• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.213-222
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• 1975

Immobilization of the second-cycle radioactive liquid wastes from a Purex process was developed with the blown asphalt (manufactured by Kukdong Shell Oil Company Ltd) to eliminate the possibility that the radioactive materials will be redispersed into the environment. Attempts to incorporate these wastes directly into the asphalt martrices without any pretreatment were not successful, as it was observed that the sulphuric acid in the waste oxidised the asphalt. Hence, the waste was treated with caustic soda and made alkaline prior to bituminization, so that it was found that this pretreatment made the waste compatible to the asphalt matrices. The pure blown asphalt samples irradiated with doses of 4.0$\times$10$^{7}$ rad showed no evidence of volume increase. The suitable temperature for incorporation of the alkaline wastes into blown asphalt was 180-20$0^{\circ}C$. The Products containing 50 wt% salts represented the following good properties viz., volume reduction (about 1.4), homogeneity, teachability etc. During the period of 131 day $s^{l37}$Cs from products containing 40wt% salts was leached at rates ranging from 2.70$\times$10-4 to 8.27$\times$10-4g/cm2_day but the rate for $^{90}$ Sr was lower by one to two orders of magnitude by distilled water. The leaching rates for $^{137}$ Cs and $^{90}$ Sr by sea water were slightly lower than by distilled water. Both of the leaching rates decreased with increasing pH.H.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.61-64
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• 2014

Radioactive materials are in use and have many applications from the generation of electricity to the purposes of research, industry and medicine such as diagnosis and therapy. In the course of their use some of radioactive substances may be discharged into the environment from facilities using the unsealed radioactive materials, which are main artificial sources occurring the public exposure. Discharges are in the form of gases, particles or liquids. This paper provides procedures to estimate the level of the public exposure based on the conservative assumptions and simple calculations in the facility using unsealed liquid sources. They consist of two processes; (1) to calculate maximum concentration of gaseous effluents discharged through the exhaust pipe and average concentration of liquid effluents discharged through the drain of the storage tank, (2) to compare each of them to numerical guidances for the discharges of radioactive gaseous and liquid effluents mentioned in the related notification. For this purpose followings are assumed properly; daily usage, form and dispersion rate of radionuclides, daily amount of radioactive liquid waste and exhaust and drainage equipment. The procedures are readily applicable to evaluate environmental effects by planned effluent discharges from facilities using the unsealed radioactive materials. In addition they may be utilized to obtain practical requirements for radiation safety control necessary for the reductions of the public exposure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.73-77
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• 2003

In order to predict the dynamic behaviors of uranium and cobalt in a fixed bed at various influent pH values of liquid waste, the adsorption system was regarded as multi-component adsorption between each ionic species in a solution. Langmuir isotherm parameters of each species were extracted by incorporating equilibrium data with the solution chemistry of uranium and cobalt using IAST. Prediction results were in good agreement with the experimental data, except for a high concentration and pH. Although there was some limitations in predicting the cobalt adsorption, this method may be useful in analyzing a complex adsorption system where various kinds of ionic species exist in a solution.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.69-69
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• 2019

The distillation of liquid cathode is necessary to separate cadmium from the actinide elements in the pyroprocessing since the actinide deposits are dissolved or precipitated in a liquid cathode. It is very important to avoid a splattering of cadmium during evaporation due to the high vapor pressure. Several methods have been proposed to lower the splattering of cadmium during distillation. One of the important methods is an installation of crucible cover on the distillation crucible. A multi-layer porous round cover was proposed to avoid a cadmium splattering in our previous study. In this study, the effect of crucible cover on the cadmium distillation was examined to develop a splatter shield. Various surrogates were used for the actinides in the cadmium. The surrogates such as bismuth, zirconia, and tungsten don't evaporate at the operational temperature of the Cd distiller due to their low vapor pressures. The distillation experiments were carried out in a crucible equipped with cover and in a crucible without cover. About 40 grams of Cd was distilled at a reduced pressure for two hours at various temperatures. The mixture of the cadmium and the surrogate was heated at $470{\sim}620^{\circ}C$. Most of the bismuth remained in the crucible equipped with cover after distillation under $580^{\circ}C$ for two hours, whereas small amount of bismuth decreased in the crucible without cover above $580^{\circ}C$. The liquid bismuth escaped with liquid cadmium drop from the crucible without cover. It seems that the crucible cover played a role to prevent the splash of the liquid cadmium drop. The effect of the cover was not clear for the tungsten or zirconia surrogate since the surrogates remained as a solid powder at the experimental temperature. From the results of this work, it can be concluded that the crucible cover can be used to minimize the deposit loss by prevention of escape of liquid drop from the crucible during distillation of liquid cathode.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.650-654
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• 2003

A major problem of nuclear energy is the production of radioactive wastes. Needs for more environmentally favorable method to decontaminate radioactive contaminants make the use of liqui $d^ercritical $CO_2$ as a solvent medium. In removing radioactive metallic contaminants under $CO_2$ solvent, two methods - use of chelating ligands and that of water in $CO_2$ emulsion-are possible. In the chelating ligand method, a combination of ligands that can make synergistic effects seems important. We discuss about the properties of microemulsion formed by F-AOT and that by non-ionic surfactant. By adding acid in water core, decontamination of metallic parts, soils were possible. The rate of metal surface dissolution to the microemulsion solution was measured by QCM. The possibility of recovering the surfactants after use is also mentioned.ed.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.886-889
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• 2018

This article presented two-staged chemical precipitation for radioactive wastewater decontamination by using chemical agents. The total amount of radioactive wastewater was $35m^3$, and main radionuclides were Cs-137, Cs-134, and Co-60. Initial radioactivity concentration of the liquid waste was 2264, 17, and 9 Bq/L for Cs-137, Cs-134 and Co-60, respectively. Potassium ferrocyanide, nickel nitrate, and ferrum nitrate were selected as chemical agents at high pH levels 8-10 according to the laboratory jar tests. After the process, radioactivity was precipitated as sludge at the bottom of the tank and decontaminated clean liquid was evaluated depending on discharge limits. By this precipitation method decontamination factors were determined as 66.5, 8.6, and 9 for Cs-137, Cs-134, and Co-60, respectively. By using the potassium ferrocyanide, about 98% of the Cs-137 was removed at pH 9. At the bottom of the tank, radioactive sludge amount from both stages was totally $0.98m^3$. It was transferred by sludge pumps to cementation unit for solidification. By chemical processing, 97.2% of volume reduction was achieved. The potassium ferrocyanide in two-staged precipitation method could be used successfully in large-scale applications for removal of Cs-137, Cs-134, and Co-60.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.194-202
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• 1972

In this investigation, a solar evaporation method was studied to reduce the water content of the radioactive sludge produced from the clay adsorption liquid waste treatment. The solar method to form sludge cake from sludge slurry could economically reduce the sludge volume and the operation cost of minimum 8% could be curtailed.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.103-103
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• 2018

The liquid cathode processing is necessary to separate cadmium from the actinide elements in the pyroprocessing since the actinide deposits are dissolved or precipitated in a liquid cathode. Distillation process was employed for the cathode processing owing to the compactness. It is very important to avoid a splattering of cadmium during evaporation due to the high vapor pressure. Several methods have been proposed to lower the splattering of cadmium during distillation. A multi-layer porous round cover was proposed to avoid a cadmium splattering in our previous study. In this study, distillation behavior of $Cd-ZrO_2$ and Cd - Bi systems were investigated to examine a multi-layer porous round cover for the development of the cadmium splatter shield of distillation crucible. It was designed that the cadmium vapor can be released through the holes of the shield, whereas liquid drops can be collected in the multiple hemisphere. The cover was made with three stainless steel round plates with a diameter of 33.50 mm. The distance between the hemispheres and the diameter of the holes are 10 and 1 mm, respectively. Bismuth or zirconium oxide powder was used as a surrogate for the actinide elements. About 40 grams of Cd was distilled at a reduced pressure for two hours at various temperatures. The mixture of the cadmium and the surrogate was distilled at 470, 570 and $620^{\circ}C$ in the crucible with the cover. Most of the bismuth or zirconia remained in the crucible after distillation at 470 and $570^{\circ}C$ for two hours. It was considered that the crucible cover hindered the splattering of the liquid cadmium from the distillation crucible. A considerable amount of the surrogate material reduced after distillation at $620^{\circ}C$ due to the splattering of the liquid cadmium. The low temperature is favorable to avoid a liquid cadmium splattering during distillation. However, the optimum temperature for the cadmium distillation should be decided further, since the evaporation rate decreases with a decreasing temperature.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.457-464
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• 2020

In this study, extraction of uranium(VI) from an aqueous nitric acid solution was investigated using tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP) as an extractant in an ionic liquid, 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Cnmim][Tf2N]). The distribution ratio of U(VI) in 1.1 M TBP/[Cnmim][Tf2N] was significantly high when the concentration of nitric acid was low. The value of the distribution ratio decreased as the concentration of the nitric acid increased at lower acidities, and then increased with a nitric acid concentration of up to 8 M. This can be attributed to the different extraction mechanisms of U(VI) based on nitric acid concentrations. Thus, a cation exchange at low acidity levels and an ion-pair extraction at high acidity levels were suggested as the extraction mechanism of U(VI) in the TBP/[Cnmim][Tf2N] system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2022

Liquid Bi pool is a candidate electrode for an electrometallurgical process in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic to treat the spent nuclear fuels from nuclear power plants. The electrochemical behavior of Bi³⁺ ions and the electrode reaction on liquid Bi pool were investigated with the cyclic voltammetry in an environment with or without BiCl₃ in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. Experimental results showed that two redox reactions of Bi³⁺ on inert W electrode and the shift of cathodic peak potentials of Li⁺ and Bi³⁺ on liquid Bi pool electrode in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. It is confirmed that the redox reaction of lithium with respect to the liquid Bi pool electrode would occur in a wide range of potentials in molten LiCl-KCl eutectic. The obtained data will be used to design the electrometallurgical process for treating actinide and lanthanide from the spent nuclear fuels and to understand the electrochemical reactions of actinide and lanthanide at liquid Bi pool electrode in the molten LiCl-KCl eutectic.