• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제48권3호
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• pp.727-732
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• 2016

A simple and rapid spectrophotometric method has been developed to enable the determination of plutonium concentration in an irradiated fuel solution in the presence of all fission products. An excess of ceric ammonium nitrate solution was employed to oxidize all the valence states of plutonium to +6 oxidation state. Interference due to the presence of fission products such as ruthenium and zirconium, and corrosion products such as iron in the envisaged concentration range, as in the irradiated fuel solution, was studied in the determination of plutonium concentration by the direct spectrophotometric method. The stability of plutonium in +6 oxidation state was monitored under experimental conditions as a function of time. Results obtained are reproducible, and this method is applicable to radioactive samples resulting before the solvent extraction process during the reprocessing of fast reactor spent fuel. An analysis of the concentration of plutonium shows a relative standard deviation of <1.2% in standard as well as in simulated conditions. This reflects the fast reactor fuel composition with respect to uranium, plutonium, fission products such as ruthenium and zirconium, and corrosion products such as iron.

• 에너지공학
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.21-25
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• 2011

본 연구에서는 방사성 폐기물을 처리하는 원통형 회전 분리기를 감시하기 위해 전기 저항법을 제안하고 수학적 모델을 연구하였다. 회전형 방사성 폐기물 분리기에서 관 벽에 설치된 한 쌍의 전극의 전기 저항은 표면을 따라 형성된 불용해성 입자의 환상 영역의 두께와 그 영역의 불용해성 입자의 농도와 관련이 있다. 본 연구는 전위 방정식에 대한 2차원 해와 실험적인 전도도-농도 관계를 기반으로 전술한 인자들 사이의 해석적 관계를 기술하였다. 또한, 원통형 회전 분리기를 감시하기 위한 전기 저항법의 적용 가능성을 논의 하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권8호
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• pp.1355-1363
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• 2018

Many radionuclides exist in normal environment and artificial radionuclides also can be detected. The radionuclides ($^{131}I$) are widely used for labeling compounds and radiation therapy. In Korea, the radionuclide ($^{131}I$) is produced at the Radioisotope Production Facility (RIPF) at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon. The residents around the RIPF assume that $^{131}I$ detected in environmental samples is produced from RIPF. To ensure the safety of the residents, the radioactive concentration of $^{131}I$ near the RIPF was investigated by monitoring environmental samples along the Gap River. The selected geographical places are near the nuclear installation, another possible location for $^{131}I$ detection, and downstream of the Gap River. The first selected places are the "front gate of KAERI", and the "Donghwa bridge". The second selected place is the sewage treatment plant. Therefore, the Wonchon bridge is selected for the upstream of the plant and the sewage treatment plant is selected for the downstream of the plant. The last selected places are the downstream where the two paths converged, which is Yongshin bridge (in front of the cogeneration plant). In these places, environmental samples, including sediment, fish, surface water, and aquatic plants, were collected. In this study, the radioactive iodine ($^{131}I$) detection along the Gap River will be investigated.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.279-296
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• 2022

The fundamental characteristics of groundwater colloids, such as composition, concentration, size, and stability, were analyzed using granitic groundwater samples taken from the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) site by such analytical methods as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, field emission-transmission electron microscopy, a liquid chromatography-organic carbon detector, and dynamic light scattering technique. The results show that the KURT groundwater colloids are mainly composed of clay minerals, calcite, metal (Fe) oxide, and organic matter. The size and concentration of the groundwater colloids were 10-250 nm and 33-64 ㎍·L^-1, respectively. These values are similar to those from other studies performed in granitic groundwater. The groundwater colloids were found to be moderately stable under the groundwater conditions of the KURT site. Consequently, the groundwater colloids in the fractured granite system of the KURT site can form stable radiocolloids and increase the mobility of radionuclides if they associate with radionuclides released from a radioactive waste repository. The results provide basic data for evaluating the effects of groundwater colloids on radionuclide migration in fractured granite rock, which is necessary for the safety assessment of a high-level radioactive waste repository.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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• pp.530-545
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• 2023

As an alternative to conventional management options for a lot of concrete waste from decommissioning of nuclear power plants, a set of scenarios for controlled recycling of decommissioning concrete waste as engineered barriers of a radioactive waste repository was proposed, and a comprehensive safety assessment model and framework covering both pre-and post-closure phases was newly developed. The new methodology was applied to a reference vault-type repository, and the ratios of derived concentration limits to unconditional clearance levels of eighteen radionuclides for controlled recycling were provided for three sets of dose criteria (0.01, 1, and 20 mSv/y for the pre-closure and 0.01 mSv/y for the post-closure phases). It turns out that decommissioning concrete waste whose concentration is much higher than the unconditional clearance level can be recycled even when the dose criterion 0.01 mSv/y is applied. Moreover, a case study on ABWR bio-shield shows that the fraction of recyclable concrete waste increases significantly by increasing the dose criterion for the radiation worker in the pre-closure phase or the duration of storage prior to recycling. The results of this study are expected to contribute to demonstrating the feasibility of controlled recycling of a lot of decommissioning concrete waste within nuclear sectors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권6호
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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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• 제47권7호
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• pp.859-866
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• 2015

The aim of this work is to investigate the transport mechanism of radioactive nuclides through the reverse osmosis (RO) membrane and to estimate its effectiveness for nuclide separation from radioactive liquid waste. An analytical model is developed to simulate the RO separation, and a series of experiments are set up to confirm its estimated separation behavior. The model is based on the extended Nernst-Plank equation, which handles the convective flux, diffusive flux, and electromigration flux under electroneutrality and zero electric current conditions. The distribution coefficient which arises due to ion interactions with the membrane material and the electric potential jump at the membrane interface are included as boundary conditions in solving the equation. A high Peclet approximation is adopted to simplify the calculation, but the effect of concentration polarization is included for a more accurate prediction of separation. Cobalt and cesium are specifically selected for the experiments in order to check the separation mechanism from liquid waste composed of various radioactive nuclides and nonradioactive substances, and the results are compared with the estimated cobalt and cesium rejections of the RO membrane using the model. Experimental and calculated results are shown to be in excellent agreement. The proposed model will be very useful for the prediction of separation behavior of various radioactive nuclides by the RO membrane.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권5호
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• pp.1830-1837
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• 2023

The thermal cutting of contaminated or activated metals during decommissioning nuclear power plants inevitably results in the release of radioactive aerosol. Since radioactive aerosols are pernicious particles that contribute to the internal dose of workers, air conditioning units with a HEPA filter are used to remove radioactive aerosols. However, a HEPA filter cannot be used permanently. This study evaluates the efficiency and lifetime of filters in actual metal cutting condition using a plasma arc cutter and a high-resolution aerosol detector. The number concentration and size distribution of aerosols from 6 nm to 10 ㎛ were measured on both the upstream and downstream sides of the filter. The total aerosol removal efficiency of HEPA filter satisfies the standard of removing at least 99.97% of 0.3 ㎛ airborne particles, even if the pressure drop increases due to dust feeding load. The pressure drop and particle size removal efficiency at 0.3 ㎛ of the HEPA filter were found to increase with repeated cutting experiments. By contrast, the efficiency of used HEPA filter reduced in removing nano-sized aerosols by up to 79.26%. Altogether, these results can be used to determine the performance guidance and replacement frequency of HEPA filters used in nuclear power plants.

• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.147-153
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• 2024

Radioactive liquid waste generated during operation and overhaul is collected and reused through the radioactive liquid waste treatment system and continuous monitoring system in the nuclear power plant or discharged to the outside if it satisfies the limit within the control and monitoring. However, there are concerns about boric acid management, which controls the power output of nuclear power plants in radioactive liquid waste. Due to the behavior of boric acid, it is difficult to remove it in the existing liquid radwaste system, and the concentration of boric acid water discharged tends to be higher than the natural state of 5 ppm, so additional facilities should be considered. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the radiological effects of radioactive waste treatment facilities that are under development and use them as a basis for managing worker exposure and evaluating the safety of facilities in the future.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제2권3호
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• pp.219-230
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• 2004

Most of the low-level liquid radioactive wastes generated from PWR plants are classified into high or low total suspended solid(HTDS or LTDS), and into radiochemical and radioactive laundry waste. Although the evaporation process has a high decontami- nation ability, it has several problems such as corrosion, foam, and congestion. A new liquid waste disposal process using the ion-exchange demineralizer(IED), instead of the current evaporation process, has been introduced into the Yonggwang NPP #5 and 6. These two methods have been compared to understand the differences in this study. Aspects compared here were the released radioactivity amount of the liquid radioactive wastes, the dose of off-site residents, the decontamination factor, and the amount of the solid radioactive wastes. The IED system is designed to discharge higher radioactivity about 20% than the evaporating system, and the actual radioactivity released from the evaporating and IED system were 0.473mCi and 1.098mCi, respectively. The radioactivity released from the IED was 2.32 times higher than that of the evaporating system. The dose of off-site residents was $2.97{\times}10^{-6}$mSv for the evaporating system, and $6.47{\times}10^{-6}$mSv for IED. The decontamination factor(DF) of the evaporator is, in most cases, far lower than the lower limits of detection(LLD) with the Ge-Li detector. Due to the low concentration of the liquid wastes collected from the liquid waste system, the decontamination factor of IED is very low. Since there is not enough data on the amount of solid radioactive wastes generated by the evaporation system, the comparison on these two systems has been conducted on the basis of the design, and the comparison result was that the evaporating system generated more wastes about 40% than IED.