Safe radiation management is essential not only for operational nuclear power plants but also for nuclear plants to be decommissioned. When spent nuclear fuel is present on-site, meticulous radiation emergency plans are necessary to ensure safety. In Korea, numerous radiation emergency plans have been established for operational nuclear reactors. These plans delineate distinct response mitigation measures for white, blue, and red emergencies. However, clear regulations are yet to be devised for radiation emergency plans for reactors to be decommission. Therefore, this study investigated the decommissioning plan and status of Kori unit 1 to comprehensively analyze the current status of decommissioning safety in Korea. In this study, radiation emergency plans of decommissioning nuclear power plants abroad were reviewed to confirm radiation emergency action levels. Furthermore, radioactive waste treatment facilities, to be used for decommissioning reactors in Korea were evaluated. Moreover, the study assessed emergency plans (especially, emergency initiating conditions) for operational nuclear power plants in Korea for potential use in the decommissioning phase. This study proposed an emergency initiating condition that can be used for decommissioning reactors in Korea. Considering the anticipated introduction of plasma torch melting facility in Korea, this study examined the conditions of radiation emergency plans can be altered. This study identified effective measures and guidelines for managing radiological emergency initiating conditions, and effective decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Korea.

In the dismantling of nuclear power plants, various forms of radioactive gaseous waste are generated when cutting concrete and metal structures. Large amounts of radioactive dust and aerosols generated during the cutting process of each structure can cause radiation exposure to the environment around the workplace and to the radiation exposure in the body of workers. When cutting structures, water is sprayed to reduce the generation of aerosols, so early saturation of the filter is expected due to radioactive aerosols and fine particles containing a large amount of moisture. A mobile air purification device is being developed to a fast and efficient air purifier that can be used for a long time operation to protect workers from radiation exposure in high radiation areas and to minimize the amount of secondary waste generated. In this paper, the direction for a new concept of unit technology that can achieve the development purpose is described.

Kori Unit 1 nuclear power plant is a pressurized water reactor type with an output of 587 Mwe, which was permanently shut down on June 18, 2017. Currently, the final decommissioning plan (FDP) has been submitted and review is in progress. Once the FDP is approved, it is expected that dismantling will begin with the secondary system, and dismantling work on the primary system of Kori Unit 1 will begin after the spent nuclear fuel is taken out. It is expected that the space where the secondary system has been dismantled can be used as a temporary storage place, and the entire dismantling schedule is expected to proceed without delay. The main equipment of the secondary system is large and heavy. The rotating parts is connected to a single axis with a length of about 40 meters, and is complexly installed over three floors, making accessibility very difficult. A large pipe several kilometers long that supplies various fluids to the secondary system is installed hanging from the ceiling using a hanger between the main devices, and the outer diameter of the pipe is wrapped with insulation material to keep warm. In nuclear secondary system decommissioning, it is very important to check for radiation contamination, establish and implement countermeasures, and predict and manage safety and environmental risks that may occur when cutting and dismantling large heavy objects. So we plan to evaluate the radiation contamination characteristics of the secondary system using ISOCS (In- Situ Object Counting System) to check for possible radioactive contamination. According to the characteristics results, decommissioning plans and methods for safe dismantling by workers were studied. In addition, we conducted research on how to safely dismantle the secondary system in terms of industrial safety, such as asbestos, cutting and handling of heavy materials and so on. This study proposes a safe decommissioning method for various risks that may occur when dismantling the secondary system of Kori Unit 1 nuclear power plant.

After the major radioactivation structures (RPV, Core, SG, etc.) due to neutron irradiation from the nuclear fuel in the reactor are permanently shut down, numerous nuclides that emit alpha-rays, beta-rays, gamma-rays, etc. exist within the radioactive structures. In this study, nuclides were selected to evaluate the source term for worker exposure management (external exposure) at the time of decommissioning. The selection of nuclides was derived by sequentially considering the four steps. In the first stage, the classification of isotopes of major nuclides generated from the radiation of fission products, neutron-radiated products, coolant-induced corrosion products, and other impurities was considered as a step to select evaluation nuclides in major primary system structures. As a second step, in order to select the major radionuclides to be considered at the time of decommissioning, it is necessary to select the nuclides considering their half-life. Considering this, nuclides that were less than 5 years after permanent suspension were excluded. As a third step, since the purpose of reducing worker exposure during decommissioning is significant, nuclides that emit gamma rays when decaying were selected. As a final step, it is a material made by radiation from the fuel rod of the reactor and is often a fission product found in the event of a Severe accident at a nuclear power plant, and is excluded from the nuclide for evaluation at the time of decommissioning is excluded. The final selected Co-60 is a nuclide that emits high-energy gamma rays and was classified as a major nuclide that affects the reduction of radiation exposure to decommissioning workers. In the future, based on the nuclide selection results derived from this study, we plan to study the evaluation of worker radiation exposure from crud to decommissioning workers by deriving evaluation results of crud and radioactive source terms within the reactor core.

In nuclear power plant (NPP) decommissioning, ventilation and purification of the building atmosphere are important to create a working environment, ensure worker safety, and prevent the release of gaseous radioactive materials into the environment. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system of each building is maintained, modified, or newly installed. In this study, based on APR1400, operation strategies were presented in case of ventilation abnormalities in the reactor containment building (RCB), where highly radioactive particles and high dust are most frequently generated during NPP decommissioning. For research, it was assumed that the entire RCB atmospheric ventilation during decommissioning would use the RCB purge system of the existing NPP and perform continuous ventilation. Additionally, it is assumed that areas where high radiation particles and high dust occur locally, such as reactor containers or internal segments, are sealed with tents and purified using a HEFA filter of a temporary portable HVAC, and a exhaust flow path is connected to the discharge duct of the existing RCB purge system. The possibility of abnormal occurrence was largely divided into two cases. First, when large amounts of uncontrolled pollutants are released into the atmosphere inside the RCB, discharge to the environment is stopped manually or automatically by a modified engineered safety function activation signal (ESFAS). Afterwards, the RCB purge system should be operated in recirculation mode to sufficiently purify the RCB atmosphere with a HEPA filter. Second, when the first train of the low volume purge system is not running due to a failure, standby train should be operated. If both low volume purge trains fail, a high volume purge system is used. Intermittent purge operation is preferred due to large capacity during high volume purge operation. In cases where it is not possible to operate all purge systems due to common issues such as power supply, atmospheric sampling is performed to determine whether to proceed with the work inside RCB.

The decommissioning of domestic Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) in Korea is expected to begin with the Kori-1, which was permanently shutdown in 2017. In addition, Wolsong-1 has been also permanently shutdown, and another type will be the decommissioning project following Kori-1. KHNP is promoting operation and decommissioning projects as the owner of NPPs, and the Central Research Institute (CRI) has been developing a Final Decommissioning Plan (FDP) for the decommissioning license document. The FDP consists of 11 major chapters in the order of overview of the project, characteristic evaluation, safety assessment, radiation protection, decontamination & dismantlement activities, waste management, etc. The contents described in each chapter are individual chapters, but there are also parts that consider the connection with other chapters. The CRI, which develops the FDP for the first decommissioning project in Korea, has spent a lot of time and effort considering this and has been proceeding through trial and error until the present stage. Therefore, this study aims to explain the current status of FDP, a license document for domestic decommissioning projects, and the link between major input data in major chapters. It can be said that System, Structure, and Components (SSCs) subject to dismantling are considered as the scope of FDP. Chapters that perform estimations on these dismantling targets may include safety assessments, exposure dose assessments for workers and residents, and waste inventory assessments. Therefore, an important part of performing the estimation works is to consider the entire scope of decommissioning activities, and as a way, it can start from data based on the inventory data. After generating the inventory data, the waste treatment classification for the inventory is designated by reflecting the results of the characterization. In addition, for cost estimation, the cost of decommissioning project is predicted by inputting some data (i.e., UCF) such as work process, number of workers, and time required for each item with data reflected in quantity and characterization. After that, based on these inventory, characterization, and UCF data, accident scenarios and industrial safety evaluation are performed for the safety assessment. The worker exposure dose is estimated by considering the dose rate of the workspace with these data. In the case of the amount of waste, the final amount of waste is estimated by considering the factors of reduction and decontamination. In summary, the main estimation contents of FDP are evaluated by adding elements required for the purpose of each chapter from data combined with inventory, characterization, and UCF, so the contents of these chapters are based on the logic of considering the entire scope of decommissioning in common.

Among the twenty six nuclear power plants in Korea, twenty four plants are currently in operation excluding the two permanently shut-down Kori #1 and Wolsung #1 plants. The decommissioning process includes many tasks such as cutting, decontamination, disposal and treatment. Among the tasks, because cutting is one of the tasks performed close to the target structure, there is a possibility for the workers to be exposed excessively to the radiation. There are representative large structures such as steam generators, nuclear reactors, reactor coolant pump, and pressurizer, made of metals, and radioactive concrete, made of concrete. Especially, compared to the trend of research to manage the radiation exposure of steam generators that are directly connected to pressurizers, the trend of research to manage the radiation exposure of pressurizers to workers is not satisfactory. Moreover, although there have been many studies on radioactive concrete, the studies to manage the radiation exposure to workers with a systematic cutting scenario are insufficient. In this study, radioactive concrete, a representative large structure made of concrete, was selected as the target for evaluation. The conditions for evaluation were cutting speed (1~10 m2/hr) and the time for cutting (permanent shutdown~30 years after the shutdown). A cutting scenario was developed by applying the situation for abrasive decontamination beforehand and Hot-to-Cold and Cold-to-Hot, and effort was made to derive a reasonable plan. The evaluation result derived were hourly radiation dose distribution of 1.19~0.103 mSv/hour and 1.29~0.0113 mSv/hour for a scenario without abrasive decontamination (in the order of Hot to Cold, Cold to Hot), and hourly radiation dose distribution of 0.547~0.0479 mSv/hour and 0.608~0.0522 mSv/hour for a scenario with abrasive decontamination. The maximum value of collective dose derived was 1.54E+04 mSv at the cutting time of permanent shutdown with cutting speed of 1 m2/hour in the Cold to Hot scenario before abrasive decontamination, and the minimum value derived was 5.15E+01 mSv at the cutting time of 30-year after the permanent shutdown with cutting speed of 10 m2/hour in the Hot to Cold scenario after abrasive decontamination.

The type of radioactive waste that may occur in the process of nuclear power plant dismantling can be classified into solid, liquid, gas, and mixed waste. In addition, according to the level of radioactivity, it can be divided into high level, intermediate level, low level, and clearance level waste. In the case of solid radioactive waste, it is necessary to secure disposal suitability in order to deliver it to a disposal facility, so safe and efficient treatment of a large amount of radioactive waste generated during decommissioning is one of the most important issues. For the treatment of radioactive waste generated during decommissioning, technologies in various fields such as cutting, decontamination, melting, measurement, and packaging are required. Therefore, this study intends to present and application plan for decommissioning domestic nuclear power plants through overseas case studies for the treatment of radioactive waste expected to occur during nuclear power plant decommissioning.

The concept of clearance is to manage radioactive waste by incineration, reclamation, or recycling as non-radioactive waste, excluding those found to have a concentration of less than the allowable concentration of clearance. Among the types of waste subject to clearance, concrete is managed by recycling and landfill, metal by recycling and reuse, combustible materials by incineration, and soil by landfill. In Korea, clearance has been implemented in earnest since 2000, and the types and quantity of waste subject to clearance are increasing. For clearance, the nuclear-related operator submits its clearance plan to the regulatory body, and the regulatory body reviews the clearance plan and notifies the operator of its suitability. Since a significant amount of radioactive waste generated when decommissioning nuclear power plants is expected to be classified as clearance waste, this study will present clearance waste disposal measures for nuclear power plant through a review of overseas cases related to clearance.

Transport packages have been developed to transport the decommissioning waste from the nuclear power plant. The packages are classified with Type IP-2 package. The IAEA requirements for Type IP-2 packages include that a free drop test should be performed for normal conditions of transport. In this study, drop tests of the packages were performed to prove the structural integrity and to verify the reliability of the analysis results by comparing the test and analysis results. Half-scale models were used for the drop tests and drop position was considered as 0.3 m oblique drop on packages weighing more than 15 tons. The strain and impact acceleration data were obtained to verify the reliability of the analysis results. Before and after the drop tests, radiation shielding tests were performed to confirm that the dose rate increase was within 20% at the external surface of the package. Also, measurement of bolt torque, and visual inspection were performed to confirm the loss or dispersion of the radioactive contents. After each drop test, slight deformations occurred in some packages. However, there was no loss of pretension in the lid bolts and the shielding thickness was not reduced for metal shields. In the package with concrete shield, the surface dose rate did not increase and there was no cracks or damage to the concrete. Therefore, the transport packages met the legal requirements (no more than a 20% increase of radiation level and no loss or dispersion of radioactive contents). Safety verifications were performed using the measured strain and acceleration data from the test, and the appropriate conservatism for the analysis results and the validity of the analysis model were confirmed. Therefore, it was found that the structural integrity of the packages was maintained under the drop test conditions. The results of this study were used as design data of the transport packages, and the packages will be used in the NPP decommissioning project in the future.

The decommissioning of a nuclear power plant is a project that consists of several stages, and various technologies are applied when performing various tasks at each stage. And it is essential to secure safety and economic feasibility. As the paradigm has changed due to digital transformation in various industries, digitalization is applied to the life cycle of nuclear power plant from construction, operation and decommissioning project. Element technologies are being developed for decommissioning plan establishment, process design, econtamination method, decommissioning work process, waste management, environmental monitoring and radiation dose simulation. The utilization of digital twin in the decommissioning stage is classified into three categories. ① Process Monitoring (decommissioning work procedure, work progress (plan/actual), real-time work status and etc.) ② Facility Monitoring (real-time sensing and video data monitoring, decommissioning SSCs information, work alarm and etc.) ③ Safety Monitoring (work safety, radiation exposure, fire monitoring, work risk and etc.) A system suitable for the decommissioning stage and work should be developed in consideration of the target of use, development function, and when to create data according to the purpose of the system. Simulation module according to user purpose should be provided. In addition, data-base management should be performed according to the decommissioning characteristics in consideration of the data associated with the existing operating system. The system to be developed should support the project management to comply with the domestic standards and regulations to be determined in the future. This will improve the competitiveness of domestic and foreign markets.

Under Article 17 of the Radioactive Waste Management Act and Article 12 of the Enforcement Decree of the Radioactive Waste Management Act, KHNP shall reserve the cost for the decommissioning of NPPs as provisions. To preserve the value, an additional amount considering the discount rate is to be added annually. The initial provision is decided by estimating the decommissioning cost of NPP at the time of commercial operation, calculating the future cost by applying the inflation rate to the expected start date of decommissioning, and then discounting it at a discount rate to the present value. According to the current notice, the period for applying inflation and discount rate is defined as the period of 5 years added to the design life of NPP, which is presumed to be due to the assumption that all decommissioning costs are incurred at once 5 years after the permanent shutdown of the power plant. However, assuming that the actual decommissioning period of a domestic nuclear power plant is generally planned for 15 years, it can be expected that most of the decommissioning activities will begin after the decommissioning preparation and transition period, or 5 years after permanent shutdown of the plant. Considering this, it can be said that the current period (5 years + design life) for applying inflation and discount rate is set a little conservatively. In this paper, the initial provision is calculated by appropriately distributing the decommissioning costs of overseas NPPs categorized by International Structure for Decommissioning Costing (ISDC) during the planned decommissioning period of domestic NPPs, and then adding up the decommissioning cost each year by separately applying the inflation and discount period, which was compared with the results calculated using the current method. Through this, it was confirmed that the revised method had the effect of reducing the initial provision by 2.2% to 5.7% compared to the current method depending on the gap between inflation rate and discount rate, which can be converted to about 8 years of inflation and discount period used in the current method. It is expected that this paper will be used in the future as a basic reference for developing a more accurate method for calculating the initial provision of decommissioning cost.

The decommissioning of nuclear power plant (NPP) consists of various activities, such system decontamination, take out of activated components, segmentation of the activated components, site remediation, etc. During various activities, the generation of radioactive wastes and radiation exposure to workers is expected. The systematic waste management during the activities is important to implement the decommissioning. The inefficient waste management usually bring significant delay in decommissioning process and results in increase of decommissioning cost. The radiation exposure management is also an important issue. It is generally accepted that the hot spot, generated from operation and decommissioning of NPP, is observed in many places within containment building. Although the health physicists measure the radiation in various points, the unintended hot spots are sometimes generated and observed. The effective radiation exposure management also requires the control of personnel and space during various activities. In this study, the radiation exposure and waste management experiences of Zion NPP is reviewed. The primary nuclides and radiation exposure during various activities are systematically studied to achieve the main objectives of this paper.

Reliable evaluation of radioactivity inventory for the nuclear power plant components and residual materials is very important for decontamination and decommissioning. This can make it possible to define optimum dismantling approaches, to determine radioactive waste management strategies, and to estimate the project costs reasonably. To calculate radioactivity of the nuclear power plant structure, various information such as interest nuclide, cross-section, decay constant, irradiation time, neutron flux, and so on is required. Especially irradiation time and neutron flux level are very changeable due to cycle specific fuel loading pattern, the plant overhaul, cycle length. However most of the radioactivity calculations have generally been performed assuming one representative or average neutron flux during the lifetime of the nuclear power plant. This assumption may include excessive conservatism because the radioactivity level has the characteristics of saturation and decay. Therefore, considering these variables as realistically as possible could prevent overestimation. In order to perform realistic radioactivity calculation, we developed monthly relative power contribution factor applying plant-specific operation history and cycle-specific neutron flux. The factors were applied to the radioactivity calculation. The calculation results ware compared with measured values of the neutron monitors that were actually installed and withdrawn from the nuclear power plant. As a result of the comparisons, there are good agreements between the calculated values and measured values. These accurate calculation results of radioactivity could contribute to the establishment of radioactive waste dismantling strategies, the classification of radioactive waste, and the deposit of disposal costs for safe and reasonable decommissioning of the nuclear power plant.

In 2017, Kori unit 1 nuclear power plant was permanently shut down at the end of its life. Currently, Historical Site Assessment (HSA) for MARSSIM characteristics evaluation is being conducted according to the NUREG-1575 procedure, this is conducted through comprehensive details such as radiological characteristics preliminary investigation and on-site interview. Thus, the decommissioning of nuclear power plant must consider safety and economic feasibility of structures and sites. For this purpose, the establishment of optimal work plan is required which simulations in various fields. This study aims to establish procedure that can form a basis for a rational decommissioning plan using the virtual nuclear power plant model. The mapping procedure for 3D platform implementation consisted of three steps. First, scan the inside and outside of the nuclear power plant for decommissioning structure analysis, 3D modeling is performed based on the data. After that, a platform is designed to directly measure the radiation dose rate and mapped the derived to the program. Finally, mapping the radiation dose rate for each point in 3D using the radiation dose rate calculation factor according to the time change the measured value created on the 3D mapping platform. When the mapping is completed, it is possible to manage the exposure dose of workers according to the ALARA principle through the charge of radiation dose rate over time because of visualization of the color difference to the radiation dose rate at each point. For addition, the exposure dose evaluation considering the movement route and economic feasibility can be considered using developed program. As the interest in safety accidents for workers increases, the importance of minimum radiation dose and optimal work plan for workers is becoming increasingly important. Through this mapping procedure, it will be possible to contribute to the establishment of reasonable process for dismantling nuclear power plant in the future.

Operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants generates radioactive waste. This radioactive waste can be categorized into several different levels, for example, low, intermediate, and high, according to the regulations. Currently, low and intermediate-level waste are stored in conventional 200-liter drums to be disposed. However, in Korea, the disposal of intermediate-level radioactive waste is virtually impossible as there are no available facilities. Furthermore, large-sized intermediate- level radioactive waste, such as reactor internals from decommissioning, need to be segmented into smaller sizes so they can be adequately stored in the conventional drums. This segmentation process requires additional costs and also produces secondary waste. Therefore, this paper suggests repurposing the no-longer-used spent nuclear fuel casks. The casks are larger in size than the conventional drums, thus requiring less segmentation of waste. Furthermore, the safety requirements of the spent nuclear fuel casks are severer than those of the drums. Hence, repurposed spent nuclear fuel casks could better address potential risks such as dropping, submerging, or a fire. In addition, the spent nuclear fuel casks need to be disposed in compliance with the regulations for low level radioactive waste. This cost may be avoided by repurposing the casks.