rubble. In this paper, the characteristics distribution of the radionuclide have been investigated for the effects of the heating and grinding test for aggregate size such as gravel, sand and paste from decommissioning of the TRIGA MARK II research reactor and uranium conversion plant. The experimental results showed that most of the radionuclide could be removed from the gravel, sand aggregate and concentrated into a paste. Especially, we found that the heating temperature played an important role in separating the radionuclide from the concrete waste. Contamination of concrete is mainly concentrated in the porous paste and not in the dense aggregate such as the gravel and sand. The volume reduction rate could be achieved about 80% of activated concrete waste and about 75% of dismantled concrete waste generated from UCP.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.157-167
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• 2020

Removing radioactive concrete is crucial in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. However, this process generates radioactive aerosols, exposing workers to radiation. Although large amounts of radioactive concrete are generated during decommissioning, studies on the internal exposure of workers to radioactive aerosols generated from the cutting of radioactive concrete are very limited. In this study, therefore, we calculate the internal radiation doses of workers exposed to radioactive aerosols during activities such as drilling and cutting of radioactive concrete, using previous research data. The electrical-mobility-equivalent diameter measured in a previous study was converted to aerodynamic diameter using the Newton-Raphson method. Furthermore, the specific activity of each nuclide in radioactive concrete 10 years after nuclear power plants are shut down was calculated using the ORIGEN code. Eventually, we calculated the committed effective dose for each nuclide using the IMBA software. The maximum effective dose of ¹⁵²Eu constituted 83.09% of the total dose; moreover, the five highest-ranked elements (¹⁵²Eu, ¹⁵⁴Eu, ⁶⁰Co, ²³⁹Pu, ⁵⁵Fe) constituted 99.63%. Therefore, we postulate that these major elements could be measured first for rapid radiation exposure management of workers involved in decommissioning of nuclear power plants, even if all radioactive elements in concrete are not considered.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.211-220
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• 2005

The concrete structure is being considered for the main engineered barrier of low and intermediate level radwaste disposal facility. Concrete of low permeability can minimize infiltration of water and effectively prevent release of nuclide to ecosystem. But if concrete degrades, structural stability of disposal structure will decrease while permeability increase, resulting in increased possibility of nuclide release due to water infiltration. Therefore disposal concrete structure degradation shall be minimized to maintain capacity of nuclide isolation. The typical causes of concrete structure degradation are sulfide attack, reinforcement corrosion due to chloride attack, leaching of calcium hydroxide, alkali-aggregate reaction and repeated freezing-thawing. The common cause of these degradation processes is infiltration of water or adverse chemicals into concrete. Based on the study of these degradation characteristics and mechanisms of concrete structure, the methodology of design and service life evaluation of concrete structure as an engineered barrier are reviewed to ensure its long-term durability.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.47-48
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.130-130
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• 2004

본 연구는 연구로 1,2호기 해체과정에서 발생되는 자체처분대상 콘크리트폐기물을 재활용하기 위해서 NUREG-1640 에서 제시하고 있는 시나리오에 대하여 외부피폭선량을 평가하였다. NUREG-1640에서는 콘크리트폐기물 재활용에 적용시 7가지 시나리오를 제시하고 있으며, 각 시나리오를 살펴보면 대량의 콘크리트에 인접, 콘크리트폐기물 수송, 콘크리트폐기물 처리, 매립을 위한 처분활동, 매립지 폐쇄 후 거주자, 콘크리트폐기물 이용 도로건설, 도로포장재로 대량의 콘크리트 이용이 있다.(중략)

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.49-50
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• 2012

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.307-312
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• 1997

원자력시설의 콘크리트 표면제염 및 절단을 효과적으로 수행하기 위해서는 먼저 방사성물질이 제염구역의 외부로 누출되지 않도록 작업구역을 비방사성 구역과 분리하고, 국부적으로 오염된 콘크리트 표면을 제염하는 기술, 해체 절단하는 기술 및 경제적인 방법으로 방사성물질의 확산을 최소화하는 분진제거 기술 등이 개발되어야 한다. 따라서 본 논문에서는 원자력시설의 콘크리트 표면제염 및 절단시 발생되는 콘크리트 분진처리 필터시스템을 개발하기 위하여, 중량 및 고밀도 콘크리트 내부로의 세슘 및 스트론튬 핵종의 침투깊이 실험을 수행하였으며, 다중 사이클론을 이용하여 DOP 에어로졸 및 콘크리트 표면절단 장비인 scabbier에 의해 발생한 중량 및 고밀도 콘크리트 분진의 특성을 분석하고 포집효율 성능시험을 수행하였다. 또한 사이클론 성능평가 프로그램을 작성하여 사이클론의 포집효율을 예상하였으며 이를 실험값과 비교하였다.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2020

Concrete waste accounts for approximately 70~80% of the total waste generated during the decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs). Based upon the concentration of each radionuclide, the concrete waste from the decommissioning can be used in the determination of the clearance threshold used to classify waste as radioactive. To reduce the cost of radioactive concrete waste disposal, it is important to perform decontamination before self-disposal or limited recycling. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the internal radioactivity distribution of radioactive concrete waste to ensure effective decontamination. In this study, the performance metrics of various Compton reconstruction algorithms were compared in order to identify the best strategy to estimate the internal radioactivity distribution in concrete waste during the decommissioning of NPPs. Four reconstruction algorithms, namely, simple back-projection, filtered back-projection, maximum likelihood expectation maximization (MLEM), and energy-deconvolution MLEM (E-MLEM) were used as Compton reconstruction algorithms. Subsequently, the results obtained by using these various reconstruction algorithms were compared with one another and evaluated, using quantitative evaluation methods. The MLEM and E-MLEM reconstruction algorithms exhibited the best performance in maintaining a high image resolution and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), respectively. The results of this study demonstrate the feasibility of using Compton images in the estimation of the internal radioactive distribution of concrete during the decommissioning of NPPs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2012.05a
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• pp.25-26
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• 2012