In the evaluation of the stability of radioactive waste disposal, it is imperative to take into account the concept of the redox front. Initially, this front is typically observed near the surface. However, if the hydraulic gradient increases due to the construction of a disposal facility, the redox front can potentially transport deeper into the geological environment through groundwater flow. This transport triggers changes in the geochemical characteristics, potentially diminishing the natural buffering capacity of the bedrock. Consequently, it is necessary to characterize both the unsaturated and saturated zones in the disposal site. In this context, a tracer test is a useful method to identify the characteristics of the site from the surface to the deep geological environment where the disposal facility can be located. Therefore, this study also aims to establish a methodology enabling a comprehensive understanding of the hydrogeochemical characteristics through the tracer test that can be applied to future sites for research URL (Underground Research Laboratory) or radioactive waste disposal in Korea. For the tracer test, a UNIT (UNsaturated zone Insitu Test facility) was built within the KAERI and five wells with a depth of 24 m were installed in 2022. Before conducting the test, to determine the geochemical background characteristics of the site, topsoil and soils at depths of 30 cm, 60 cm, and 90 cm were collected. Additionally, a groundwater sample was obtained from the newly installed well. Soil samples were analyzed for soil texture, moisture content, total and exchange cations, anions, and heavy metals. Similarly, the groundwater sample was analyzed for cations, anions, and trace elements. The outcomes of these comprehensive analyses will serve as the baseline values in the hydrogeochemical changes after the tracer test. This includes changes in soil composition, water quality, precipitation/dissolution processes, and mineral phases. Furthermore, these results will be provided as input parameters for surface-underground interface models in future studies.

Long-term climate and surface environment changes can influence the geological subsurface environment evolution. In this context, a fluid flow pathway developing and connection possibility can be increased between the near-surface zone and deep depth underground. Thus, it is necessary to identify and prepare for the overall fluid flow at the entire geological system to minimize uncertainty on the spent nuclear fuel (SNF) disposal safety. The fluid flow outside the subsurface environment is initially penetrated through the surface and then the unsaturated area. Thus, the previously proved reports, POSIVA in Finland, suggested that sequential research about the fluid infiltration experiment (INEX) and the investigation is necessary. Characterizing the unsaturated zone can help predict changes and ensure the safety of SNFs according to geological long-term evolution. For example, the INEX test was conducted at the upper part of ONKALO, about 50 to 100 m depth, to understand the geochemical evolution of the groundwater through the unsaturated zone, to evaluate the main flow of groundwater that can approach the SNF disposal reservoir, and to estimate the decreasing progress of the buffering capacity along the pathway through the deep geological disposal. In the present study, a preliminary test was performed in the UNsaturated-zone In-situ Test (UNIT) facility near the KAERI underground research tunnel to design and establish a methodology for infiltration experiments consistent with the regional characteristics. The results represented the methodological application is possible for characterizing unsaturated-zone to perform infiltration experiments. The scale of the experiment will be expanded sequentially, and continuous research will be conducted for the next application.

Long-term evolution of the surface environments can affect the safety of deep geological disposal. Therefore, it is important to understand the water balance components constituting the water cycle among atmosphere, surface, and subsurface. In Finand, the surface and near-surface hydrological model (SHYD) was developed to calculate the water balance of Olkiluoto Island. Through the intensive site investigations, the data sets as input for the site scale model in present-day conditions have been collected such as transpiration and meteorological data. In this study, weighing lysimeter method was selected to quantify small-scale soil water balance of the vadose zone in the UNsaturated zone In-situ Test facility (UNIT) around KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. Hydrological components such as precipitation, evapotranspiration (ET) and leachate were derived from water balance analysis on the lysimeter measurements in UNIT. Among the hydrological components, actual ET accounts for more than 50% of the annual precipitaion, and thus plays an important role on predicting the hydrological evolution in the future. In this context, actual ET measured from the weighing lysimeter was compared with potential ET estimated from meteorological data using FAO-56 Penman-Monteith method.

Surface environmental factors such as climate change can affect the safety of the disposal system by changing groundwater recharge or flow. Therefore, it is important to identify surface environmental factors and hydrogeological factors to evaluate long-term changes in hydrogeological environment of a disposal system. In particular, evapotranspiration is an important to be considered because it loses 70% of rainfall and has a great effect on groundwater recharge. Evapotranspiration can be estimated using simple or complex models based on meteorological data. Meteorological data from January 2010 to December 2022 were collected from 44 Automatic Synoptic Observation Systems (ASOS) of the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), which observe factors necessary for calculating evapotranspiration. For the estimation of evapotranspiration through simple models, temperature-based models (Blaney-Criddle method, modified Blaney-Criddle method, Hargreaves-Samani method) and radiation-based models (Simple Abtew method, Makkink method, Prietley-Taylor method, Turc method, Solar radiation-Maximum temperature method) were used. The calculation of evapotranspiration through the complex model used the Penman-Monteith method, which is used as a standard model in the USA, Japan, and FAO. By comparing the evapotranspiration calculated by complex and simple model, methods with small errors were identified each region. In addition, long-term climate change scenarios were applied to confirm changes in long-term evapotranspiration in South Korea. The results of this study will be used to find alternative models in the case of missing data in the Penman-Monteith model, which requires a lot of meteorological data, and can be used as basic data for calculating groundwater recharge that can affect the disposal system in the future.

The change of surface environments (e.g., climate change, uplift/subsidence, and erosion) can undermine the long-term safety of a high-level radioactive waste repository. Therefore, understanding the water cycle between atmosphere, surface, and subsurface is essential to ensure the long-term safety of deep geological disposal and consequently to gain public acceptance for the repository. Among hydrologic components (e.g., precipitation, interception, runoff, infiltration, evapotranspiration (ET), and recharge) which constitute the water cycle, ET is more than half of the total precipitation and plays a crucial role in the water and energy transfer among the three systems. Although various methods for ET evaluation (e.g., Bowen Ratio, Eddy Covariance, Optical Scintillation, and Weighing Lysimeter methods) have been developed, many influential factors such as vegetation, climate, and moisture content make its accurate evaluation still tricky. In this work, we chose weighing lysimeter and Penman-Monteith methods for direct/indirect estimation of ET, and installed a smart field lysimeter and a micro-meteorological station around KAERI Underground Research Tunnel. Water balance in the unsaturated zone and five climatic variables (air temperature, humidity, precipitation, radiation, and wind speed/direction) were measured more than once per 10 minutes for six months from April to September, 2022. From the measurements, daily actual and potential ET values at the study site were calculated and compared. We also discussed the applicability and limitation of current methods and ET assessments at different spatial scales regarding verifying and validating the developing numerical models.

The geological disposal of spent nuclear fuel is one of the important problems to be solved worldwide. For the safety of the geological disposal, disposal facility is recommended to be constructed in the deep reducing environment of host rocks. As host rocks, rock salt, argillaceous (clay) rock, and crystalline rock have been considered as stable geological formations in various countries. Although various studies have been conducted on crystalline rocks in Korea, there are still few studies on hydrogeochemical evolution in the deep and reducing environment related to the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify hydrogeochemical evolution process in granite aquifer which can affect the stability of disposal facility. Groundwater samples for isotope and chemical analysis were collected quarterly adjacent to KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). As the depth increased, the groundwater changed from Ca-HCO3 type to Na-HCO3 type under the influence of silicate mineral weathering, and the fluorine concentration increased due to the dissolution of fluorine-bearing minerals. However, hydrogeochemical evolution according to the depth was not observed in some wells because of a hydraulic connection through the fracture zone. In addition, the behavior of nitrate and redox-sensitive metals (Fe, Mn, U, Mo) in groundwater was clearly different in the redox condition. Considering these hydrogeochemical processes and hydrogeological factors, a conceptual model of granite aquifers in and around KURT was established. The results of this study will be used as basic data to understand the hydrogeochemical processes and to evaluate and predict the behavior of radionuclides in granite aquifer system.

Korean society is aging at a fast rate and the ratio of elderly population is expected to increase by 38.2% in 2050 (Statistics Korea, 2011). The extension of average life expectancy of the elderly generation leads to various problems and the most important issue is the mental health of the elderly. The suicide rate of the elderly is increasing every year and is the highest rate among OECD nations (OECD, 2014). The primary reason for the rapidly increasing suicide rate is psychological hardship caused by personal, social, and environmental factors such as a generation gap from nuclearization, decreased social position, retirement, economic hardship, spousal bereavement, and separation. The importance of education to improve quality of life through the mental stability of the elderly generation is emphasized. Continued education has a positive effect on the physical, social, and psychological health of the elderly generation (Kim, 2011), successful aging (Jee, 2010), and quality of life (Kim &An, 2008). Arts and crafts education can achieve development in visual perception, sense of touch, and continued elderly education (Mo, 2011). Arts and crafts education improves accomplishments and creative thinking ability through analogue behavior of making by hand. This study conducted 12 hours of education for 3 days from 1pm to 5 pm at 1 week intervals on 5 elderly women between 55 and 70 years of age to investigate physical and psychological effects on elderly women through natural wool craft activity. Before the education, the anxiety degree of subjects of the past week was measured with the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) to verify the effect of sensibility education by conducting electroencephalogram(EEG) and PortaLite before after conducting education on subjects. As a result of analyzing the before and after numerical mean value through brainwave test, the increasing phenomenon of an alpha waves appeared and showed that the psychology of subjects is stable and secure. The result of this study showed that wool craft education decreased anxiety, increased alpha waves and improved the psychological stability of elderly women.

As of 2013, approximately 253 domestic incineration facilities including incineration facilities for municipal waste and industrial wastes were collected. The distribution of domestic incineration heat through these incineration facilities is estimated to reach about 1,756 thousands toe by 2013. In this study, a high temperature and pressure boiler was applied to evaluate the improvement effect of power generation efficiency of waste incineration facilities. It is possible to increase the power generation efficiency of the steam turbine by increasing the heat loss of the turbine through the high temperature and pressure depending on the steam pressure and the temperature. The boiler main steam amount is reduced by about 10% due to the high temperature and pressure, but the increase rate of the heat fall rate is larger than the decrease rate of the steam flow rate, so that the power generation efficiency is improved. In case of steam temperature, the steam temperature is increased by 50 ℃ at 500 ℃ and 20 kg/㎠ at the pressure of 20 kg/㎠×300 ℃, and it is increased by 10 kg/㎠ to 60 kg/㎠, electricity production changes were investigated. Electricity production increased with increasing temperature and pressure. The electricity production increased by 51.03 % at 40 kg/㎠×400 ℃ and by 89.07 % at 60 kg/㎠×500 ℃, compared to the standard condition of 20 kg/㎠×300 ℃ for comparison. The boiler main steam amount is reduced by about 10 % due to the high temperature and pressure, but the increase rate of the heat fall rate is larger than the decrease rate of the steam flow rate, so that the power generation efficiency is improved. In case of steam temperature, the steam temperature is increased by 50 ℃ at 500 ℃ and 20 kg/㎠ at the pressure of 20 kg/㎠×300 ℃, and it is increased by 10 kg/㎠ to 60 kg/㎠. Electricity production changes were investigated. Electricity production increased with increasing temperature and pressure. The electricity production increased by 51.03 % at 40 kg/㎠×400 ℃ and by 89.07 % at 60 kg/㎠×500 ℃, compared to the standard condition of 20 kg/㎠×300 ℃ for comparison.