Spent ion exchange resins have been generated during the operation of nuclear facilities. These resins include radioactive nuclides. It is needed to fabricate them into a stable form for final disposal. Cement solidification process is a useful method for the fabrication of them into a waste form for final disposal. In this study, proper conditions for the fabrication of them into a stable waste form were determined using the cement solidification process. In-drum waste forms were then produced at the conditions, where the stability of representative samples was evaluated for final disposal. The samples were satisfied to the Waste Acceptance Criteria for low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal sites. This result can be utilized to derive optimal conditions for the fabrication of spent ion exchange resins into a final disposal form.

Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is planning to disposal of the radioactive contaminated cement waste form to the final disposal facility. The final disposal facility require evaluation of immersion, compressive strength, and radionuclide inventory of radioactive wastes to meet the acceptance criteria for safe disposal. According to the LILW acceptance criteria of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission ok Korea (NSSC), the disposal limit radioactivity of 129I (3.70×101 Bq/g) is lower than other radionuclides. 129I emits low energy as its disposal limit is low, so it is difficult to analyze in the presence of 137Cs and 60Co which emit high energy. Therefore, it is essential to an accurately separate and analyze iodine in radioactive waste. In this study, we focused on the determination of 129I in cement waste form containing 137Cs, 60Co. We added 1 g of 129I(11.084 Bg), 137Cs(1,300 Bq) and 60Co(402 Bq) to cement waste form, respectively. The separation of 129I in cement waste form was carried out using an acid leaching method. And, we confirmed the specific activity of 137Cs and 60Co at each separation step. It was observed that an acid leaching method showed the remove efficiency 137Cs(99.97%) and 60Co(99.94%), respectively. In addition, 129I was also analyzed at approximately 96.44% in simulated contaminated cement waste form. In conclusion, through this experiment, it was confirmed that 129I could be successfully separated and analyzed by using the acid leaching method in cement waste form containing excessive 137Cs and 60Co.

폴리머 시멘트 고화체는 일반 몰타르 내의 시멘트 수화물을 폴리머 개질제를 이용하여 부분적으로 대 체함으로써 그 기능을 강화시킨 복합재료로써, 특히 시멘트 몰타르에 폴리머를 첨가하는 것은 그 화학적 내구성을 향상시킨다고 알려져 있다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 고화재료로서의 폴리머 시멘트에 대한 낮은 침투성 및 낮은 이온 확산도 등과 같은 향상된 화학적 내구성을 확인하기 위하여 폴리머 시멘트 시편들을 제조하였다. 이때 폴리머의 함량은 0에서부터 30%까지 변화시켰으며, 물에 대한 시멘트 비(W/C)를 33%와 50%로 각각 유지 시켰다. 충분히 경화시킨 후에, 제조된 시편들에 대한 구조적 건전성을 압축강도와 수침법에 의한 공극도를 통하여 평가하였다. 그 결과, W/C 비가 33%이고, 폴리머 함량이 약 10%인 폴리 머 시멘트 시편에서 가장 향상된 개질변화를 얻을 수 있었다. 끝으로 이 최적의 조합비를 가지는 시편에 대하여 ANS 16.1에 따르는 침출시험을 수행하였으며, 그 결과를 일반 시멘트 고화체와 비교하였다.