Structural stability of a waste form can be provided by the waste form itself (steel components, etc.), by processing the waste to a stable form (solidification, etc.), or by emplacing the waste in a container or structure that provides stability (HICs or engineered structure, etc.). The waste or container should be resistant to degradation caused by radiation effects. In accordance with the requirements for the domestic waste acceptance criteria, irradiation testing of solidified waste forms containing spent resin should be conducted on specimens exposed to a dose of 1.0E+6 Gy and other material 1.0E+7 Gy. Expected cumulative dose over 300 years is about 1.770E+6 Gy for spent resin and 0.770E+6 Gy for dried concentrated waste generated from NPPs generally. According to NRC Waste Form Technical Position, to ensure that spent resins will not undergo adverse degradation effects from radiation, resins should not be generated having loadings that will produce greater than 1E+6 Gy total accumulated dose. If it necessary to load resins higher than 1E+6 Gy, it should be demonstrated that the resin will not undergo radiation degradation at the proposed higher loading. This is the recommended maximum activity level for organic resins based on evidence that while a measurable amount of damage to the resin will occur at 1E+6 Gy, the amount of damage will have negligible effect on disposal site safety. Cementitious materials are not affected by gamma radiation to in excess of 1E+6 Gy. Therefore, for cement-stabilized waste forms, irradiation qualification testing need not be conducted unless the waste forms contain spent resins or other organic media or the expected cumulative dose on waste forms containing other materials is greater than 1E+7 Gy. Testing should be performed on specimens exposed to IE+6 Gy or the expected maximum dose greater than 1E+6 Gy for waste forms that contain ion exchange resins or other organic media or the expected maximum dose greater than 1E+7 Gy for other waste forms. This is suggestion as a review result that requirement for irradiation testing of solidified waste forms has something to be revise in detail and definitively.

Domestic NPPs had produced the paraffin-solidifying concentrate waste (PSCW) for nearly 20 years. At that time radioactive waste management policy of KHNP was to reduce the volume and to store safely in site. The PSCW has been identified not to meet the leaching index after introducing the treatment system. PSCW has to be treated to meet current waste acceptance criteria (WAC) for permanent disposal. PSCW consists of dried concentrate 75% and paraffin 25% of volume. When PSCW is separated into a dried concentrate and a paraffin by solubility, total volume separated is increased twice. Final disposal volume of dried concentrate can reach to several times when solidifying by cement even considering exemption. Application of polymer solidification technology is difficult because dried concentrate is hard to make form to pellet. When PSCW is packaged in High Integrity Container (HIC), volume of PSCW is equal to the volume before package. The packaging process of HIC is simple and is no necessary of large equipment. It is important to recognize that HIC was developed to replace solidification of waste. HIC has as design goal a minimum lifetime of 300 years under disposal environment. The HIC is designed to maintain its structural integrity over this period, to consider the corrosive and chemical effects of both the waste contents and the disposal environment, to have sufficient mechanical strength to withstand loads on the container and to be capable of meeting the requirements for a Type A transport Package. The Final waste form is required for facilitating handling and providing protection of personnel in relation to solidification, explosive decomposition, toxic gases, hazardous material, etc. Structural stability of final waste form is required also. Structural stability of the waste can be provided by the waste itself, solidifying or placing in HIC. Final waste form ensure that the waste does not structurally degrade and affect overall stability of the disposal site. The HIC package contained PSCW was reviewed from several points of view such as physicochemical, radiological and structural safety according to domestic WAC. The result of reviewing shows that it has not found any violation of WCP established for silo type disposal facility in Gyeongju city.

낙동강 하구수에서의 변이원성 물질에 의한 오염 상황을 파악하기 위하여 1998년에 각 계절별로 1회씩 총 4회에 걸쳐 낙동강 하구 10개 지점에서 blue rayon법을 이용한 Ames test를 실시하여, 3환 이상의 다환화합물에의한 변이원성을 조사하였다. 이 중 5월에 공업지역 부근인 제 1지점(하단동 부근)과 제 4지점(장림동 부근)에서 채취된 시료에서 현저한 변이원성이 관찰되었는데, 제 1지점의 시료에서는 S9 mix존재 및 비존재 하의 TA98, TA100 세포주 모두 현저한 용량 의존적 양성반응을 나타내어, 이 지점은 frame shift형의 직접 및 간접돌연변이형 원인 물질과 염기치환형 직접 및 간접돌연변이형 원인 물질에 의하여 오염되어 있음이 밝혀졌다 또한 제 4지점의 시료에서는 S9 mix존재 및 비존재 하에서 TA98세포주가 양성반응을 나타내어, 이 지점에 대한 변이원성의 돌연변이형은 fram shift형의 직접 및 간접 돌연변이임을 시사해주고 있다. 그러나 7월 이후에는 변이원성이 관찰되지 않았는데, 이는 1998년의 경제성장률의 저하에 기인된 것으로 생각되었다. 한편, 주거지역에 인접한 제 5-10지역의 시료에서는 전 조사기간에 걸쳐 변이원성이 관찰되지 않았는데, 이는 주된 오염원이 생활하수인 이들 지역의 강물이 변이원성 물질에 의해 오염되어 있지 않았음을 시사해 주고 있다.

PCBs and DDE were determined in the soil samples and the Korean striped field mice, Apodemus agrarius, collected at six localities in Changwon and one locality in Gaduck Island from August 1997 to May 1998. The residual level of PCBs in soils, in which the concentrations of high chlorinated compounds were much higher than those of low chlorinated ones, was highest in the industrial area(IA) in Changwon(60.7 ng/g in average), whereas those of DDE in soils was highest in Gaduck Island(331.9 ng/g in average). However, the levels of each compound detected from soils in the respective remaining places were relatively low. The similar tendency as in the soils was observed in the mice, indicating that the concentration of pollutants in the mice could denote the status of pollution in the terrestrial environment. The composition of PCB congeners in the mice, however, was different from that of soils, but similar to those of other mammals. Moreover, the residual levels of PCBs and DDE in pregnant females from which fetuses were removed were lower than those of males and non-pregnant females. It suggests that these compounds accumulated in pregnant females might have been transferred to the fetuses through placenta as in other mammals. Judging from the above facts, it is suggested that the striped field mouse can be an useful biological index to evaluate the contamination in mammals inhabiting terrestrial environment.