A radioactive waste repository consists of engineered barriers and natural barriers and must be safely managed after isolation. Geologic events in natural barriers should be categorized and evaluated according to their magnitude to assess the present and future stability of disposal. Among the longterm evolutionary elements of natural barriers, faults are a small portion of the Earth’s crust. Still, they play an important role in nuclide transport as conduits for fluids moving deep underground. In addition, the physical and chemical properties of fault rocks are useful for understanding the longterm and short-term behavior of faults. Paleomagnetic research has been used extensively and successfully for igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. In addition, magnetic characterization of fault rocks can be used to describe faults or infer the timing of major geological events along fault zones. Components of magnetization defined in fault-breccias were attributed to chemical processes associated with hydrothermal mineralization that accompanied or post-dated tectonic activity along the fault. The study of magnetic minerals in fault rocks can be used as “strain indicators”, “geothermometers”, etc. This study is a preliminary test of magnetic properties using fault gouges. Fault gouges are not well preserved in typical terrestrial environments. Access to fresh gouges typically requires trenching through faults or sampling with a core drill. Fortunately, it is a magnetic property study using a fault gouge that exists on the inner wall of KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). This is to identify the motion history of the fault and, furthermore, to understand the stress structure at the time of fault creation. In addition, it can be presented as evidence for evaluating faults that may appear in future URL (Underground Research Laboratory).

Climatologists have warned rapid climate change of the earth and it will cause a big disaster worldwide. the rapid climate change is mostly due to emission of greenhouse gases. To reduce greenhouse gases, many countries have prepared protocols, agreements, and treaties. IMO(International Maritime Organization) have established the protocol to decrease ship’s greenhouse gases emission and they consider the nuclear power source is an option to replace fossils fuels. Our study focused on elemental technologies related to a nuclear powered ship and, the passive residual heat removal system(PRHRS) is one of topics in our study. As the mandatory of the post Fukushima accident, PRHRS for a nuclear powered ship has been studied. We invented the new concepts of PRHRS which is optimized to a nuclear powered ship. The numerical analysis results indicated that the system is very reasonable. Based on the numerical analysis, an experiential loop was set and we preliminary tested the performance of the system under the reduced scale. The experimental results came with the numerical analysis results well.

The high-level waste disposal system is an underground structure exposed to complex environmental conditions such as high temperature, radiation, and groundwater. The high-level waste disposal causes structural cracks and deterioration over time. However, since the high-level waste disposal system is a structure that should be operated for a very long time, developing a high-durability monitoring sensor to detect cracks and deterioration is essential. The durability of the sensor can be evaluated by predicting the expected life through the accelerated life test, one of the reliability qualification tests. The most important factor in the accelerated life test design is setting the harsh stress level. This study figured out the harsh stress level of the piezoelectric sensor, which is commonly used for underground structure monitoring. It is possible to determine the appropriate stress level for the accelerated life test by investigating the harsh stress level for the temperature factor. It will contribute to more accurate life expectancy prediction.

Currently, the development of evaluation technology for vibration and shock loads transmitted to spent nuclear fuel and structural integrity of spent nuclear fuel under normal conditions of transport is progressing in Korea by the present authors. Road transportation tests using surrogate spent nuclear fuel were performed in September, 2020 using a test model of KORAD-21 transportation cask and sea transportation tests were conducted from September 30 to October 4, 2021. In order to investigate amplification or attenuation characteristics, according to the load transfer path, a number of accelerometers were attached on a ship cargo hold, cradle, cask, canister, disk assembly, basket, and surrogate fuel assemblies and to investigate the durability of spent nuclear fuel rods, strain gages were attached on surrogate fuel assemblies. A ship named “JW STELLA” which has similar deadweight (5,000 ton) of existing spent nuclear fuel transportation ships was used for the sea transportation tests. The ship is propelled by 1,825 hp two main engines with two 4-bladed propellers. There are two major vibration sources in the ship. One is the vibration from waves and the other is the vibration from the engine and propeller system. The sensor locations on the ship were determined considering the vibration sources. The sea transportation test was performed for 5 days, the test data were measured successfully. The ship with the test model was departed from Changwon and sailed to Uljin, sailed west to Yeonggwang and then returned to Changwon. In addition to sailing on a designated test route, circulation test, braking/acceleration test, depth of water test, and rolling test were conducted. As a result of the preliminary data analysis of the sea test, power spectral densities and shock response spectrums were obtained according to the different test conditions. The vibratory loads caused by the wave mainly occurred in the frequency range of 0.1 to 0.3 Hz. The vibratory loads caused by the propeller occurred near the n/rev rotating frequencies, such as 5, 10, 20 Hz etc. However, those frequencies are far from the natural frequencies of local mode of the fuel rods, so it is considered that the vibratory loads from the wave and the propeller do not have a significant influence on the structural integrity of the fuel rods. Among all the test cases, maximum strain occurred at SG31 near the bottom nozzle on the test; the magnitude was 73.62 micro strain. Based on the analyzed road and sea transportation test data, a few input spectra for the shaker table test will be obtained and the shaker table test will be conducted in 2022. It is expected that the detailed vibration characteristics of the assembly which were difficult to identify from the test results can be investigated.

The temperature of the spent fuel cladding is the basis for the evaluation of integrity. It is almost impossible to directly measure the temperature of spent nuclear fuel. Because spent nuclear fuel is dangerous. We are preparing a test to measure the cladding temperature with an equivalent fuel assembly by simulating the characteristics of spent nuclear fuel. PLUS7 was selected as the test target in consideration of the amount of generation, thermal water retention, residual moisture content, and manufacturability of domestic spent nuclear fuel. The nuclear fuel assembly is planned to be manufactured in two main ways. Except for the cladding tube that simulates decay heat, the structure will be manufactured by KEPCO Nuclear Fuel, and fuel rods and canisters will be manufactured by SUKEGAWA Electric in Japan. The same nuclear fuel assemblies as commercial skeleton will be applied. The temperature of the fuel cladding will be measured by attaching a thermocouple directly to the surface of the cladding tube. The canister is composed of a basket, a basket supporter, a heater and drain tube, a lead, and an observation window. The working fluid is water and helium, and the maximum pressure inside the canister is 1.1 MPa and the minimum pressure is 0.05 kPa. The maximum temperature of the surface of the cladding was designed to be 500°C, and the maximum temperature of the sealing to keep airtightness was designed to be 250°C. To satisfy this condition, we plan to evaluate the leak rate below 10−5 std.cm3·s−1, which is equivalent to helium tightness. The maximum heat of decay per fuel rod is 13 W, and one assembly is up to 3 kW. Production of the test equipment is expected to be completed in the first half of next year, and testing is scheduled to begin in the second half of next year. The test will evaluate all environments that the spent nuclear fuel may experience, such as dry normal conditions, abnormal conditions, wet conditions, and dry conditions. All data will be used for interpretation verification purposes.

Artificial light is frequently used for plant growth and pest attraction traps in greenhouses. In addition, natural enemies may utilize this artificial light for colonization in greenhouses. Orius laevigatus is a biological control agent of whiteflies and thrips. The Y-tube selection test was conducted against O. laevigatus for 11 wavelengths (365, 385, 395, 405, 410-420, 420-430, 440-450, 490-500, 520-530, 590-595 and 620-630 nm) of LED and white light (5000k) for a control . One pipe of the Y-tube was allocated for insect entrance and other two pipes of the Y-tube were installed transparent sticky trap along with white LED and test wavelength, respectively. At least, three replications were conducted for each wavelength and 40 to 60 individuals of O. laevigatus were used for each replication. Attraction rate of 365 to 405 nm wavelength was above 50 % and highest at 385 nm (83.7 %). Attraction rate of 490 to 630 nm was below 20 % and lowest at 620-630 nm (1.4 %). The results indicate that O. laevigatus attracted most to 385 nm wavelength and this light may be useful for using O. laevigatus in green houses. Further research is needed using selected LED wavelength.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship of fatigue and stress in seafarers. Ninety healthy adults were recruited and cumulative fatigue, stress index and stress resistance of seafarers were measured using autonomic nervous system analysis device (SA-6000; Medicoa Co. Ltd. Korea). The stress index had a significant correlation with the degree of resistance (p<.01). Cumulative fatigue and the stress index had a strong positive correlation (r=.781) with the stress resistance, cumulative fatigue had a strong negative correlation (r=.782) (p<0.01). Furthermore, the stress index had a strong negative correlation with the degree of resistance (r=.924) (p<.01). The present study indicate that there are significant correlation between the cumulative fatigue and stress index, cumulative fatigue and stress resistance, as well as stress index and stress resistance in the seafarers (p<.01).

Since 2003, policies and practices related to the reduction of CO2 gas emission from ships has been discussing by the International Maritime Organization. The representative emission index and indicator are the EEDI (Energy Efficiency Design Index) for the new ships and EEOI (Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator) during the voyage. In this paper a water tank test and procedure development are introduced for the purpose of improving EEDI. The results showed good agreement explaining the characteristics properly.