• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear waste

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Challenges of implementing the policy and strategy for management of radioactive waste and nuclear spent fuel in Indonesia

  • Wisnubroto, D.S.;Zamroni, H.;Sumarbagiono, R.;Nurliati, G.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.53 no.2
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    • pp.549-561
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    • 2021
  • Indonesia has policies and strategies for the management of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel that arises from the use of nuclear research and development facilities, including three research reactors, and the use of radioisotopes in medicine and industries. The Indonesian government has provided extensive facilities such as an independent regulatory organization (BAPETEN) and a centralized radioactive waste management organization (CRWT-BATAN). Further, the presence of regulations and several international conventions guarantee the protection of the public from all risks due to handling radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel. However, the sustainability of radioactive waste management in the future faces various challenges, such as disposal issues related to not only to site selection but also financing of radioactive waste management. Likewise, the problem of transportation persists; as an archipelago country, Indonesia still struggles to manage the infrastructure required for the transport of radioactive materials. The waste from the production of the radioisotopes, especially from the production of 99Mo, requires special attention because BATAN has never handled it. Indonesia should also resolve the management of NORM from various activities. In Indonesia, the definition of radioactive waste does not include NORM. Therefore, the management of this waste needs revision and improvement on the regulations, infrastructure, and technology.

Development of an Acceptance Criteria Implementation Flow Chart for verifying the Disposal Suitability of Radioactive Waste from Decommissioning of Nuclear Power Plants (원자력발전소 해체 방사성폐기물 처분 적합성 검증을 위한 인수기준 이행 흐름도 개발)

  • Kim, Chang Lak;Lee, Sun Kee;Kim, Heon;Sung, Suk Hyun;Park, Hae Soo;Kong, Chang Sig
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Systems Engineering
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.65-75
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    • 2021
  • When the decommissioning of South Korea nuclear power plants is promoted in earnest with the permanent shutdown of Kori Unit 1 in 2017, a large amount of various types of radioactive waste will be generated. For minimal generation and safe management of decommissioning waste, the waste should be made by appropriate classification of the dismantling waste characteristics in accordance with physical, chemical and radiological characteristics to meet the acceptance criteria of disposal facilities. Replacing the preliminary inspection at the site for the compliance of the waste acceptance criteria (WAC) of medium and low-level radioactive waste with the generator's own radioactive waste certification program (WCP), from the perspective of disposal, the optimization of waste management at the national level contributes to the efficient availability of disposal, such as the processing of non-conforming radioactive wastes at the site. To this end, it is important to evaluate radioactivity in each system and area such as nuclear reactors before decommissioning is carried out in earnest, and the prior removal of harmful wastes is important. From waste collection to waste disposal, decommissioning waste should be managed at each stage in consideration of the acceptance criteria of disposal facilities to minimize the generation of non-conforming waste.

Estimation of radionuclides leaching characteristics in different sized geopolymer waste forms with simulated spent ion-exchange resin

  • Younglim Shin;Byoungkwan Kim;Jaehyuk Kang;Hyun-min Ma;Wooyong Um
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.10
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    • pp.3617-3627
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    • 2023
  • This study presents a method to solidify spent ion-exchange resin (IER) in a metakaolin-based geopolymer and shows results of mechanical strength, immersion, leaching, irradiation, and thermal cycling tests for waste acceptance criteria (WAC) to repository. The geopolymer waste form with 20 wt% of simulated spent IER met the WAC in South Korea (ROK), and the leaching tests of various sized-waste forms up to 15.0 × 30.0 cm and waste loadings up to 20 wt% for 1-5 d and 1-90 d achieved a leachability index, Li > 6. In a leaching test for 5 d, the cumulative fraction leached (CFL) for Cs, which leached the most, was linearly correlated with the square root of leaching time for all waste forms, and Li increased as the size of the waste form increased. The CFL was also correlated with elapsed time in the 90 d leaching test. The correlations among CFL, time, and volume-to-surface area ratio of waste forms used to estimate the Li of Cs of a 200-L sized geopolymer with 15 wt% IER showed the Li values as 14.73 (5 d) and 17.71 (90 d), respectively, indicating that the large-sized geopolymer waste form met the WAC.

Effective removal of non-radioactive and radioactive cesium from wastewater generated by washing treatment of contaminated steel ash

  • P. Sopapan;U. Lamdab;T. Akharawutchayanon;S. Issarapanacheewin;K. Yubonmhat;W. Silpradit;W. Katekaew;N. Prasertchiewchan
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.55 no.2
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    • pp.516-522
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    • 2023
  • The co-precipitation process plays a key role in the decontamination of radionuclides from low and intermediate levels of liquid waste. For that reason, the removal of Cs ions from waste solution by the co-precipitation method was carried out. A simulated liquid waste (133Cs) was prepared from a 0.1 M CsCl solution, while wastewater generated by washing steel ash served as a representative of radioactive cesium solution (137Cs). By co-precipitation, potassium ferrocyanide was applied for the adsorption of Cs ions, while nickel nitrate and iron sulfate were selected for supporting the precipitation. The amount of residual Cs ions in the CsCl solution after precipitation and filtration was determined by ICP-OES, while the radioactivity of 137Cs was measured using a gamma-ray spectrometer. After cesium removal, the amount of cesium appearing in both XRD and SEM-EDS was analyzed. The removal efficiency of 133Cs was 60.21% and 51.86% for nickel nitrate and iron sulfate, respectively. For the ash-washing solution, the removal efficiency of 137Cs was revealed to be more than 99.91% by both chemical agents. This implied that the co-precipitation process is an excellent strategy for the effective removal of radioactive cesium in waste solution treatment.

Nuclear waste attributes of near-term deployable small modular reactors

  • Taek K. Kim;L. Boing;B. Dixon
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.56 no.3
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    • pp.1100-1107
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    • 2024
  • The nuclear waste attributes of near-term deployable SMRs were assessed using established nuclear waste metrics, which are the DU mass, SNF mass, volume, activity, decay heat, radiotoxicity, and decommissioning LLW volumes. Metrics normalized per unit electricity generation were compared to a reference large PWR. Three SMRs, VOYGR, Natrium, and Xe-100, were selected because they represent a range of reactor and fuel technologies and are active designs deployable by the decade's end. The SMR nuclear waste attributes show both some similarities to the PWR and some significant differences caused by reactor-specific design features. The DU mass is equivalent to or slightly higher than the PWR. Back-end waste attributes for SNF disposition vary, but the differences have a limited impact on long-term repository isolation. SMR designs can vary significantly in SNF volume (and thus heat generation density). However, these differences are amenable to design optimization for handling, storage, transportation, and disposal technologies. Nuclear waste attributes from decommissioning vary depending on design and decommissioning technology choices. Given the analysis results in this study and assuming appropriate waste management system and operational optimization, there appear to be no major challenges to managing SMR nuclear wastes compared to the reference PWR.

The exfoliation of irradiated nuclear graphite by treatment with organic solvent: A proposal for its recycling

  • Capone, Mauro;Cherubini, Nadia;Cozzella, Maria Letizia;Dodaro, Alessandro;Guarcini, Tiziana
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.51 no.4
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    • pp.1037-1040
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    • 2019
  • For the past 50 years, graphite has been widely used as a moderator, reflector and fuel matrix in different kinds of gas-cooled reactors. Resulting in approximately 250,000 metric tons of irradiated graphite waste. One of the most significant long-lived radioisotope from graphite reactors is carbon-14 ($^{14}C$) with a half-life of 5730 years, this makes it a huge concern for deep geologic disposal of nuclear graphite (NG). Considering the lifecycle of NG a number of waste management options have been developed, mainly focused on the achievement the radiological requirements for disposal. The existing approaches for recycling depend on the cost to be economically viable. In this new study, an affordable process to remove $^{14}C$ has been proposed using samples taken from the Nuclear Power Plant in Latina (Italy) which have been used to investigate the capability of organic and inorganic solvents in removing $^{14}C$ from exfoliated nuclear graphite, with the aim to design a practicable approach to obtain graphite for recycling or/and safety disposed as L& LLW.

A Study on the Consumers' Perception of Agricultural Products Using Nuclear Power Plants Waste Heat (원자력 발전소 온배수 이용 농산물에 대한 소비자 인식조사)

  • Heo, Seung-Wook
    • Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.369-379
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    • 2018
  • This study examines consumers' perception of agricultural products using nuclear power plants waste heat. This study surveyed 348 consumers and found that presenting information about safety of waste heat utilization increased appropriacy of waste heat; after providing the information, the percentage of respondents in favor of using waste heat increased 27.5% point from 38.3% to 65.8%. The most important reason against using waste heat was because it threatened the safety of agricultural products, and the most important reason for its support was to reduce farm production costs. The purchase intention for agricultural products using waste heat had risen by at least 10% point after providing the information about safety of waste heat. Those means that it important provision of accurate and reliable information on the safety of waste heat to encourage the utilization of waste heat from nuclear power plants. Purchase intention for flowers using waste heat was most, followed by vegetables, fruits (including fruits and vegetables).