The safety of deep geological disposal systems has to be ensured to guarantee the isolation of radionuclides from human and related environments for over a million years. Over such a long timeframe, disposal systems can be influenced by climate change, leading to significant long-term impacts on the hydrogeological condition, including changes in temperature, precipitation and sea levels. These changes can affect groundwater flow, alter geochemical conditions, and directly/ indirectly impact the stability of the repository. Hence, it is essential to conduct a safety assessment that considers the long-term evolution induced by climate change. In this context, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is developing the Adaptive Process-based total system performance assessment framework for a geological disposal system (APro). Currently, numerical modules for APro are under development to account for the longterm evolution that can influence groundwater flow and radionuclide transport in the far-field of the disposal system. This study focuses on the development of two numerical modules designed to model permafrost formation and buoyance force due to relative density changes. Permafrost is defined as a ground in which temperature remains below zero-isotherm (0°C) continuously for more than two consecutive years. In regions where permafrost forms, the relative permeability of porous media is significantly reduced. The changes in permeability due to permafrost formation are modelled by calculating the unfrozen fluid content within a porous medium. Meanwhile, buoyancy force can occur when there is a difference in density at the boundary of two distinct water groups, such as seawater (salt water) and freshwater. Sea level change associated with climate change can alter the boundary between seawater and freshwater, resulting in changes in groundwater flow. The buoyancy force due to relative density is modelled by adjusting concentration boundary conditions. Using the developed numerical modules, we evaluated the long-term evolution’s effects by analyzing radionuclide transport in the far-field of the disposal system. Incorporating permafrost and buoyancy force modelling into the APro framework will contribute valuable insights into the complex interactions between geological and climatic factors, enhancing our ability to ensure the secure isolation of radionuclides for extended periods.

With the increasing demand for a repository to safely dispose of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), it is imperative to conduct a safety assessment for HLW disposal facilities for ensuring the permanent isolation of radionuclides. For this purpose, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is currently developing the Adaptive Process-based total system performance assessment framework for a geological disposal system (APro). A far-field module, which specifically focuses on fluid flow and radionuclide transport in the host rock, is one of several modules comprising APro. In Korea, crystalline rock is considered the host rock for deep geological disposal facilities due to its high thermal conductivity and extremely low permeability. However, the presence of complex fracture system in crystalline rock poses a significant challenge for managing fluid flow and nuclide transport. To address this challenge, KAERI is participating in DECOVALEX-2023 Task F1, which seeks to compare and verify modeling results using various levels of performance assessment models developed by each country for reference disposal systems. Through the benchmark problems suggested by DECOVALEX-2023 Task F1, KAERI adopts the Discrete Fracture-Matrix (DFM) as the primary fracture modeling approach. In this study, the transport processes of reactive tracers in fractured rock, modeled with DFM, are simulated. Specifically, three different tracers (conservative, decaying, adsorbing) are introduced through the fracture under identical injecting conditions. Thereafter, the breakthrough curves of each tracer are compared to observe the impact of reactive tracers on nuclide transport. The results of this study will contribute to a better understanding of nuclide behavior in subsurface fractured rock under various conditions.

With the increase of temporarily-stored radioactive waste in Korea, the disposal of radioactive waste in a deep geological repository, which is located in crystalline rock at a depth of hundreds of meters below the ground level, has received great attention nowadays. To ensure the permanent isolation of radionuclides from the human and surrounding ecosystems, the safety assessment for the high-level radioactive waste disposal facilities is essential. For the reliable safety assessment of fractured rock, it is especially important to input proper hydraulic properties of fractures such as aperture and hydraulic conductivity, which can directly affect the fluid flow and radionuclide transport. Meanwhile, it has become important to consider sudden fault behavior caused by an earthquake with the recent occurrence of high-intensity earthquakes in the Korean Peninsula. The sudden fault behavior can induce the changes of the hydraulic properties of fractures. Since the changes of the hydraulic properties directly affects to the radionuclide transport in the fractured rock, it is important to estimate the effect of earthquake-induced stress change on hydraulic properties of fractures in the perspective of long-term safety assessment. In this study, the effect of an earthquake on the hydraulic properties of fractures was explored by a numerical approach. The static Coulomb stress change after the earthquake was calculated using software ‘Coulomb 3’ developed by United States Geological Survey (USGS) with the assumption for several mechanical properties such as Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio and effective coefficient of friction. The final stress after earthquake occurrence was calculated as the sum of the initial stress and the stress change. Thereafter, the normalized transmissivity of fracture after the earthquake was calculated using the final stress from the stress-transmissivity relationship. Using the methodology for calculating fracture transmissivity change induced by the earthquake developed in this study, the effect of several factors, such as the earthquake magnitude and the distance between fracture and epicenter, was additionally explored. The newly developed methodology will be applied to the processbased total system performance assessment framework (APro) being developed by KAERI, and this study is expected to be helpful for the safety assessment considering long-term evolution phenomena including earthquakes.

With the increase of temporarily-stored spent radioactive fuels, there is an increasing necessity for the safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW). Among various methods for the disposal of HLW, a deep geological disposal system is adapted as a HLW disposal strategy in many countries. Before the construction of a repository in deep geological condition, a performance assessment, which means the use of numerical models to simulate the long-term behavior of a multi-barrier system in HLW repository, has been widely performed to ensure the isolation of radionuclides from human and related environments for more than a million years. Meanwhile, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is developing a process-based total system performance assessment framework for a geological disposal system (APro). To improve the reliability of APro, KAERI is participating in DECOVALEX-2023 Task F, which is the international joint program for the comparison of the models and methods used in deep geological performance assessment. As a final goal of Task F, the reference case for a generic repository in fractured crystalline rock is described. The three-dimensional generic repository is located in a domain of 5 km in length, 2 km in width, and 1 km in depth, and contains an engineering barrier system with 2,500 deposition holes in fractured crystalline rock. In this study, a numerical simulation of the reference case is performed with COMSOL Multiphysics as a part of Task F. The fractured crystalline rock is described with the discrete fracture matrix (DFM) model, which expresses major deterministic fractures explicitly in the domain and minor stochastic fractures implicitly with upscaled quantities. As an output of the numerical simulation, fluid flow at steady-state and radionuclide transport are evaluated for ~106 years. The result shows that fractures dominate the transport of radionuclides due to much higher hydraulic properties than rock matrix. The numerical modeling approaches used in this study are expected to provide a basis for performance assessment of nuclear waste disposal repository located in fractured crystalline rock.

직업상 피폭에 대한 현행 방사선 위험성 평가는 종사자의 피폭선량 평가 및 건강진단에 중점을 두고 있 다. 이러한 개인 중심의 위험성 평가는 선량계 미착용 및 개개인의 기호로 인한 건강영향 문제 등 정확한 데이터 확보의 어려움으로 인한 오류의 가능성이 있다. 또한 평가의 기준이 되는 선량한도는 법적 최대 상 한값으로 방사선 방호에 최적화된 값을 의미하지는 않는다. 이에 선원적, 환경적 및 인적 측면을 복합적으 로 고려할 수 있고 방사선방호의 최적화를 이행할 수 있는 국가적 차원의 새로운 위험성 평가 모델이 요구 되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 고용노동부의 위험성 평가에 기반하여 개인이 아닌 작업장 중심의 위험성 평가 모델을 연구하였다. 이를 위해 여러 분야의 위험성 추정 방법을 분석하여 방사선 분야에 적용하기 적합한 모델을 도출하고, 모델에 적용하기 위한 데이터 획득 방법 및 절차에 대해 기술하였다. 본 연구에서 도출한 작업장 중심의 다차원적 위험성 평가 모델은 위험성을 점수화하고 Rader Plot을 이용하여 표현함으로서 보 다 정확한 방사선 위험성 평가를 가능하게 하며, 결론적으로 효율적인 종사자 관리, 선제적 종사자 보호 및 방사선 방호의 최적화 이행에 기여할 것으로 판단된다.