• Korean Journal of Clinical Pharmacy
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.286-294
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• 2019

Background: At the end of the'Waste Drug Disposal Project', collection and disposal of waste drugs remain a social issue. Objective: This study aimed to provide suggestions to improve the drug waste management system in Korea by comparing domestic and overseas relevant programs. Methods: This is a comparative study between South Korea, Australia, Canada, France, and the US. These overseas countries were selected because they have been operating waste drug management programs continuously to date. Comparison was conducted by a pre-determined analysis frame including legal regulation, enforcement program and its performance. Results: All selected countries except Australia had legal regulations on drug wastes. The US had the largest variety of drug waste disposal methods. Canada had recommended that pharmacies actively participate in drug waste withdrawal programs. France had the largest variety of methods to promote relevant programs, including window sticker, SNS, and app, as well as the highest level of awareness and participation. Australia had the lowest level of awareness and participation in pharmaceutical waste management programs. Pharmaceutical companies took responsibility of paying for these programs in the selected overseas countries. Conclusion: Further efforts should be made to establish a clear guideline including the role of pharmaceutical companies, and to develop various methods for the public to be aware of appropriate ways of disposing drug wastes in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.87-92
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• 2011

This paper introduces the policy and regulations on very low level waste (VLLW) management in China. Given the important decommissioning and site restoration program of the old facility, it is considered necessary to create a new disposal facility dedicated to VLLW. Many general design principles are in common with to the disposal facility for low and intermediate level waste (LILW), namely the isolation of the waste by means of a multibarrier system, but using bentonite and/or high density polyethylene membranes instead of the generalized use of concrete barriers. The design of the facility is consistent with the design of disposal facilities for hazardous waste. The engineering design of two VLLW disposal facilities is introduced.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.4
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• pp.1540-1554
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• 2023

To use nuclear energy sustainably, spent nuclear fuel, classified as high-level radioactive waste and inevitably discharged after electricity generation by nuclear power plants, must be managed safely and isolated from the human environment. In Korea, the land area is limited and the amount of high-level radioactive waste, including spent nuclear fuels to be disposed, is relatively large. Thus, it is particularly necessary to maximize disposal efficiency. In this study, a high-efficiency deep geological repository concept was developed to enhance disposal efficiency. To this end, design strategies and requirements for a high-efficiency deep geological repository system were established, and engineered barrier modules with a disposal canister for pressurized water reactor (PWR)-type and pressurized heavy water reactor type Canada deuterium uranium (CANDU) plants were developed. Thermal and structural stability assessments were conducted for the repository system; it was confirmed that the system was suitable for the established strategies and requirements. In addition, the results of the nuclear safety assessment showed that the radiological safety of the new system met the Korean safety standards for disposal of high-level radioactive waste in terms of radiological dose. To evaluate disposal efficiency in terms of the disposal area, the layout of the developed disposal areas was assessed in terms of thermal limits. The estimated disposal areas were 2.51 km² and 1.82 km² (existing repository system: 4.57 km²) and the excavated host rock volumes were 2.7 Mm³ and 2.0 Mm³ (existing repository system: 4.5 Mm³) for thermal limits of 100 ℃ and 130 ℃, respectively. These results indicated that the area and the excavated volume of the new repository system were reduced by 40-60% compared to the existing repository system. In addition, methods to further improve the efficiency were derived for the disposal area for deep geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The results of this study are expected to be useful in establishing a national high-level radioactive waste management policy, and for the design of a commercial deep geological repository system for spent nuclear fuels.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.89-96
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• 2014

The repository for the disposal of LILW which is generated from nuclear power plants and industries is expected to be completed in 2014. For the disposal of LILW, it is important to secure a disposal facility itself, but it is also very important to establish a reasonable charging system which all shareholders are satisfied with. Korea's disposal fee for LILW is higher than other countries' fee, which is a burden to waste generators as well as the waste management organization. The partial reason for the high disposal fee is put on the high social and construction cost when compared with other countries. However the major reason is put on the excessive borrowing cost that is used for the construction of the LILW disposal facility. In this study, we proposed the way to reduce the excessive borrowing cost for sustainable project managements of LILW disposal by analyzing a cost structure.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.405-418
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• 2019

Based on spent fuels characteristics from domestic nuclear power plants and a disposal scenario from the current basic plan for high-level radioactive waste management, an improved disposal system has been proposed that enhances disposal efficiency and economic effectiveness compared to the existing disposal system. For this purpose, two disposal canisters concepts were derived from the length of the spent fuel generated from the nuclear power plants. In the disposal scenario, the acceptable amount of decay heat for each disposal container was determined, taking into account the discharge and disposal times of spent fuels in accordance with the current basic plan. Based on the determined decay heat of the two types of disposal canisters and the associated disposal system, thermal stability analyses were performed to confirm their suitability to the proposed disposal system design requirement and disposal efficiency assessment. The results of this study confirm 20% reduction in the disposal area and 20% increase in disposal density for the proposed disposal system compared to the existing system. These results can be used to establish a spent fuel management policy and to design a viable commercial disposal system.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2019.05a
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• pp.177-178
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• 2019

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.323-334
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• 2023

The vast volumes of data that are generated during site characterization and associated research for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste require effective data management to properly chronicle and archive this information. The Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Management Company, SKB, established the SICADA database for site selection, evaluation, analysis, and modeling. The German Federal Company for Radioactive Waste Disposal, BGE, established ArbeitsDB, a database and document management system, and the ELO data system to manage data collected according to the Repository Site Selection Act. The U.K. Nuclear Waste Services established the Data Management System to manage any research and survey data pertaining to nuclear waste storage and disposal. The U.S. Department of Energy and Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management established the Technical Data Management System for data management and subsequent licensing procedures during site characterization surveys. The presented cases undertaken by these national agencies highlight the importance of data quality management and the scalability of data utilization to ensure effective data management. Korea should also pursue the establishment of both a data management concept for radioactive waste disposal that considers data quality management and scalability from a long-term perspective and an associated data management system.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.6
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• pp.532-544
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• 2017

Objectives: Because the amount of medical waste (i.e., health-care waste) generated in Korea is rapidly increasing and social concern against its safety is widespread, a number of issues related with medical wastes are being discussed. The purpose of this study is to compare diverse medical waste management systems worldwide and propose future directions of a medical waste management system in Korea. Methods: Literature review was conducted mainly on the WHO, and developed countries such as the European Union (Germany, Belgium and UK), Japan and the United States. For these countries, the data with respect to their systems for medical waste management ranging from the definition of medical waste to the whole processes of collection, transportation and disposal were summarized and compared. Results: The terminology and classification of medical wastes were not consistent for WHO recommendation, EU, Japan, US and Korea. Comparison of the collection, storage, transportation and disposal of medical waste showed that Korea had rather stronger regulations for medical waste management compared to developed countries including Belgium (Flanders region), Germany, Japan and the US. Considering that developed countries adopt rather flexible disposal system especially for general medical wastes which pose lower possibility of infection, Korean government could consider diversifying disposal methods other than incineration. It may also be very important to try to reduce the amount of medical wastes and enough capacity for off-site incineration are secured. Conclusion: Our study of international comparisons suggests that it is necessary to continue to identify advantages and disadvantages of the current medical waste management systems and establish more effective one in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.55-62
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• 2012

As an alternative of the high-level radioactive waste disposal in the subsurface repository, a deep borehole disposal is reviewed by several nuclear advanced countries. In this study, the state of the art on the borehole disposal researches was reviewed, and the possibility of borehole disposal in Korean peninsula was discussed. In the deep borehole disposal concept radioactive waste is disposed at the section of 3 - 5km depth in a deep borehole, and it has known that it has advantages in performance and cost due to the layered structure of deep groundwater and small surface disposal facility. The results show that it is necessary to acquisite data on deep geologic conditions of Korean peninsula, and to research the engineering barrier system, numerical modeling tools and disposal techniques for deep borehole disposal.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

A long-term R&D program for HLW disposal technology development was launched in 1997 in Korea and Korea Reference disposal System(KRS) for spent fuels had been developed. After then, a recycling process for PWR spent fuels to get the reusable material such as uranium or TRU and to reduce the volume of radioactive waste, called Pyro-process, is being developed. This Pyro-process produces several kinds of wastes including metal waste and ceramic waste. In this study, the characteristics of the waste from Pyro-process and the concepts of a disposal container for the wastes were described. Based on these concepts, thermal analyses were carried out to determine a layout of the disposal area of the ceramic wastes which was classified as a high level waste and to develop the disposal system called A-KRS. The location of the final repository for A-KRS is not determined yet, thus to review the potential repository domains, the possible layout in the geological characteristics of KURT facility site was proposed. These results will be used in developing a repository system design and in performing the safety assessment.