• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.28-53
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• 2024

In general, high-level radioactive waste (HLW) generated as a result of nuclear power generation should be disposed within the country. Determination of the disposal site and host rock for HLW deep geological repository is an important issue not only scientifically but also politically, economically, and socially. Considered host rock types worldwide for geological disposal include crystalline rocks, sedimentary rocks, volcanic rocks, and salt dome. However, South Korea consists of various rock types except salt dome. This paper not only analyzed the geological and rock mechanical characteristics on a nationwide scale with the preliminary results on various rock type studies for the disposal host rock, but also reviewed the characteristics and possibility of various rock types as a host rock through deep drilling surveys. Based on the nationwide screening for host rock types resulted from literature review, rock distributions, and detailed case studies, Jurassic granites and Cretaceous sedimentary rocks (Jinju and Jindong formations) were derived as a possible candidate host rock types for the geological disposal. However, since the analyzed data for candidate rock types from this study is not enough, it is suggested that the disposal rock type should be carefully determined from additional and detailed analysis on disposal depth, regional characteristics, multidisciplinary investigations, etc.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2011

To characterize the site specific properties of a study area for high-level radioactive waste disposal research in KAERI, the several geological investigations such as surface geological surveys and borehole drillings were carried out since 1997. Especially, KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) was constructed to understand the further study of geological environments in 2006. As a result, the first geological model of a study area was constructed by using the results of geological investigation. The objective of this research is to construct a hydrogeological model around KURT area on the basis of the geological model. Hydrogeological data which were obtained from in-situ hydraulic tests in the 9 boreholes were estimated to accomplish the objective. And, the hydrogeological properties of the 4 geological elements in the geological model, which were the subsurface weathering zone, the log angle fracture zone, the fracture zones and the bedrock were suggested. The hydrogeological model suggested in this study will be used as input parameters to carry out the groundwater flow modeling as a next step of the site characterization around KURT area.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.199-208
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• 2012

To develop site characterization technologies for a radioactive waste disposal research in KAERI, the geological and hydrogeological investigations have been carried out since 1997. In 2006, the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) was constructed to study a solute migration, a microbiology and an engineered barrier system as well as deeply to understand geological environments in in-situ condition. This study is performed as one of the site characterization works around KURT. Several investigations such as a lineament analysis, a borehole/tunnel survey, a geophyscial survey and logging in borehole, were used to construct the geological model. As a result, the geological model is constructed, which includes the lithological model and geo-structural model in this study. Moreover, from the results of the in-situ hydraulic tests, the hydrogeological properties of elements in geological model were evaluated.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2006

For the accurate safety assessment of potential radioactive waste disposal site which is located in the crystalline rock it is important to simulate the mass transportation through engineered and natural barrier system precisely, characterized by porous and fractured media respectively. In this work the methods to construct discrete fracture network for the analysis of flow and mass transport through fractured-porous medium are described. The probability density function is adopted in generating fracture properties for the realistic representation of real fractured rock. In order to investigate the intersection between a porous and a fractured medium described by a 2 dimensional rectangular and a cuboid grid respectively, an additional imaginary fracture is adopted at the face of a porous medium intersected by a fracture. In order to construct large scale flow paths an effective method to find interconnected fractures and algorithms of swift detecting connectivities between fractures or porous medium and fractures are proposed. These methods are expected to contribute to the development of numerical program for the simulation of radioactive nuclide transport through fractured-porous medium from radioactive waste disposal site.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.329-337
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• 2010

Radiotracer experiments were performed over two years using pot cultures in a greenhouse to investigate soil-torice seeds transfer factors of radioiodine and technetium for paddy fields around the radioactive-waste disposal site in Gyeongju. Before transplanting rice seedlings, the top about 20 cm soils were thoroughly mixed with $^{125}I$ (2007) and $^{99}Tc$ (2008), and the pots were irrigated to simulate flooded rice fields. Transfer factors were determined as the ratios of the radionuclide concentrations in dry rice seeds (brown rice) to those in dry soils. Transfer factors of radioiodine and technetium were in the ranges of $1.1{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}6.4{\times}10^{-3}$ (three soils) and $5.4{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}2.5{\times}10^{-3}$ (four soils), respectively, for different soils. It seems that the differences in the clay content among soils played a more important role for such variations than those in the organic matter content and pH. As the representative values of radioiodine and technetium transfer factors for rice seeds, $2.9{\times}10^{-3}$ and $1.1{\times}10^{-3}$, respectively, were proposed. In order to obtain more highly representative values in the future, investigations for the sites of interest need to be carried out continuously.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.279-291
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• 2010

To characterize geological features in study area for high-level radioactive waste disposal research, KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has been performing the several geological investigations such as geophysical surveys and borehole drilling since 1997. Especially, the KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) constructed to understand the deep geological environments in 2006. Recently, the deep borehole of 500 m depths was drilled to confirm and validate the geological model at the left research module of the KURT. The objective of this research was to identify the geological structures around KURT using the data obtained from the deep borehole investigation. To achieve the purpose, several geological investigations such as geophysical and borehole fracture surveys were carried out simultaneously. As a result, 7 fracture zones were identified in deep borehole located in the KURT. As one of important parts of site characterization on KURT area, the results will be used to revise the geological model of the study area.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.331-337
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• 2018

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants is generally executed in five steps, including preparation, decontamination, cutting/demolition, waste disposal and environmental restoration. So, for efficient decommissioning of nuclear power plants, worker safety, effects compared to cost, minimization of waste, possibility of reuse, etc., shall be considered. Worker safety and measurement technology shall be secured to exert optimal efficiency of nuclear power plant decommissioning work, for which accurate measurement technology for systems and devices is necessary. Typical In-Situ methods for decommissioning of nuclear plants are CZT, Gamma Camera and ISOCS. This study used ISOCS, which can be applied during the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant site without collecting representative samples, to take measurements of the S/G Water Chamber. To validate the measurement values, Microshield and the GEANT4 code was used as the actual method were used for modeling, respectively. The comparison showed a difference of $1.0{\times}10^1Bq$, which indicates that it will be possible to reduce errors due to the influence of radiation in the natural environment and the precision of modeling. Based on the research results of this paper, accuracy and reliability of measurement values will be analyzed and the applicability of the direct measurement method during the decommissioning of NPPs will be assessed.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.147-153
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• 2018

Copper is used in various applications in environments favoring and enabling formation of biofilms by naturally occurring microbes. Copper is also the chosen corrosion barrier for nuclear waste in Finland. The copper canisters should have lifetimes of 100,000 years. Copper is commonly considered to be resistant to corrosion in oxygen-free water. This is an important argument for using copper as a corrosion protection in the planned canisters for spent nuclear-fuel encapsulation. However, microbial biofilm formation on metal surfaces can increase corrosion in various conditions and provide conditions where corrosion would not otherwise occur. Microbes can alter pH and redox potential, excrete corrosion-inducing metabolites, directly or indirectly reduce or oxidize the corrosion products, and form biofilms that create corrosive microenvironments. Microbial metabolites are known to initiate, facilitate, or accelerate general or localized corrosion, galvanic corrosion, and intergranular corrosion, as well as enable stress-corrosion cracking. Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are present in the repository environment. Sulfide is known to be a corrosive agent for copper. Here we show results from corrosion of copper in anoxic simulated ground water in the presence of SRB enriched from the planned disposal site.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.305-311
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• 2012

Geology, hydrogeology, and geochemistry are the main technical siting factors of a geological repository for spent nuclear fuels. This paper focused on how rock's different geological conditions, such as topography, soils, rock types, structural geology, and geological events, influence the functions of the geological repository. In the context, the site selection criteria of various countries were analyzed with respect to the geological conditions. Each country established the criteria based on its important geological backgrounds. For example, it was necessary for Sweden to take into account the effect of ice age on the land uplift and sea level change, whereas Japan defined seismic activity and volcanism as the main siting factors of the geological repository. Therefore, the results of the paper seems to be helpful in preparing the siting criteria of geological repository in Korea.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.167-176
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• 2018

It is necessary to consider various geological parameters such as lithology, geological structure, earthquake, hydraulic geology, geochemistry, geological engineering, and geothermal in order to select potential sites for HLW(high-level radioactive waste) geological disposal. In particular, the geological lineament reflects the characteristics of various geological parameters and can be used as an important criterion for site selecting such as nuclear power plants and HLW repositories. In this paper, the Finnish lineament classification method for HLW disposal site selection through the lineament analysis was applied to the lineament data in the Korean peninsula. For this purpose, we used previous lineament data from the KIGAM(Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources) and obtained new lineament data from the field geologists such as structural geologist, paleoseismologist, and geomorphologist. To ensure the reliability of the new lineament analysis data, we used high-resolution satellite images and hill-shade relief maps which were constructed by a digital elevation model. In the prevailing direction analysis from the acquired lineament data, the NNE-SSW direction was the most dominant, but the ENE-WSW and NNW-SSE directions also showed highly frequency depending on the experts. Applying the Finnish classification method, the geometrical development characteristics of the lineament corresponding to the Class 1 and 2 used for the wide-wide candidate site were compared. As a result of direction analysis for Class 1, the NNE-SSW direction was the most dominant and the WNW-ESE direction also showed a high frequency. In the case of Class 2, the NNE-SSW is the most prevalent and WNW-ESE or ENE-WSW direction also had highly frequency depending on the experts. Different lineament analysis results based on the same data are interpreted as a result of subjective experience and analytical criteria from the every experts. Therefore, it is necessary to establish integrated criteria and consider geophysical data for the publication of reliable nation-wide lineament map.