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.

A deep geological repository for disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW) consists of the canister, buffer material, and natural rock. If radionuclides leak from a disposal container, it can pass through buffer materials and rock, and move into the biosphere. Transport and migration of radionuclides in the rock differently were affected by the fracture type, filling minerals in the fracture, and the chemical and hydraulic properties of the groundwater. In this study, aperture distribution in fractured granite block was investigated by hydraulic test and CFD analysis. The fractured rock block (1 m × 0.6 m × 0.6 m), which is simulated as natural barrier, was prepared from Iksan, Jeollabuk-do. 9 test holes were drilled and packer system was installed to perform hydraulic test at the surface of fracture. 3D model simulated for aperture distribution of rock block was made using results of hydraulic test. And then, CFD analysis was performed to evaluate the co-relation between experiment results and analysis results using FLUENT code.

When the radioactive nuclides are leaked from a deep geological repository by groundwater, the migration path of the nuclides is mostly consisted of rock fractures to the surface biosphere. Thus, assessing the safety of the disposed radioactive wastes depends upon understanding of nuclide migration in the fractured rocks. Fractures in rocks tend to dominate the hydrological characteristics of the dissolved nuclides. To study migration of nuclides in the rock fracture, a granite block of 1 m scale was quarried from the Hwangdeung site. The block has a single natural fracture. The six faces of the rock including fracture gaps were sealed with silicone adhesives to prevent leaking or diffusion of the water. Usually flow in fractured rock is unevenly distributed and most of the water flow occures over a small portion of the fracture zone, that is so called channeling flow. It is caused by uneven distribution of apertures in a fracture field. Flow rate is proportional to the cubic of the aperture. Thus, figuring out aperture distribution in a fracture field is the most important step on the study of the migration of nuclides in the fractured region. The ideal way to figure out the aperture distribution in a fractured rock is to use a non-destructive tool such as X-ray tomagraphe. However, it has a limitation of scale, that is, less than about 30 cm. It is not easy to give a good resolution for this quarried rock of 100×60×60 cm scale. It gives complex and vague images of the fracture. The optimum way to get an aperture distribution in a fractured rock is to drill some boreholes to the fracture and to carry out hydraulic tests. The more number of boreholes gives the more accurate information, but the more disturbance to the fracture field. Thus, it is necessary to optimize between aperture information and disturbing fracture field by selecting a suitable number of boreholes. We drilled nine boreholes from the upper surface of the rock mass just to the fracture without penetrating the fracture. And we carried out dipole tests for the matrix set of 9 boreholes. From each dipole test, an effective average aperture was calculated with the data of flow rate and hydraulic head. Then aperture distribution in the fracture field is calculated with a modified Krigging method. As a result, the aperture is distributed in the range of about 0.03~0.16 mm.

The design of the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) repository is made for isolating the HLW from the groundwater system by using artificial and natural barriers. Granite is usually considered to be a great natural barrier for the HLW repository in various countries including Sweden, Canada, and Korea due to its low hydraulic permeability. However, many fractures that can act as conduits for groundwater and radionuclides exist in granite. Furthermore, the decay heat generated by the HLW can induce groundwater acceleration through the fracture. Since the direction, magnitude, and lasting time of the heat-induced groundwater flow can be differed depending on the fracture geometry, the effect of fracture geometry on the groundwater flow around the repository should be carefully analyzed. In this study, groundwater models were conducted with various fracture geometries to quantify the effect of various properties of fractures (or fracture networks) on the heat-induced groundwater flow. In all models, the pressure around the repository only lasted for a short period after it peaked at 0.1 years. In contrast, the temperature lasted for 10,000 years after the disposal inducing the convective groundwater flow. Single fracture models with different orientations were conducted to evaluate the variations in groundwater velocities around the repository depending on the fracture slope. According to the results, the groundwater velocity on the fracture was the fastest when the regional groundwater flow direction and the fracture direction coincided. In double fracture models, various inclined fractures were added to the horizontal fracture. Due to the intersecting, the groundwater flow velocity showed a discontinuous change at the intersecting point. Lastly, the discrete fracture network models were conducted with different fracture densities, length distributions, and orientations. According to the modeling results, the groundwater flow was significantly accelerated when the fracture network density increased, or the average fracture length increased. However, the effect of the fracture orientation was not significant compared to the other two network properties.

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.

본 연구에서는 콜로이드와 핵종의 복합이동에 관한 수치모델을 개발하였다. 콜로이드와 핵종의 반응-이동 지배방정식을 풀기 위하여 Operator Splitting Method 중 Strang의 분리 SNI 방식을 수치해석 방법으로 채택하였고 이는 MATLAB을 이용하여코드화 되었다. 개발된 수치모델은 용질의 이동 및 분산만을 고려한 해석해를 통한 검증과정에서 피어슨 상관계수의 제곱값(r2)이 0.99 이상으로 나타나 모델의 정확성이 입증되었다.

Rorabaugh(1953)에 의해 재정리된 단계양수시험 해석해 sw = B C p 는 단열암반대수층에서 비선형 으로 증가하는 수위강하에 매우 적합하며, 현장에서 관측된 수위강하 값과 추정된 수위강하 사이의 제곱 근 평균제곱오차(RMSE) 값이 매우 낮음을 보여주었다. 우물수두손실(C p )의 C 값은 3.689×10-19 5.825 ×10-7, P 값은 3.459 8.290의 범위로 산정되었으며, 지표로부터 하부심도로 내려 갈수록 양수율 증가에따른 수위강하는 매우 크게 나타났다. 단열암반대수층에서의 우물수두손실은 다공질매질에서와 달리 단 열특성(단열의 틈, 간격, 상호 연결성)에 의한 영향으로 나타나므로, 우물수두손실의 C 와 P 값은 단열암 반대수층의 난류구간과 고·저 투수성 단열암반의 특성을 해석하는데 매우 중요하다. 그 결과, 우물수두 손실 항의 C 와 P 값에 대한 회귀분석 결과로부터 암반대수층의 난류구간과 수리특성의 관계가 파악되었 으며, C 와 P 값의 관계가 단열암반대수층의 수리특성 해석에 있어 매우 유용함을 확인할 수 있었다.