• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.249-258
• /
• 2019

Acid spill accidents are frequently occurring in Korea with increasing production, use, storage, and transport of acids, accompanying industrialization and economic growth. The acids introduced to the subsurface environments would eventually be neutralized by reactions with geomedia. However, the spatial and temporal extent to which the spilled acids would affect will be dependent on the characteristics of the geomedia exposed to the acids. In this work, sulfuric acid, the most used acid in Korea, was reacted with a set of model geomedia representative of the geology of Korea. The buffering capacity of the model geomedia was determined through batch-type experiments using pH changes as an indicator. X-ray diffraction was used to identify the mineral phases contributing to the acid neutralization. The results showed that sandstone had the largest acid neutralization capacity among the tested geomedia, while kaolinite had the smallest. The findings of this study would contribute to quantitatively assessing the impact of spilled acids on geomedia and hence to predicting the vulnerability of geomedia to the spilled acid.

• Proceedings of the KSEEG Conference
• /
• 2002.06a
• /
• pp.81-100
• /
• 2002

While most of regulatory communities in abroad recognize ' 'natural attenuation " to include degradation, dispersion, dilution, sorption (including precipitation and transformation), and volatilization as governing Processes, regulators prefer "degradation" because this mechanism destroys the contaminant of concern. Unfortunately, true degradation only applies to organic contaminants and short- lived radionuclides, and leaves most metals and long-lived radionuclides. The natural attenuation Processes may reduce the potential risk Posed by site contaminants in three ways: (i)contaminants could be converted to a less toxic form througy destructive processes such as biodegradation or abiotic transformations; (ii) potential exposure levels may be reduced by lowering concentrations (dilution and dispersion); and (iii) contaminant mobility and bioavailability may be reduced by sorption to geomedia. In this review, authors will focus will focul on "sorption" among the natural attenuation processes of hazardous inorganic contaminants including radionuclides. Note though that sorption and transformation processes of inorganic contaminants in the natural setting could be influenced by biotic activities but our discussion would limit only to geochemical reactions involved in the natural attenuation. All of the geochemical reactions have been studied in-depth by numerous researchers for many years to understand "retardation" process of contaminants in the geomedia. The most common approach for estimating retardation is the determination of distrubution coefficiendts ($K_{d}$) of contaminants using parametric or mechanistic models. As typocally used in fate and contaminant transport calculations such as predictive models of the natural attenuation, the $K_{d}$ is defined as the ratio of the contaminant concentration in the surrounding aqueous solution when the system is at equilibrium. Unfortunately, generic or default $K_{d}$ values can result in significant error when used to predict contaminant migration rate and to select a site remediation alternative. Thus, to input the best $K_{d}$ value in the contaminant transport model, it is essential that important geochemical processes affecting the transport should be identified and understood. Precipitation/dissolution and adsorption/desorption are considered the most important geochemical processes affecting the interaction of inorganic and radionuclide contaminants with geomedia at the near and far field, respectively. Most of contaminants to be discussed in this presentation are relatively immobile, i.e., have very high $K_{d}$ values under natural geochemical environments. Unfortunately, the obvious containment in a source area may not be good enough to qualify as monitored natural attenuation site unless owner demonstrate the efficacy if institutional controls that were put in place to protect potential receptors. In this view, natural attenuation as a remedial alternative for some of sites contaminated by hazardous-inorganic components is regulatory and public acceptance issues rather than scientific issue.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.25-32
• /
• 1995

Batch sorption experiments were conducted to investigate the sorption characteristics of $^{137}$ Cs, known for the primary target of safety assessment in low-level radwaste disposal, onto domestic rocks such as Granite and Tuff. A response surface analysis method was applied to quantify the effect of 3 independent variables (［Cs］, ［Vol/Wt］, ［pH］) on the sorption. Ac a result, initial Cs concentration appeared to be the most important variable within the range of the study. A significant effect of ［Vol/Wt］ on Kd was observed. The sorption of Cs was pH-insignificant. The sorption extent of nuclides onto tuff was more significant than that onto granite. The pH-insignificant sorption behavior of Cs was discussed in terms of the surface electrical properties and the solution chemistry. The sorption tendency of nuclides onto geomedia studied was interpreted by adopting the water structure modification theory.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.6-12
• /
• 2014

We reviewed literature focusing on the amounts of domestic production, distribution, and consumption of strong acids and their spill cases. In particular, we investigated the chemistry and toxicity of four strong acids classified as "accident preparedness substances," including hydrochloric, nitric, sulfuric, and hydrofluoric acid. We recommend sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid as the chemicals of priority control based on the amounts used and toxicity. An advanced prevention/response system needs to be established along with an improved human and social infrastructure to prevent and efficiently respond to chemical accidents. Understanding the behavior and transport of spilled strong acids in the soil and groundwater environments requires a multi-disciplinary approach since they go through a variety of chemical and biogeochemical reactions with complex geomedia. However, no such research has been done in this area in Korea to the best of our knowledge. We expect the results of this study to contribute as basic data to future research.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.10 no.3
• /
• pp.161-170
• /
• 2012

To provide domestic values of input parameters in a safety assessment of radioactive waste disposal under domestic deep underground environments, various kinds of experiments have been carried out under KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) conditions. The input parameters were classified, and some of them were selected for this study by the criteria of importance. The domestic experimental data under KURT environments were given top priority in the data review process. Foreign data under similar conditions to KURT were also gathered. The collected data were arranged and the statistical calculations were processed. The properties and distribution of the data were explained and compared to foreign values in view of their validity. The following parameters were analysed: failure time and early time failure rate of a container, solubility of nuclides, porosity and density of the buffer, and distribution coefficients of nuclides in the geomedia, hydraulic conductivity, diffusion depth of nuclides, groundwater flow rate, fracture aperture, length of internal fracture, and width of faulted rock mass in the host rock.