• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.121-126
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• 2019

The radionuclide inventory prediction of a nuclear power plant can help establish decommissioning plan by providing information of radiation environment. Accumulated radionuclides in reactors and related facilities after reactor shutdown can be divided into neutron activated materials and contaminated materials. Among the neutron activated radionuclides, $^{36}Cl$ and $^{41}Ca$ are important from the viewpoint of disposal because of its long half-life and physiochemical characteristics. In this research, we calculated the radionuclides of $^{36}Cl$ and $^{41}Ca$ in bioshielding concrete by estimating the neutron flux and cross section using the MCNPX. And we evaluated the inventories of $^{36}Cl$ and $^{41}Ca$ using the activation calculation code ORIGEN2.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.261-265
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• 2003

This paper proposes acceptance requirements and the corresponding implementation strategy for the near-surface repository of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes. The proposed requirements include details on waste classification and radionuclide concentration limitation and inventory analysis. The strategy considers a relevant linking between predisposal waste management, disposal safety assessment and the overall disposal system.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.153-164
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• 2014

Currently, there are many programs which are now being developed or already developed to predict radionuclide and corrosion product at the stage of designing NPP. However, since there are not many developments in evaluating quantity of activation corrosion products occurring when disassembling a nuclear power plant there exist some difficulties in calculating accurately. In order to evaluate activation products inventory for the research of effect of neutron activation in the reactor vessel, component of nuclear reactor and adjacent structures, it should be evaluated by using operation history of nuclear reactor, material composition of structure and average neutron flux in every field representing fixed structure of nuclear reactor. In this study, CORA, PACTOLE, CRUDSIM, CREAT and ACE codes are analyzed to predict the quantity of radionuclide and corrosion product of primary reactor which is used at the stage of designing. As a future study, the accuracy in calculating the quantity of product corrosion can be increase by finding out the possibility of use and improvement for evaluation of the decontamination.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.489-500
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• 2022

The decommissioning of nuclear facilities produces various types of radiologically contaminated waste. In addition, dismantlement activities, including cutting, packing, and clean-up at the facility site, result in secondary radioactive waste such as filters, resin, plastic, and clothing. Determining of the radionuclide content of this waste is an important step for the determination of a suitable management strategy including classification and disposal. In this work, we radiochemically characterized the radionuclide activities of filters used during the decommissioning of Korea Research Reactors (KRRs) 1 and 2. The results indicate that the filter samples contained mainly ³H (500-3,600 Bq·g^-1), ¹⁴C (7.5-29 Bq·g^-1), ⁵⁵Fe (1.1- 7.1 Bq·g^-1), ⁵⁹Ni (0.60-1.0 Bq·g^-1), ⁶⁰Co (0.74-70 Bq·g^-1), ⁶³Ni (0.60-94 Bq·g^-1), ⁹⁰Sr (0.25-5.0 Bq·g^-1), ¹³⁷Cs (0.64-8.7 Bq·g^-1), and ¹⁵²Eu (0.19-2.9) Bq·g^-1. In addition, the gross alpha radioactivity of the samples was measured to be between 0.32-1.1 Bq·g^-1. The radionuclide concentrations were below the concentration limit stated in the low- and intermediatelevel waste acceptance criteria of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, and used for the disposal of the KRRs waste drums to a repository site.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2641-2649
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• 2024

Effective management of slightly used nuclear fuel (SUNF) is crucial for both technical and public acceptance reasons. SUNF management, radiotoxicity risk, and associated financial investment and technological capabilities are major concerns in nuclear power production. Reducing the volume of SUNF can simplify its management, and one possible solution is utilizing small modular reactors (SMR) and advanced fuel designs like those with thorium. This research focuses on studying the neutronic performance and radionuclide inventory of three different thorium fuel configurations. The mass of fissile material in thorium-based fuel significantly impacts Kinf, burn-up, and neutron energy spectrum. Compared to uranium, thorium as a fuel produces far fewer transuranic elements and less long-lived fission products (LLFPs) at the end of the core cycle (EOC). However, certain fission product elements produced from thorium-based fuel exhibit higher radioactivity at the beginning of the core cycle (BOC). Physical separation of thorium and uranium in the fuel block, like seed-and-blanket units (SBU) and duplex fuel designs, generate less radioactive waste with lower radioactivity and longer cycle lengths than homogeneous or mixed thorium-uranium fuel. Furthermore, the SBU and duplex feel designs exhibit comparable neutron spectra, leading to negligible differences in SUNF production between the two.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.281-299
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• 2017

The inventory management of radionuclides is essential for the safe management of disposal facilities. In this study, we compared the activity of dry active waste predicted using the generated waste data and that measured for the accepted waste in the disposal facility. For very low level waste, the measured activity was higher than the predicted activity for $^{137}CS$, $^{90}Sr$, $^{99}Tc$ and $^{129}I$. In low level waste, the predicted activity was higher than the measured activity for all radionuclides. We also evaluated the variation in the predicted quantity and total activity of each level of dry active waste through a sensitivity analysis on a scaling factor. This result will contribute to the construction of a Safety Case and safe operation of disposal facilities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.99-106
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• 2022

Background: The radionuclide inventory calculation codes such as ORIGEN and FISPACT collapse neutron reaction libraries with energy spectra and generate an effective one-group cross-section. Since the nuclear cross-section data, energy group (g) structure, and other input details used by the two codes are different, there may be differences in each code's activation inventory calculation results. In this study, the calculation results of neutron-induced activation inventory using ORIGEN and FISPACT were compared and analyzed regarding radioactive waste classification and worker exposure during nuclear decommissioning. Materials and Methods: Two neutron spectra were used to obtain the comparison results: Watt fission spectrum and thermalized energy spectrum. The effective one-group cross-sections were generated for each type of energy group structure provided in ORIGEN and FISPACT. Then, the effective one-group cross-sections were analyzed by focusing on ⁵⁹Ni, ⁶³Ni, ⁹⁴Nb, ⁶⁰Co, ¹⁵²Eu, and ¹⁵⁴Eu, which are the main radionuclides of stainless steel, carbon steel, zircalloy, and concrete for decommissioning nuclear power plant (NPP). Results and Discussion: As a result of the analysis, ¹⁵⁴Eu and ⁵⁹Ni may be overestimated or underestimated depending on the code selection by up to 30%, because the cross-section library used for each code is different. When ORIGEN-44g, -49g, and -238g structures are selected, the differences of the calculation results of effective one-group cross-section according to group structure selection were less than 1% for the six nuclides applied in this study, and when FISPACT-69g, -172g, and -315g were applied, the difference was less than 1%, too. Conclusion: ORIGEN and FISPACT codes can be applied to activation calculations with their own built-in energy group structures for decommissioning NPP. Since the differences in calculation results may occur depending on the selection of codes and energy group structures, it is appropriate to properly select the energy group structure according to the accuracy required in the calculation and the characteristics of the problem.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.121-128
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• 2005

A study on the selective separation of $^{99}Tc,\;^{94}Nb,\;^{55}Fe,\;^{90}Sr$ and $^{59}Ni(^{63}Ni)$ from various radioactive wastes discharged from the nuclear power plants in Korea is being performed for use in their quantifications which are indispensible for the evaluation of the radionuclide inventory. Separation behaviour of Ce, Ca, Mg, Al, Cr, Ti, Mn and Cu recovered along with Ni during the separation of Re (as a surrogate of $^{99}Tc$), Nb, Fe and Sr by anion exchange and Sr-Spec extraction chromatography was investigated by cation exchange and Ni-Spec extraction chromatography using synthetic radioactive waste dissolved solutions containing matrix elements such as Re, Nb, Fe, Sr, Ni, B, Na, K, Ce, Co, Ca, Mg, Al, Zn, Cr, Pb, Cd, Mo, Mn, Cu, Zr, Ti and U. To purify the Ni fraction recovered and prepare a radionuclide source available for gas proportional counting, an application of the Ni precipitation procedure with dimethylglyoxime in the medium of ammonium citrate and tartaric acid solutions as a masking agent for co-existing metal ions was described in detail.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.517-536
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• 2020

The radionuclide inventory in radioactive waste from nuclear power plants should be determined to secure the safety of final repositories. As an alternative to time-consuming, labor-intensive, and destructive radiochemical analysis, the indirect scaling factor (SF) method has been used to determine the concentrations of difficult-to-measure radionuclides. Despite its long history, the original SF methodology remains almost unchanged and now needs to be improved for advanced SF implementation. Intense public attention and interest have been strongly directed to the reliability of the procedures and data regarding repository safety since the first operation of the low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste disposal facility in Gyeongju, Korea. In this review, statistical methodologies for SF implementation are described and evaluated to achieve reasonable and advanced decision-making. The first part of this review begins with an overview of the current status of the scaling factor method and global experiences, including some specific statistical issues associated with SF implementation. In addition, this review aims to extend the applicability of SF to the characterization of large quantities of waste from the decommissioning of nuclear facilities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2736-2747
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• 2022

The operations in the design lifecycle of a nuclear power plant targeted to be decommissioned lead to neutron activation. Operations in the decommissioning process include cutting, decontamination, disposal, and processing. Among these, cutting is done close to the target material, and thus workers are exposed to radiation. As there are only a few studies on pressurizers, there arises the need for further research to assess the radiation exposure dose. This study obtained the specifications of the AP1000 pressurizer of Westinghouse and the distribution of radionuclide inventory of a pressurizer in a pressurised water reactor for evaluation based on literature studies. A cutting scenario was created to develop an optimal method so that the cut pieces fill a radioactive solid waste drum with dimensions 0.571 m × 0.834 m. The estimated exposure dose, estimated using the tool VISIPLAN SW, in terms of the decontamination factor (DF) ranged from DF-0 to DF-100, indicating that DF-90 and DF-100 meet the ICRP recommendation on exposure dose 0.0057 mSv/h. At the end of the study, although flame cutting was considered the most efficient method in terms of cutting speed, laser cutting was the most reasonable one in terms of the financial aspects and secondary waste.