When the radioactive nuclides are leaked from a deep geological repository by groundwater, the migration path of the nuclides is mostly consisted of rock fractures to the surface biosphere. Thus, assessing the safety of the disposed radioactive wastes depends upon understanding of nuclide migration in the fractured rocks. Fractures in rocks tend to dominate the hydrological characteristics of the dissolved nuclides. To study migration of nuclides in the rock fracture, a granite block of 1 m scale was quarried from the Hwangdeung site. The block has a single natural fracture. The six faces of the rock including fracture gaps were sealed with silicone adhesives to prevent leaking or diffusion of the water. Usually flow in fractured rock is unevenly distributed and most of the water flow occures over a small portion of the fracture zone, that is so called channeling flow. It is caused by uneven distribution of apertures in a fracture field. Flow rate is proportional to the cubic of the aperture. Thus, figuring out aperture distribution in a fracture field is the most important step on the study of the migration of nuclides in the fractured region. The ideal way to figure out the aperture distribution in a fractured rock is to use a non-destructive tool such as X-ray tomagraphe. However, it has a limitation of scale, that is, less than about 30 cm. It is not easy to give a good resolution for this quarried rock of 100×60×60 cm scale. It gives complex and vague images of the fracture. The optimum way to get an aperture distribution in a fractured rock is to drill some boreholes to the fracture and to carry out hydraulic tests. The more number of boreholes gives the more accurate information, but the more disturbance to the fracture field. Thus, it is necessary to optimize between aperture information and disturbing fracture field by selecting a suitable number of boreholes. We drilled nine boreholes from the upper surface of the rock mass just to the fracture without penetrating the fracture. And we carried out dipole tests for the matrix set of 9 boreholes. From each dipole test, an effective average aperture was calculated with the data of flow rate and hydraulic head. Then aperture distribution in the fracture field is calculated with a modified Krigging method. As a result, the aperture is distributed in the range of about 0.03~0.16 mm.

The deep geological disposal system is aimed to permanently isolate the high-level radioactive waste from the biosphere through a multi-barrier system composed of engineered and natural barriers. The buffer material used for the engineered barrier should have the performance to prevent and retard the migration of radionuclides to the outside of the deep disposal facility when radionuclides are released from a disposal canister by infiltration of groundwater after a long period of time. When the hydraulic conductivity of compacted bentonite is sufficiently low, the migration of radionuclides released into the surrounding rock can be significantly reduced since they are sorbed to bentonite during the diffusion process. Therefore, an investigation on diffusion of radionuclides in compacted bentonite is a fundamental task to obtain essential data for the safety assessment of the deep geological disposal system. The migration of radionuclides by diffusion can be evaluated by diffusion coefficient. In order to obtain the apparent diffusion coefficients of Sr, Sm, and Eu in compacted Ca-bentonite (1.6 g/cm3) a through-diffusion experiment have been carrying out. A cylindrical apparatus consists of a source cell with an appropriate concentration of radionuclides and diffusion cell filled with radionuclide free solution where the concentration is gradually increased by diffusion of radionuclides. The compacted bentonite was installed between the both cells. The sample used for the experiment is a Ca-type bentonite named Bentonil-WRK, and the diffusion experiment was performed under an oxidizing condition using a synthetic groundwater simulating KURT groundwater composition. The diffusion experiment will be terminated when an increasing rate of concentration of nuclides in the diffusion cell becomes constant over time. The concentration change with regard to the geochemical characteristic of the nuclide may appear to be apparently slow.In this study, the experimental results of the through-diffusion test of Sr, Sm, and Eu in the initial stage (~4 months) were presented. Through the results of the initial stage, the period of the through-diffusion experiment can be rearranged and also it is expected that the initial results provide the qualitative and quantitative diffusion properties of each nuclide.

The deep geological repository consisting of a multi-barrier system (engineered and natural barriers) is generally designed to isolate the high-level radioactive waste. The natural barrier is outermost portion to secure safety of the disposal. Crystalline rocks are considered for potential geological repository media to retard and inhibit the migration of radionuclides when the radionuclides leak from the canister and break through the engineered barrier. Sorption and diffusion processes play a major role in retardation of the radionuclides in deep underground environment. In order to evaluate the migration of radionuclides in the safety assessment or geochemical modelling, distribution coefficient and diffusivity of radionuclides are required as input data. In this study, we performed mineralogical and geochemical analysis for a crystalline rock (e.g., granite) to use the sorption and diffusion experiment. The fresh rock samples are obtained from a deep core samples (DB-2) drilled up to 1 km from the surface at KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) site. For the optical and microscopic examination, thin sections of the rock sample were provided. The rock samples were crushed into powder size to analyze major and trace elements of the whole-rock aliquots. The powdered specimens also used for mineral identification and measurement of specific surface area. The major constituent minerals of the granite are plagioclase, quartz, and K-feldspar and the minor minerals are phlogopite, biotite, and chlorite. According to the results of geochemical analysis, the granite specimens generally contain more than 70wt% of SiO2 and 8wt% of total alkali oxides (Na2O + K2O). The trace elements normalized to primitive mantle compositions show positive Cs, Rb, U, K, and Pb anomalies and negative Nb and Ti anomalies. The rock samples have an average density of 2.62 g·cm−3 and an average porosity of 0.222%. The crushed samples represent the specific surface area of 0.2087 m2·g−1 for the 75–150 μm fraction and 0.1616 m2·g−1 for the 150–300 μm fraction by BET method, respectively. The granite specimens will be used for the sorption and diffusion experiments to evaluate the radionuclides’ geochemical behaviors. The mineralogical and geochemical properties provided in this study can be useful in understanding the sorption and diffusion processes of significant radionuclides under the geological disposal environments.

Various diffusion experiments using geologic media have been carried out and it is often assumed that aqueous diffusion is the dominant transport mechanism. However, in some cases diffusive migration has been much faster than predicted in the model simulation. To explain such results surface diffusion of sorbing species was invoked. Experimental results were generally open to interpretation but possible existence of surface diffusion, whereby sorbed radionuclides could potentially migrate at much enhanced rates, necessitated investigation. The potential for surface diffusion of some sorbing nuclides on through-diffusion experiments using domestic rocks was examined. The apparent diffusion coefficients for sorbing cations were determined from their steady-state diffusion flux through rocks disks, while effective and pore diffusion coefficients were obtained with non-sorbing tracers through the same rocks. Diffusive transport models through domestic granites and granodiorites based only on pore diffusion did not often described adequately for sorbing cations. Thus, surface diffusion should be considered. Then what was the most important measure to estimate surface diffusion? As far as we examine, the sorption reversibility provides a hint of surface diffusion. The reversible sorbing species, for example, Sr, has a remarkable surface diffusion contribution, whereas surface diffusion has a relatively small contribution for irreversibly sorbing species such as Cs and Am under domestic experimental conditions.

스트론튬(90Sr)과 니켈(59Ni)은 처분안전성평가에서 중요하게 다루는 핵종들이다. 지하에서 방사성핵종의 이동을 저지하기 위한 다양한 시도가 이루어지고 있는데, 처분시스템에서 용기와 부식반응으로 생기는 광물들 중에 핵종들과 반응성이 뛰어난 광물들이 존재하는 것이 알려졌다. 이들 중에서 철-황화합광물인 맥키나와이트(FeS)를 선정하여 스트론튬, 니켈과 수착 실험을 하였다. 심부지하에서 환원 알카리 환경을 고려하여, pH 8 ~ 12까지 조건에서 pH에 따른 수착영향을 살펴보았다. 실험결과, 스트론튬은 낮은 알카리영역에서 수착능이 저조하였지만, 니켈은 전 실험영역에서 높은 수착능을 보였다. 또, 두 핵종 모두 알카리 조건에서 pH가 증가할수록 수착량(Kd)이 증가하였는데, 이는 pH가 증가하면서 풍부해진 OH‐이온이 광 물표면에 수소나 양이온과 결합해 탈착하면서 광물표면에 전기음성도가 증가해 양이온인 스트론튬과 니켈을 전기적 인력으로 끌어당기기 때문으로 여겨진다.

생활주변방사선안전관리법 도입에 따라 재활용하지 못하는 공정부산물의 안전관리를 위해서는 방사선적 안전성 확보가 필 수적이다. 이를 위해서 처분대상 공정부산물 특성화 자료 수집 및 분석, 처분방법과 처분시설의 조사 및 분석, 처분시설의 운 영으로 인한 방사선적 안전성평가 방법론 정립과 도구 확보, 주요 입력자료들의 안전성에 미치는 영향 파악 등이 필요하다. 이를 통하여 매립과 같은 참조 처분방법을 선정하고 피폭선량과 인체보건 리스크 평가를 통하여 공정부산물 처분에 따른 방 사선적 안전성 확보를 위한 절차 및 기준마련을 위한 기술적 근거를 확보할 필요가 있다. 본 연구에서는 공정부산물 처분방 법과 공정부산물 처분시설에 대한 국내외 현황 조사 및 분석과 국내외 주요 산업별 처분대상 공정부산물 특성화 자료 수집 및 분석을 수행하였다. 이를 바탕으로 주요 공정부산물 특성에 따른 관리방안과 매립 처분시설에 대한 개념설계를 제안하였 다. 또한, 공정부산물 처분시 대기확산에 의한 방사성핵종의 전이경로와 침출수 유출로 인한 방사성핵종의 전이경로 파악을 수행하고 적절한 코드를 선정하여 예제 평가를 수행함으로써 코드의 유용성을 확인하였다. 그리고 국내 대표 공정부산물인 비산재, 인산석고, 레드머드 특성화 자료를 이용하여 공정부산물 처분시 피폭선량 및 초과 암 리스크를 평가하고 분석하였 다. 개념적 설계 예제에 대한 방사선적 안전성 평가 결과에 의하면 공정부산물 처분시 피폭선량 및 초과 암 리스크는 매우 낮 은 값을 가지며 우려할 만한 방사선적 영향을 보이지는 않는다. 연구결과는 향후 생활방사선 안전관리를 위한 규제기술 개 발에 활용 가능할 뿐만 아니라 생활주변방사선안전관리법 이행기술 기반 구축에 기여할 수 있을 것이다.

본 연구에서는 타당한 지하조건을 모사하기 위한 실험장치를 글로버박스(Glove-box) 내에 설치하고 천연지하수 및 자연균열을 가진 화강암 시추코어를 이용하여 핵종이동 실험을 수행하였다. 암반코어의 균열을 통한 지하수 유동을 해석하기 위하여 비수착성 음이온 핵종인 Br로 지하수 유동실험을 수행하였다. 암반 균열을 통한 우라늄 이동 실험결과에서 유출된 우라늄의 파과곡선이 비수착성 핵종인 Br와 유사한 거동을 보여주었는데, 이는 주어진 지하수 조건에서 우라늄이 주로 탄산염과 결합된 음이온 복합체로 이동하기 때문인 것으로 추정된다. 아울러 균열충전광물에 대한 우라늄의 회분식 수착실험을 수행한 결과, 균열충전광물에 대한 우라늄의 분배계수 는 약 2.7 mL/g로 낮게 나타났다. 이러한 우라늄 수착실험 결과는 빠른 유출을 보인 우라늄 이동실험 결과와 일치한다. 균열암반을 통한 우라늄 이동의 지 연 특성을 보다 자세히 분석하기 위하여 회분식 수착실험으로 부터 구한 값을 이용해 지연인자 값 를 구하고 이동실험 결과로부터 구한 값 과 비교한 결과, 서로 매우 유사한 지연인자 값을 가진다는 것을 알 수 있었다. 이는 화강암 코어의 균열을 통한 우라늄의 이동 지연이 주로 균열충전광물에 의해 이루어지고 있음을 의미하는 것이라고 하겠다.