In a nuclear power plant, the activated corrosion products are deposited on the reactor coolant system. The activated corrosion products must be removed to reduce the radiation exposure to workers before maintaining or decommissioning of the nuclear power plant. In order to remove the remove the activated duplex oxide layer generated on the reactor coolant system in the pressurized water reactor (PWR), the Cyclic SP (Sulfuric acid/Permanganate)-HyBRID (Hydrazine Based Reductive metal Ion Decontamination) process developed by KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) can be used. After applying the Cyclic SP-HyBRID process, a sulfate-rich waste powder containing the radionuclide is generated, and the radioactive powder has to be stabilized for final disposal. In the previous study, it was confirmed that the low-temperature sintering method can be applied to immobilize the sulfate-rich waste powder. Thus, immobilization of the Cyclic SP-HyBRID process waste powder was carried out by the low-temperature sintering method using a low melting point glass, and the physicochemical and radiological characteristics of a waste form were evaluated in this study. As a result, the compressive strength of the waste form increased with increasing sintering temperature and sintering time. It is considered that the result was caused by the difference in the band gap between the bismuth borate and zinc borate, which are the products during the sintering process. It was verified that the physical stability was maintained after the 107 Gy of irradiation test. In addition, it was confirmed that the radioactive metal hydroxides contained in the waste powder converted to metal oxide forms, which have the lower solubility, at the sintering temperature. Finally, the waste form was evaluated as a low-level radioactive waste from the concentration of radionuclides contained in the waste form.

Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD), regulatory body and civic groups are calling for an infrastructure system that can more systematically and safely manage data on the results of radioactive waste sampling and nuclide analysis in accordance with radioactive waste disposal standards. To solve this problem, a study has been conducted on the analysis of the nuclide pattern of radioactive waste on the nuclide data contained in low-and intermediate-level radioactive waste. This paper will explain the optimal repackaged algorithm for reducing radioactive waste based on previous research results. The optimal repackaged algorithm for radioactive waste reduction is comprised based on nuclide pattern association indicators, classification by nuclide level of small-packaged waste, and nuclide concentration. Optimization simulation is carried out in the order of deriving nuclide concentration by small-packaged, normalizing drum minimization as a function of purpose, normalizing constraints, and optimization. Two scenarios were applied to the simulation. In Scenario 1 (generating facilities and repackaged by medium classification without optimization), it was assumed that there are 886 low-level drums and 52 very low-level drums. In Scenario 2 (generating facilities and repackaged by medium classification with optimization), 708 and 230 drums were assigned to the low-level and very low-level drums, respectively. As a result of the simulation, when repackaged in consideration of the nuclide concentration and constraints according to the generating facility cluster & middle classification by small package (Scenario 2) the low-level drum had the effect of reducing 178 drums from the baseline value of 886 drums to 708 drums. It was found that the reduced packages were moved to the very low-level drum. The system that manages the full life-cycle of radioactive waste can be operated effectively only when the function of predicting or tracking the occurrence of radioactive waste drums from the source of radioactive waste to the disposal site is secured. If the main factors affecting the concentration and pattern of nuclides are systematically managed through these systems, the system will be used as a useful tool for policy decisions that can prevent human error and drastically reduce the generation of disposable drums.

With the development of the nuclear industry and the increase in the use of radioactive materials, the generation of radioactive waste is increasing. As the generation of radioactive waste increases, the occurrence of related safety accidents is also increasing, and it is necessary to develop a radioactive waste monitoring technology to prevent such accidents in advance and efficiently manage radioactive waste. In Information and Communication Technology (ICT), various ICT technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) that can help with the safety management of these radioactive wastes are being developed. In this study, a radioactive waste monitoring technology was developed using ICT technology, such as management of the entire cycle history of waste using Quick Response (QR) codes, and development of AR visualization technology for small packages of radioactive waste. In addition, by using IoT technology to collect desired data from sensors and store the results, after the waste drum is loaded in the waste storage, a technology was developed to track and monitor the history and movement of the waste drum from repackaging to transfer to the storage. The data required for monitoring the radioactive waste drum includes location information, whether the drum is open or closed, temperature and humidity, etc. To collect this information, a drum monitoring technology was built with a 2.4 G wireless router, an anchor constituting a virtual zone, a tag to be mounted on the drum container, and a WNT server that collects sensor data. The network tool provided by WirePas was used for network configuration, and the status of gateways and nodes can be monitored by interworking with the WNT server. The configured IoT sensor technology were tested in a waste storage environment. Four anchors were installed and linked to the network to match the virtual zone and the real storage zone, and it was confirmed whether the movement of the tag was recorded on the network while moving the tag including the IoT sensor for analyzing location information. Based on these research results, it can contribute to the safety management of radioactive waste and establishment of Waste Acceptance Criteria (WCP) by and managing the history and monitoring the waste in the entire cycle from repackaging to disposal.

Currently, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is planning to build the Ki-Jang Research Reactor (KJRR) in Ki-Jang, Busan. It is important to safely dispose of low-level radioactive waste from the operation of the reactor. The most efficient way to treat radioactive waste is cement solidification. For a radioactive waste disposal facility, cement solidification is performed based on specific waste acceptance criteria such as compressive strength, free-standing water, immersion and leaching tests. Above all, the leaching test is important to final disposal. The leakage of radioactive waste such as 137Cs causes not only regional problems but also serious global ones. The cement solidification method is simple, and cheaper than other solidification methods, but has a lower leaching resistance. Thus, this study was focused on the development of cement solidification for an enhancement of cesium leaching resistance. We used Zeolite and Loess to improve the cesium leaching resistance of KJRR cement solidification containing simulated KJRR liquid waste. Based on an SEM-EDS spectrum analysis, we confirmed that Zeolite and Loess successfully isolated KJRR cement solidification. A leaching test was carried out according to the ANS 16.1 test method. The ANS 16.1 test is performed to analyze cesium ion concentration in leachate of KJRR cement for 90 days. Thus, a leaching test was carried out using simulated KJRR liquid waste containing 3000 mg·L-1 of cesium for 90 days. KJRR cement solidification with Zeolite and Loess led to cesium leaching resistance values that were 27.90% and 21.08% higher than the control values. In addition, in several tests such as free-standing water, compressive strength, immersion, and leaching tests, all KJRR cement solidification met the waste acceptance or satisfied the waste acceptance criteria for final disposal.

About 4,800 soil drums were generated in the process of maintenance on KRR site (Korea Research Reactor) in Seoul. Most of the drums are processed by regulatory clearance in 2007-2008 and the remaining 1800 drums are currently stored in KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). To decide a treatment method of radioactive soil for final disposal, the soil is classified according to a particle size. Based on the results of the radioactivity concentration for the classified soil, methods such as regulatory clearance, decommissioning, and solidification were decided. Many papers show that radioactive soil is disposed of using a decontamination agent or other method. But it is difficult to decontaminate radioactive particles from fine soil particles because the adsorptive power of fine soil particles is too strong. This study was focused on finding a particle size distribution of radioactive soil that can be used as an operating range for cement solidification produced by a suitable ratio of radioactive soil for final disposal. Workability, free-standing water, compressive strength, immersion, and leaching tests were carried out to evaluate characteristics of the cement solidification. Cement solidification is the only method for final disposal because radioactive soil particle sizes below 500 μm exceed the regulatory clearance criteria (< 0.1 Bq/g). According to the test results for cement solidification, 0.4 water/cement and 0.5 soil/cement ratios are the most appropriate operating ranges.