• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.18 no.2_spc
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• pp.305-315
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• 2020

For geological disposal of radioactive wastes, a method was proposed to evaluate the radionuclide transport in the biosphere by calculating the elapsed time of nuclide migration. The radionuclides were supposed to be introduced from a natural barrier and reached a large surface water body following a groundwater flow in a shallow subsurface. The biosphere was defined as a shallow subsurface environment that included aquifers on a host rock. Using the proposed method, a calculation algorithm was established, and a computer code that implemented the algorithm was developed. The developed code was verified by comparing the simulation results of the simple cases with the results of the analytical solution and a public program, which has been widely used to evaluate the radiation dose using the radionuclide transport near the surface. A case study was constructed using the previous research for radionuclide transport from the hypothetical geological disposal repository. In the case study, the code calculated the mass discharge rate of radionuclide to a stream in the biosphere. Because the previous research only demonstrated the transport of radionuclides from the hypothetical repository to the host rock, the developed code in the present study could help identify the total transport of radionuclide along the complete pathway.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.232-241
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• 2002

A safety assessment is carried out for the near-surface radioactive waste disposal in the reference engineered vault facility. The analysis is mainly divided into two parts. One deals with the release and transport of radionuclide in the vault and unsaturated zone. The other deals with the transport of radionuclide in the saturated zone and radiological impacts to a human group under well drinking water scenario. The parameters for source-term, geosphere and biosphere models are mainly obtained from the site specific data. The results show that the annual effective doses are dominated by long lived, mobile radionuclides and their associated daughters. And it is found that the total effective dose for drinking water is far below the general criteria of regulatory limit for radioactive waste disposal facility.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2004

A safety assessment code, called SAGE (Safety Assessment Groundwater Evaluation), has been developed to describe post-closure radionuclide releases and potential radiological doses for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) disposal in an engineered vault facility in Korea. The conceptual model implemented in the code is focused on the release of radionuclide from a gradually degrading engineered barrier system to an underlying unsaturated zone, thence to a saturated groundwater zone. The radionuclide transport equations are solved by spatially discretizing the disposal system into a series of compartments. Mass transfer between compartments is by diffusion/dispersion and advection. In all compartments, radionuclides ate decayed either as a single-member chain or as multi-member chains. The biosphere is represented as a set of steady-state, radionuclide-specific pathway dose conversion factors that are multiplied by the appropriate release rate from the far field for each pathway. The code has the capability to treat input parameters either deterministically or probabilistically. Parameter input is achieved through a user-friendly Graphical User Interface. An application is presented, which is compared against safety assessment results from the other computer codes, to benchmark the reliability of system-level conceptual modeling of the code.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.329-346
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• 2008

Post-closure safety assessment for the Wolsong Low- and Intermediate-level radioactive waste Disposal Center is described. Based on assessment context, closure concept and ground water flow characteristics of the disposal site, brief descriptions are included on the assessment scenarios, models, input parameters and tools. Radionuclide transport modeling in the near-field and far-field, gas generation and transport modeling, human intrusion and biosphere transport are also described briefly. Assessment results for each scenarios are shown to meet the performance criteria of regulatory body. Further and continuous efforts to improve the safety of disposal facility will be made during the construction and operational period.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.132-145
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• 2001

The purpose and need of the study is to quantify the advantage or disadvantage of the environmental friendliness of the partitioning of nuclear fuel cycle. To this end, a preliminary study on the quantitative effect of the partition on the permanent disposal of spent PWR and CANDU fuel (HLW) was carried out. Before any analysis, the so-called reference radionuclide release scenario from a potential repository embedded into a crystalline rock was developed. Firstly, the feature, event and processes (FEPs) which lead to the release of nuclides from waste disposed of in a repository and the transport to and through the biosphere were identified. Based on the selected FEPs, the ‘Well Scenario’which might be the worst case scenario was set up. For the given scenario, annual individual doses to a local resident exposed to radioactive hazard were estimated and compared to that from direct disposal. Even though partitioning and transmutation could be an ideal solution to reduce the inventory which eventually decreases the release time as well as the peaks in the annual dose and also minimize the repository area through the proper handling of nuclides, it should overcome major disadvantages such as echnical issues on the partitioning and transmutation system, cost, and public acceptance, and environment friendly issues. In this regard, some relevant issues are also discussed to show the direction for further studies.