• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.255-269
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• 2023

Compared to operational wastes, nuclear power plant (NPP) decommissioning wastes are generated in larger quantities within a short time and include diverse types with a wider range of radiation characteristics. Currently used 200 L drums and IP-2 type transport containers are inefficient and restrictive in packaging and transporting decommissioning wastes. Therefore, new packaging and transport containers with greater size, loading weight, and shielding performance have been developed. When transporting radioactive materials, radiological safety should be assessed by reflecting parameters such as the type and quantity of the package, transport route, and transport environment. Thus far, safety evaluations of radioactive waste transport have mainly targeted operational wastes, that have less radioactivity and a smaller amount per transport than decommissioning wastes. Therefore, in this study, the possible radiation effects during the transport from NPP to disposal facilities were evaluated to reflect the characteristics of the newly developed containers and decommissioning wastes. According to the evaluation results, the exposure dose to transport workers, handling workers, and the public was lower than the domestic regulatory limit. In addition, all exposure dose results were confirmed, through sensitivity analysis, to satisfy the evaluation criteria even under circumstances when radioactive materials were released 100% from the container.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.541-550
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• 2022

When decommissioning nuclear power plant (NPP), the first task performed is cost estimation. This is an important task in terms of securing adequate decommissioning funds and managing the schedule. Therefore, many countries and institutions are conducting continuous research and also developing and using many programs for cost estimation. However, the cost estimated for decommissioning an NPP typically differs from the actual cost incurred in its decommissioning. This is caused by insufficient experience in decommissioning NPPs or lack of decommissioning cost data. This uncertainty in cost estimation can be in general compensated for by applying a contingency. However, reflecting an appropriate standard for the contingency is also difficult. Therefore, in this study, data analysis was conducted based on the contingency guideline suggested by each institution and the actual cost of decommissioning the NPP. Subsequently, TLG Service, Inc.'s process, which recently suggested specific decommissioning costs, was matched with ISDC (International Structure for Decommissioning Costing)'s work breakdown structure (WBS). Based on the matching result, the guideline for applying the contingency for ISDC's WBS Level 1 were presented. This study will be helpful in cost estimation by applying appropriate contingency guidelines in countries or institutions that have no experience in decommissioning NPPs.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.45-55
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• 2016

Decontamination is one of the most important technologies for the decommissioning of NPP. The purpose of decontamination is to reduce the Risk of exposure of the decommissioning workers, and to recycle parts of the plant components. Currently, there is a lack of data on the efficiency of the decontamination technologies for decommissioning. In most cases, the local radiation level can be lowered below a regulatory limitation by decontamination. Therefore, more efficient decontamination technology must be continuously developed. This work describes the practical experiences in the United States and the European countries for NPP decommissioning using these decontamination technologies. When the decommissioning of domestic nuclear power plant is planned and implemented, this work will be helpful as a reference of previous cases.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2004.06a
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• pp.24-31
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• 2004

In order to decommission safely nuclear power plant, it is necessary for the procedure of residual radioactivity investigation in site to provide detailed guidance for planning, implementing, and evaluating environmental and facility radiological surveys conducted to demonstrate compliance with a dose or risk-based regulation. This study presents the procedure of residual radioactivity investigation in decommissioning site - Historical Site Assessment, Scoping Survey, characterization Survey, Remedial Action Support Survey, Final Status Survey - on the basis of MARSSIM(Multi-Agency Radiation Survey and Site Investigation Manual) and investigation cases of decommissioned or decommissioning nuclear power plant.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2274-2281
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• 2024

RESRAD-ONSITE v7.2 code is used to assess the radiation effects on a farmer resident located in a hypothetical contaminated site planned for the first nuclear power plant project in Vietnam, namely Ninh Thuan 1, after decommissioning. Derived concentration guideline levels are preliminarily calculated for 17 radionuclides that are assumed to remain on a contaminated surface soil with an initial concentration of 1 pCi/g in the protected area of NPP site. For a reliable estimation, the site-specific conditions regarding the geological, hydrological, climate, and occupancy data gathered from the Feasibility Study Report (FSR) and relevant literatures for the Ninh Thuan 1 NPP site is employed as input parameters. The calculation results indicate that the peak of total exposure dose is estimated to be ca. 0.191 mSv/yr at the time of decommissioning, and then decrease over time. Furthermore, the protected site is assessed to be released at ca. 6.71 years after decommissioning under the regulation on radiation protection in Vietnam. Through this study, a radiation exposure model for residents living near the Ninh Thuan 1 NPP is preliminarily established by using the RESRAD-ONSITE code, which are expected to be useful for future implementation of the Ninh Thuan 1 NPP project in Vietnam.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.95-106
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• 2019

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants should be prepared by quantitative and qualitative risk assessment. Radiological and non-radiological hazards arising during decommissioning activities must be assessed to ensure the safety of decommissioning workers and the public. Decommissioning experiences by U.S. operators have mainly focused on deterministic risk assessment, which is standardized by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory commission (NRC) and focuses only on the consequences of risk. However, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has suggested an alternative to the deterministic approach, called the risk matrix technique. The risk matrix technique considers both the consequence and likelihood of risk. In this study, decommissioning stages, processes, and activities are organized under a work breakdown structure. Potential accidents in the decommissioning process of NPPs are analyzed using the composite risk matrix to assess both radiological and non-radiological hazards. The levels of risk for all potential accidents considered by U.S. NPP operators who have performed decommissioning were estimated based on their consequences and likelihood of events.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.365-369
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• 2022

Operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants generates radioactive waste. This radioactive waste can be categorized into several different levels, for example, low, intermediate, and high, according to the regulations. Currently, low and intermediate-level waste are stored in conventional 200-liter drums to be disposed. However, in Korea, the disposal of intermediate-level radioactive waste is virtually impossible as there are no available facilities. Furthermore, large-sized intermediate-level radioactive waste, such as reactor internals from decommissioning, need to be segmented into smaller sizes so they can be adequately stored in the conventional drums. This segmentation process requires additional costs and also produces secondary waste. Therefore, this paper suggests repurposing the no-longer-used spent nuclear fuel casks. The casks are larger in size than the conventional drums, thus requiring less segmentation of waste. Furthermore, the safety requirements of the spent nuclear fuel casks are severer than those of the drums. Hence, repurposed spent nuclear fuel casks could better address potential risks such as dropping, submerging, or a fire. In addition, the spent nuclear fuel casks need to be disposed in compliance with the regulations for low level radioactive waste. This cost may be avoided by repurposing the casks.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2_spc
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• pp.247-260
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• 2020

A multi-regression model was developed to estimate the decommissioning cost for Kori unit 1 using foreign nuclear power plant (NPP) decommissioning cost data. First, the decommissioning cost data were collected for 13 boiling water reactors and 16 pressurized water reactors and converted into the values as of November 2019. Then, for the regression model, the decommissioning cost was chosen as the dependent variable, and two variables were selected as independent variables: a contamination factor that was designed to reflect the operational characteristics of the decommissioned NPP and the decommissioning period. A statistical package in the R language was used to derive the regression model. Finally, the regression model was applied to estimate the decommissioning cost for Kori unit 1. The estimated decommissioning cost for Kori unit 1 was 663.40~928.32 million US dollars (782,812~1,095,418 million Korean won).

• Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.76-84
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• 2021

Radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plant decommissioning shall be strictly managed so that radioactive materials above the allowable limit are not leaked into the environment. Radioactive wastes shall be classified and treated for management based on characteristics such as the type of waste, physicochemical properties, nuclide concentration and radioactivity. Waste characterization report shall be prepared and submitted to the disposal facility operator to ensure that the treated waste is suitable for disposal. The disposal facility operator shall review the waste Characterization report and visit the nuclear power plant decommissioning site to ensure that the wastes are processed step by step according to the plan. The waste Characterization report may be used as input data to evaluate disposal facility safety. Domestic and foreign data are collected and reviewed to confirm the entire processes from waste generation to delivery. This paper proposes the method to prepare the waste Characterization report which contains data and information on waste characteristics, treatment facilities & method and packaging method & container.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.606-612
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• 2018

Many nuclear power plants in Japan are approaching the end of their planned operational life spans. They must be decommissioned safely in the near future. Using augmented reality (AR), workers can intuitively understand information related to decommissioning work. Three-dimensional (work-site) reconstruction models of dismantling fields are useful for workers to observe the conditions of dismantling field situations without visiting the actual fields. This study, based on AR and work-site reconstruction models, developed and evaluated an information reference system. The evaluation consists of questionnaires and interview surveys administered to six nuclear power plant workers who used this system, along with a scenario. Results highlight the possibility of reducing time and mitigating mistakes in dismantling fields. Results also show the ease of referring to information in dismantling fields. Nevertheless, it is apparently difficult for workers to build reconstruction models of dismantling fields independently.