• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.295-303
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• 2012

Based on the data observed and analyzed on a groundwater flow system in the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) site, the transport of radionuclides, which were assumed to be released at the supposed position, was calculated on the time-domain. A groundwater pathway from the release position to the surface was identified by simulating the groundwater flow model with the hydrogeological characteristics measured from the field tests in the KURT site. The elapsed time when the radionuclides moved through the pathway is evaluated using TDRW (Time Domain Random Walk) method for simulating the transport on the time-domain. Some retention mechanisms, such as radioactive decay, equilibrium sorption, and matrix diffusion, as well as the advection-dispersion were selected as the factors to influence on the elapsed time. From the simulation results, the effects of the sorption and matrix diffusion, determined by the properties of the radionuclides and underground media, on the transport of the radionuclides were analyzed and a decay chain of the radionuclides was also examined. The radionuclide ratio of the mass discharge into the surface environment to the mass released from the supposed repository did not exceed $10^{-3}$, and it decreased when the matrix diffusion were considered. The method used in this study could be used in preparing the data on radionuclide transport for a safety assessment of a geological disposal facility because the method could evaluate the travel time of the radionuclides considering the transport retention mechanism.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2_spc
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• pp.305-315
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• 2020

For geological disposal of radioactive wastes, a method was proposed to evaluate the radionuclide transport in the biosphere by calculating the elapsed time of nuclide migration. The radionuclides were supposed to be introduced from a natural barrier and reached a large surface water body following a groundwater flow in a shallow subsurface. The biosphere was defined as a shallow subsurface environment that included aquifers on a host rock. Using the proposed method, a calculation algorithm was established, and a computer code that implemented the algorithm was developed. The developed code was verified by comparing the simulation results of the simple cases with the results of the analytical solution and a public program, which has been widely used to evaluate the radiation dose using the radionuclide transport near the surface. A case study was constructed using the previous research for radionuclide transport from the hypothetical geological disposal repository. In the case study, the code calculated the mass discharge rate of radionuclide to a stream in the biosphere. Because the previous research only demonstrated the transport of radionuclides from the hypothetical repository to the host rock, the developed code in the present study could help identify the total transport of radionuclide along the complete pathway.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.281-291
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• 2013

A hypothetical repository was assumed to be located at the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) site, and the travel times of radionuclides released from three source positions were calculated. The groundwater flow around the KURT site was simulated and the groundwater pathways from the hypothetical source positions to the shallow groundwater were identified. Of the pathways, three pathways were selected because they had highly water-conductive features. The transport travel times of the radionuclides were calculated by a TDRW (Time-Domain Random Walk) method. Diffusion and sorption mechanisms in a host rock matrix as well as advection-dispersion mechanisms under the KURT field condition were considered. To reflect the radioactive decay, four decay chains with the radionuclides included in the high-level radioactive wastes were selected. From the simulation results, the half-life and distribution coefficient in the rock matrix, as well as multiple pathways, had an influence on the mass flux of the radionuclides. For enhancing the reliability of safety assessment, this reveals that identifying the history of the radionuclides contained in the high-level wastes and investigating the sorption processes between the radionuclides and the rock matrix in the field condition are preferentially necessary.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.20-32
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• 2003

To understand the behavior of migration of contaminants in a fractured porous medium is a key to assure the overall safety of a potential radwaste repository. The feasible retention mechanism of contaminant transport in a tinctured medium are sorption of contaminants on solid surface and matrix diffusion of contaminants from a fracture into an adjacent porous medium. The acceleration mechanisms are the migration of contaminants in the form of pseudo-colloids and the limit of a volume f3r matrix diffusion. In this paper, the effects of these two acceleration mechanisms are studied mathematically, then semi-analytically computed by the application of the Talbot theorem and verified. Results indicate that the acceleration processes cannot be neglected in the modeling of contaminant transport in a fractured porous medium.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2012.10a
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• pp.351-352
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• 2012

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.176-188
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• 1995

A particle tracking scheme was developed in order to model radionuclide transport through a tortuous flow Held in a rock fracture. The particle tacking method may be used effectively in a heterogeneous flow field such as rock fracture. The parallel plate representation of the single fracture fails to recognize the spatial heterogeneity in the fracture aperture and thus seems inadequate in describing fluid movement through a real fracture. The heterogeneous flow field une modeled by a variable aperture channel model after characterizing aperture distribution by a hydraulic test. To support the validation of radionuclide transport models, a radionuclide migration experiment was performed in a natural fracture of granite. $^3$$H_2O$ and $^{131}$ I are used as tracers. Simulated results were in agreement with experimental result and therefore support the validity of the transport model. Residence time distributions display multipeak curves caused by the fast arrival of solutes traveling along preferential fracture channels and by the much slower arrival of solutes following tortous routes through the fracture. Results from the modelling of the transport of nonsorbing tracer through the fracture show that diffusion into the interconnected pore space in the rock mass has a significant effect on retardation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.117-127
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• 2004

A dynamic compartment model was developed to evaluate the transport of accidently released radionuclides onto rice-fields. In the model, the surface water compartment and shoot-base absorption were introduced to account for the effect of irrigation, which is essential to a rice cultivation. The soil mixing by plough and irrigation before transplanting rice was also considered, and the rate of root-uptake and shoot-base absorption were modeled in terms of the function of biomass. In order to test the validation of the model, it was applied to the analysis of some simulated $^{137}Cs$ deposition experiments that were performed while cultivating rice in a greenhouse using soils sampled from rice-fields around Kori, Yonggwang and Ulchin nuclear power plants. The model prediction was generally agreed within about one order of magnitude with experimental data.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.453-460
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• 1994

The migration equation is modified for a three-member decay chain in the fracture and porous matrix Analytical solutions are obtained by utilizing Laplace transform the initial conditions of Delta function and Bateman equation. The concentrations for each nuclide of Np$^{237}$ -U$^{233}$ -Th$^{229}$ and U$^{234}$ -Th$^{230}$ -Ra$^{226}$ chains selected from the 4n＋1 and 4n＋2 chains are plotted by utilizing analytical solutions in the fracture. Retardation coefficient of the nuclides are obtained using those of the granite. The results indicate that the daughter nuclides such as U$^{233}$ , Th$^{229}$ , Th$^{230}$ and Ra$^{226}$ become important at the far field from the repository though there is very small initial inventory in the waste solid or spent fuel, for they are produced by the mother nuclides decayed in the fracture and porous matrix.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.211-217
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• 2006

For more realistic assessment of Korean food chain radiation doses due to the operation of nuclear facilities, it is required to use domestically produced data for radionuclide transfer parameters in crop plants. This paper analyzed results of last about 10 year's studies on radionuclide transfer parameters in major crop plants by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute, comparing with the published international data, and consequently suggested the proper parameters to use. The trends of transfer parameter shows normal distributions if we have a lot of experimental data, but some radionuclides showed enormous variations with the environment of experimental, crops and soils. These transfer factors can be used to assess realistic radiation doses or to predict the doses in crops for normal operation or accidental release. Some kinds of parameter can be produced as conservatives or fragmentary results because soil-to-plant transfer factors were measured through greenhouse experiments which sometimes showed improper field situations. But these parameters mentioned in this paper can be representative of the status of Korean food chain than that of foreign country.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1995.05a
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• pp.911-918
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• 1995

동적섭식경로모델을 사용하여 "목초$\longrightarrow$우유$\longrightarrow$사람"의 핵종이동 경로에 대해 침적시점에 따른 입력변수의 민감도와 결과에 대한 불확실성분석을 수행하였다. Cs-137과 Sr-90의 경우 모든 침적시점에 대해 재부유인자가 가장 높은 중요도를 보였다. 두 핵종에 대해 침적시점에 따른 입력변수의 중요도의 변화는 비슷한 유형을 보였다. 목초의 성장기에서 전이율이 상대적으로 중요도가 높았고, Cs-137의 전이율은 Sr-90의 경우보다 높은 중요도를 나타냈다. 목초의 비성장기에서 Sr-90에 대한 농축인자의 중요도는 매우 높았다. Cs-137과 Sr-90에 의한 피폭선량의 95% 신뢰도구간은 약 1 $\times$ $10^1$, 5 $\times$ $10^1$ 범위를 나타냈다. 범위를 나타냈다.