• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.31 no.5
• /
• pp.309-332
• /
• 2021

Natural barrier systems surrounding the geological repository for the high-level radioactive waste should guarantee the hydraulic performance for preventing or delaying the leakage of radionuclide. In the case of the behavior of a crystalline rock, the hydraulic performance tends to be decided by the existence of discontinuities, so the coupled hydro-mechanical(HM) processes on the discontinuities should be characterized. The discontinuum modelling can describe the complicated behavior of discontinuities including creation, propagation, deformation and slip, so it is appropriate to model the behavior of a crystalline rock. This paper investigated the coupled HM processes in discontinuum modelling such as UDEC, 3DEC, PFC, DDA, FRACOD and TOUGH-UDEC. Block-based discontinuum methods tend to describe the HM processes based on the fluid flow through the discontinuities, and some methods are combined with another numerical tool specialized in hydraulic analysis. Particle-based discontinuum modelling describes the overall HM processes based on the fluid flow among the particles. The discontinuum methods that are currently available have limitations: exclusive simulations for two-dimension, low hydraulic simulation efficiency, fracture-dominated fluid flow and simplified hydraulic analysis, so it could be improper to the modelling the geological repository. Based on the concepts of various discontinuum modelling compiled in this paper, the advanced numerical tools for describing the accurate coupled HM processes of the deep geological repository should be developed.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.59-77
• /
• 2022

Currently, the design reference temperature of the buffer material for disposing of high-level radioactive waste is less than 100℃, so if the heat dissipation capacity of the buffer material is improved, the spacings of the disposal tunnel and the deposition hole in the repository can be reduced. First of all, this study tries to analyze the criteria for thermal-hydraulic-mechanical performance of the buffer materials and to investigate the researches regarding the enhanced buffer materials with improved thermal conductivity. First, the thermal conductivity should be as high as possible and is affected by dry density, water content, temperature, mineral composition, and bentonite type. the organic content of the buffer material can have a significant effect on the corrosion performance of a canister, so the organic content should be low. In addition, hydraulic conductivity of the buffer material should be less than that of near-field rock and swelling pressure should be appropriate for buffer materials to function properly. For the development of enhanced buffer materials, additives such as sand, graphite, and graphite oxide are typically used, and a thermal conductivity can be greatly improved with a very small amount of graphite addition compared to sand.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
• /
• v.16 no.4
• /
• pp.474-484
• /
• 2005

Biological treatment is a promising alternative to conventional air pollution control methods. Bioreactors for air pollution control have found most of their success in the treatment of dilute and high flow waste air streams containing volatile organic compounds and odor compounds. They offer several advantages over traditional technologies such as incineration or adsorption. These include lower treatment costs, absence of formation of secondary pollutants, no spent chemicals, low energy demand and low temperature treatment. The most widely used bioreactor for air pollution control is biofilter, but it has several limitations. In the past years major progress has been accomplished in the development of vapor phase bioreactor, in particular biotrickling filters. Biotrickling filters are more complex than biofilters, but are usually more effective, especially for the treatment of compounds which are difficult to degrade or compounds that generate acidic by-products. While the level of understanding of biotrickling filtration process for VOCs still remains limited, the evident success of biotreatment of VOC in air stimulated the pursue of acitve research. This paper presents fundamental and theoretical/practical aspect of air pollution control in biotrickling filter. Special emphasis is given to the operating parameters and the factors influencing performance for air pollution control in biotrickling filter.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.15 no.3
• /
• pp.231-237
• /
• 2017

The present study researched and analyzed decontamination technology for decommissioning a nuclear power plant. The decision-making technique (EXPERT-CHOICE) was used to evaluate and select the optimal decontamination technology. In principle, this evaluation method is generally performed by a group of experts in the relevant field. The results of the weights were calculated by multiplying the weights with regard to each criterion and evaluation score. The evaluation scores were categorized into 3 ranges (high, medium, and low), and each range was weighted for differentiation. The level of the technology analysis was improved by additionally quantifying the weights with regard to each criterion and subdividing criteria into subcriteria. The basic assumption of the evaluation was that the weight values would decided on in an expert survey and assigned to each criterion. The evaluation criteria followed high weight for the 'High' range. Accordingly, H, M, and L were assigned weights of 10:5:1, respectively. This was based on the EXPERT-CHOICE optimal analysis. The minimum and maximum values were excluded, and the average value was used as the evaluation value for each scenario.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.109-114
• /
• 1998

Radiological safety for the conventional operation of Demonstration-Scale Incineration Plant (DSIP) was assessed on the basis of the results of trial burns using the simulated and real radioactive wastes. Radiation dose assessments for routine releases on an annual basis as well a several severe accidental releases on a short-term basis (2h) revealed that there would be no significant environmental impact when low-level waste Is incinerated in DSIP. For semivolatile radioactive cesium species, expected emission concentrations slightly exceeded 10% of maximum permissible concentration. Removal characteristics of the bag filter for condensed-phase cesium species was investigated by the trial burns of simulated waste with inactive cesium tracer. In the off-gas before passing through bag filter, distributions of condensed cesium species in the transition size ranging between the diffusional and inertial region are less than 5%. The overall collection efficiency of the bag filter for cesium species was higher than 99.9%, showing enough decontamination capability as a primary filter for the low-temperature dry off-gas system in radwaste incineration plant.

• Journal of the Korean Dietetic Association
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.155-169
• /
• 2012

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between student's foodservice satisfaction and foodservice employee's job satisfaction at elementary schools. The survey was conducted on 5th and 6th grade students and foodservice employees at 19 elementary schools in Gwangju, Gyeonggi. Statistical data analysis was completed using SPSS ver. 17.0 for descriptive analysis, frequency analysis, independent sample t-test, and ANOVA. Students were highly satisfied with 'variety of menu' (3.78) and 'food taste' (3.75). The healthy group and no plate waste group showed significantly higher satisfaction levels on seven items, except 'sanitary utensil', as compared to others. Foodservice employees had high levels of satisfaction with human relationships and their jobs, but they were dissatisfied with their wages. Older employees had a high level of satisfaction with 'relationship with a dietitian' (P<0.05), whereas employees with a low level of education exhibited higher 'respect and reflection of his/her opinion on the duty' (P<0.01) and 'current duties' (P<0.05) as compared to others. The group with higher student satisfaction showed significantly higher employee job satisfaction for 11 items, including 'cooperation with co-workers' (P<0.01), 'relationship with a dietitian' (P<0.05), and inversely, the group with higher job satisfaction exhibited significantly higher student foodservice satisfaction for all nine items. Therefore, foodservice satisfaction and job satisfaction have a mutually positive influence on each other.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.97-111
• /
• 1974

The adsorption mechanism of Cs-137 in low level radioactive solution by vermiculite treated with Na ion is studied in order to investigate its effective utilization for the radioactive effluent treatment. The beneficial role of Na-vermiculite is that Na ion can induce the wider c-axis spacing in which Cs ion can be sorbed in vermiculite. Cation exchange capacity and distribution coefficient of cesium seems to be influenced by the variation of c-axis spacing of vermiculite. Comparative identification and detection with the characteristic analyses of X-ray diffraction and electron diffraction patterns, diffrential thermal analysis and electron microscopy of Na-, K- and Cs-vermiculite are studied for the phemomena of Cs adsorption by vermiculite. This importance of the utilization in terms of adsorption and fixation of cesium involving vermiculite is discussed. It is found that the Na-vermiculite is valuable outside charging material for high level radioactive liquid waste storage tank of underground to protect the pollution of the underground water.

• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
• /
• v.26 no.10
• /
• pp.1529-1532
• /
• 2005

A simple and cost effective method for separation and preconcentration of Ag(I) at the $10^{-7}\;mol\;L^{-1}$ level in the environmental and mineral samples is present. The method is based on the flotation of Ag(I)-iodide complex as an ion-associate with ferroin in pH of 4 from a large volume of an aqueous solution (500 mL) using nheptane. The floated layer was then dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) for the subsequent spectrophotometric determination. Beer's law was obeyed over a range of 2.0 ${\times}$ $10^{-7}$-4.0 ${\times}$ $10^{-6}$ mol $L^{-1}$ with the apparent molar absorptivity of 2.67 ${\times}$ $10^5$ L $mol^{-1}\;cm^{-1}$. The detection limit (n = 5) was 4 ${\times}$ $10^{-8}$ mol $L^{-1}$, and RSD (n = 5) obtained for 2.0 ${\times}$ $10^{-6}$ mol $L^{-1}$ of Ag(I) was 2.2%. The interference effects of a number of elements was studied and found that only $Hg^{2+}$ at low concentration, and $Pb^{2+}$, $Cd^{2+}$, $Cu^{2+}$, and $Fe^{3+}$ ions at moderately high concentrations were interfered. To overcome on these interference effects, the solution was treated with EDTA at a buffering pH of 4 and passed through a column containing Amberlite IR-120 ionexchanger resin, just before the flotation process. The proposed method was applied to determine of Ag(I) in a synthetic waste water, a photographic washing sample and a geological sample and the results was compared with those obtained from the flame atomic absorption spectrometry. The results were satisfactorily comparable with together, so that the applicability of the proposed method was confirmed in encountering with the real samples.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.34 no.5
• /
• pp.339-345
• /
• 2021

Finite element analysis of the silo type underground opening for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) disposal facilities in Korea is presented in this study. The silo wall is circular and the roof is made up of domes. The silo wall is 25 meters in diameter, 35 meters in height, and the dome is 30 meters in diameter and 17.4 meters in height, and it is located at -80 meters to -130 meters at sea level. Although six silos have been constructed in the first stage and are in operation, only one silo was considered in this study. The two-dimensional axial symmetric finite element model, as well as the three-dimensional finite element model were made using the computer program SMAP-3D. Generalized Hoek and Brown Model was used for the numerical analyses. The finite element analysis of the silo type underground opening was carried out under various lateral pressure coefficients (defined as ratio of average horizontal to vertical in-situ stress), and the numerical results of these analyses were examined.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.935-944
• /
• 2021

It has been suggested that bisphenol A (BPA), a known endocrine disruptor, interferes with the endocrine system, causing reproductive dysfunction. Recently, BPA has been found in waste water due to incomplete sewage purification, possibly threatening health through its ingestion via tap water. In this study, young male mice (6 - 7 weeks old) were administered water containing BPA (50 mg·kg^-1) for four weeks, while control mice consumed water without BPA. Serum, epididymal spermatozoa and testicular sections were assessed after sacrificing the mice on day 28. No significant differences were obtained between the groups in the body, testis and seminal vesicle weights. However, the epididymal sperm motility and count levels were significantly reduced in BPA-fed mice. Significantly higher hepatotoxicity levels were also observed in mice ingesting BPA as compared to the control mice. The level of serum testosterone was reduced, and testicular sections revealed incomplete and irregular spermatogenesis in BPA-ingested mice. The sperm proteasomal-proteolytic activity level has been implicated in sperm function and is measured in motile spermatozoa using fluorometric substrates. High ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolase activity levels were observed in the control mice without BPA. During a mating trial, a low pregnancy rate (71.4%) was observed in females mated with males who had consumed BPA (100% in the control mice). Overall, BPA adversely affected spermatogenesis and quality, as indicated by decreased sperm motility, concentration and serum testosterone levels, resulting in reduced fertility competence.