본 연구는 난방 개시 온도와 CO2 시비의 효율을 알아보기 위해 수행되었다. 난방 개시 온도 실험은 9℃, 12℃, 15℃로 구분하여 목표 온도보다 낮아지면 전기 온열기구가 작동하게 하였다. CO2 시비 농도 실험은 액화탄산가스를 이용하여 무 처리, 500μmol·mol-1, 800μmol·mol-1으로 7시부터 12시까 지 처리하였다. 생육 특성으로 초장, 경경, 엽수, 엽면적, 생체 중, 건물중을 조사하였고, 200g 넘는 과실만을 대상으로 수량 을 조사하여 경제성 분석을 하였다. 상위엽에 대한 광합성 측 정을 하여 처리에 따른 포화점을 산출하였다. 애호박의 광포화 점은 587μmol·m-2·s-1이였고 CO2 포화점은 702μmol·mol-1 이 였다. CO2에 의한 Amax값은 9℃, 12℃, 15℃, 500μmol·mol-1, 800μmol·mol-1 순으로 13.4, 17.8, 17.2, 19.6, 17.5μmol CO2·m-2·s-1이었다. 온도 실험에서 9℃는 생육과 착과가 정상 적으로 이루어지지 않았다. 12℃와 15℃는 9℃보다 높았지 만 생육과 생산에서 유의미한 차이를 보이지 않았다. CO₂ 농 도 실험은 생육에서 처리구간 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았지만 800μmol·mol-1의 생산성이 가장 좋았다. 이상의 결과를 종합 적으로 보면 난방 개시 온도는 15℃인 것은 작물 생육과 생산 에는 좋았지만 12℃와 유의적인 차이가 없어 경제적 측면에 서 난방 개시 온도를 12℃로 설정하는 것이 좋은 것으로 보이 며, CO2 시비 농도 800μmol·mol-1를 유지하는 것이 생산량 증가에 효과적이었다.

살리실산은 식물의 생장 및 발달, 항산화 방어기작, 광합성 작용 그리고 생물적 및 비생물적 스트레스 조건에서 다양한 생리적 기능을 조절하는 물질로 알려져 있다. 본 연구에서는 고온･건조 스트레스 조건에서 살리실산 경엽처리가 고추의 생육, 광합성 특성 및 항산화효소 활성에 미치는 영향을 구명 하고자 하였다. 광합성 특성 측정결과 광합성 속도, 기공전도 도 및 증산 속도가 증가하였고, 3회차 처리에서 가장 높았다. 세포내 MDA와 H2O2 함량은 살리실산 3회차 처리에서 현저 하게 감소하는 경향을 보였다. APX, CAT, POD 및 SOD 활 성이 현저하게 증가하였으며, 무처리 대비 최대 247, 318, 55 및 54% 증가하였다. 고추의 생육 특성은 무처리구와 유의한 차이를 보이지 않았으나, 상품 수량은 15% 정도 증가하였다. 이러한 결과들을 종합해 볼 때, 살리실산의 경엽처리는 고추 의 광합성 특성과 항산화효소 활성을 증진시켜 고온･건조 스트 레스에 의한 피해 경감에 긍정적 효과를 유발함을 확인하였다

Viscosity is a fundamental physical property that is important in any system in which fluid movement occurs. In addition, most of the elements exist as ions in molten state in high-temperature molten salt, and electrical conductivity in such molten state is closely related to viscosity as a transport property. Molten salt reactor (MSR) and pyroprocess are representative processes dealing with high-temperature molten salts, actinide elements, and other radioactive materials. In MSR and pyroprocesses, the viscosity data must be provided as one of the fundamental physical property data required for safe process operations and countermeasures to severe accidents. In order to measure the viscosity of highly corrosive molten salt at high temperatures, we have built a in-house developed molten salt viscosity measurement system based on the Brookfield rotationary viscometer. We also developed a special correction technique to improve the accuracy of the viscosity measurement. In this study, the viscosity was measured at 500°C for NaCl-MgCl2 molten salt, which is selected as the base salt material of MSR system under development in Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), using our viscosity measurement system installed in a oxygen- and moisture-free Ar-atmosphere glovebox. Our viscosity measurement system was calibrated using a LiCl-KCl eutectic mixture with well-known viscosity value, and viscosity values obtained using our own correction methodology were compared with those of other conventional correction methods. In our further study, we plan to measure the NaCl-MgCl2-UCl3 system at various compositions and temperatures.

In emergency situations such as nuclear accidents or terrorism, radioactive and nuclear materials can be released by some environmental reasons such as the atmosphere and underground water. To secure the safety of human beings and to respond appropriately emergency situation, it is required to designate high and low dose rate regions in the early stages by analyzing the location and radioactivity of sources through environmental radiation measurement. This research team has developed a small gamma probe which is featured by its geometrical accessibility and higher radiation sensitivity than other drone detectors. A plastic scintillator and Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) were applied to the probe to optimize the wireless measurement condition. SiPM has a higher gain (higher than 106) and lower operating voltage (less than 30 V) compared to a general photodiode. However, the electronic components in the SiPM are sensitively affected by temperature, which causes the performance degradation of the SiPM. As the SiPM temperature increases, the breakdown voltage (VBD) of the SiPM also increases, so the gain must be maintained by applying the appropriate VBD. Therefore, when the SiPM temperature increases while the VBD is fixed, the gain decreases. Thus, the signal does not exceed the threshold voltage (VTH) and the overall count is reduced. In general, the optimal gain is maintained by cooling the SiPM or through a temperature compensation circuit. However, in the developed system, the hardware correction method such as cooling or temperature compensation circuit cannot be applied. In this study, it was confirmed that the count decreased by up to 20% according to the increase in the temperature of the SiPM when the probe was operated at room temperature (26°C). We propose methods to calibrate the total count without cooling device or compensation circuit. After operating the probe at room temperature, the first measured count is set as the reference value, and the correction factor is derived using the tendency of the count to decrease as the temperature increases. In addition, since this probe is used for environmental radiation monitoring, periodic measurements are more suitable than continuous measurements. Therefore, the temperature of the probe can be maintained by adding a power saving interval to the operation sequence of the probe. These two methods use the operation sequence and measurement data, respectively. Thus, it is expected to be the most effective method for the current system where the temperature compensation through hardware is not possible.

Radioactive mixed waste (RMW) is containing radioactive materials and hazardous materials. Radioactive wastes containing asbestos are include in RMW. These wastes thus must be treated considering both radioactive and hazardous aspects. In this study, a high temperature melt oxidation system consisting of an electric arc furnace and a molten salt oxidation furnace has been developed for the treatment of of radioactive waste containing asbestos. A surrogate waste of the radioactive waste containing asbestos (content of asbestos: 13wt%) was treated in this system. It was melted and fabricated into a glass waste form in the system. Asbestos was not detected in this glass waste form. This means that the asbestos was converted to a glass component in the glass waste form. The waste form was homogeneous glass, and it had a high value of compressive strength (475.13 MPa). It was also confirmed through a leaching test (ANS 16.1) that the waste form had a high chemical durability (Leaching Index > 6). Based on these results, it is considered that the high temperature melt oxidation system will be utilized for the treatment of a significant amount of radioactive waste containing asbestos generated from decommissioning a nuclear power plant.

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.

The structural integrity of concrete silos is important from the perspective of long-term operation of radioactive waste repository. Recently, the application of acoustic emission (AE) is considered as a promising technology for the systematic real-time health monitoring of concrete-like brittle material. In this study, the characteristics of AE wave propagation through concrete silo of Gyeongju radioactive waste repository were evaluated under the effects of groundwater and temperature for the quantitative damage assessment. The attenuation coefficients and absolute energies of AE waves were measured for the temperature cases of 15, 45, 75°C under dry and saturated concrete specimens, which were manufactured based on the concrete mix same as that of Gyeongju concrete silo. The geometric spreading and material loss were taken into account with regard to the wave attenuation coefficient. The attenuation coefficient shows a decreasing pattern with temperature rise for both dry and saturated specimens. The AE waves in saturated condition attenuate faster than those in dry condition. It is found that the effect of water content has a greater impact on the wave attenuation than the temperature. The results from this study will be used as valuable information for estimating the quantitative damage at the location micro-cracks are generated rather than the AE sensor location.

Montmorillonite plays a key role in engineered barrier systems in the high-level radioactive waste repository because of its large sorption capacity and high swelling pressure. However, the sorption capacity of montmorillonite can be largely varied dependent on the surrounding environments. This study conducted the batch simulation for U(VI) sorption on Na-montmorillonite by utilizing the cation exchange and surface complexation coupled (2SP-NE-SC/CE) model and evaluated the effects of physicochemical properties (i.e., pH, temperature, competing cations, U(VI) concentration, and carbonate species) on U(VI) sorption. The simulation demonstrated that the U(VI) sorption was affected by physicochemical properties: the pH and temperature relate to aqueous U(VI) speciation, the competing cations relate to the cation exchange process and selectivity, the U(VI) concentration relates to saturation at sorption sites. For example, the Kd (L kg−1) of Na-montmorillonite represented the largest values of 2.7×105 L kg−1 at neutral pH condition and had significantly decreased at acidic pH<3, showing non-linear and diverse U(VI) sorption at the ranged pH from 2 to 11. Additionally, the U(VI) sorption on montmorillonite significantly decreased in presence of carbonate species. The U(VI) sorption for long-term in actual porewater chemistry and temperature of high-level radioactive waste repository represented that the sorption capacity of Na-montmorillonite was affected by various external properties such as concentration of competing cation, temperature, pH, and carbonate species. These results indicate that geochemical sorption capacity of bentonite should be evaluated by considering both geological and aquifer environments in the high-level radioactive waste repository.