Kori unit 1, the first PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor) in Korea, was permanent shut down in 2017. In Korea, according to the Nuclear Safety Act, the FDP (Final Decommissioning Plan) must be submitted within 5 years of permanent shutdown. According to NSSC Notice, the types, volumes, and radioactivity of solid radioactive wastes should be included in FDP chapter 9, Radioactive Waste Management, Therefore, in this study, the types depending on generation characteristics and radiological characterization methods and process of solid radioactive waste were analyzed. Solid radioactive waste depending on the characteristics of the generation was classified into reactor vessel and reactor vessel internal, large components, small metals, spent nuclear fuel storage racks, insulation, wires, concrete debris, scattering concrete, asbestos, mixed waste, soil, spent resins and filters, and dry active waste. Radiological characterization of solid radioactive waste is performed to determine the characteristics of radioactive contamination, including the type and concentration of radionuclides. It is necessary to ensure the representativeness of the sample for the structures, systems and components to be evaluated and to apply appropriate evaluation methods and procedures according to the structure, material and type of contamination. Therefore, the radiological characterization is divided into concrete and structures, systems and components, and reactor vessel, reactor vessel internal and bioshield concrete. In this study, the types depending on generation characteristics and radiological characterization methods and process of solid radioactive waste were analyzed. The results of this study can be used as a basis for the preparation of the FDP for the Kori unit 1.

Solid radioactive waste such as rubble, trimmed trees, contaminated soil, metal, concrete, used protective clothing, secondary waste, etc. are being generated due to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident occurred on March 11, 2011. Solid radioactive waste inside of Fukushima NPP is estimated to be about 790,000 m3. The solid radioactive waste includes combustible rubble, trimmed trees, and used protective clothing, and is about 290,000 m3. These will be incinerated, reduced to about 20,000 m3 and stored in solid waste storage. The radioactive waste incinerator was completed in 2021. About 60,000 m3 of rubble containing metal and concrete with a surface dose rate of 1 mSv/h or higher will be stored without reduction treatment. Metal with a surface dose rate of 1 mSv/h or less are molten, and concrete undergoes a crushing process. About 60,000 m3 of contaminated soil (0.005 ~1 mSv/h) will be managed in solid waste storage without reduction treatment. The amount of secondary waste generated during the treatment of contaminated water is about 6,500 huge tanks, and additional research is being conducted on future treatment methods.

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.

Kori and Wolsong unit 1 were permanently shutdown in 2017 and 2019, respectively. During the decommissioning of a nuclear power plant, various types and levels of decommissioning waste will be generated sporadically in many areas in a relatively short period of time, so safe management of decommissioning waste is expected to emerge as a very important issue in the future. Since Korea has no experience in decommissioning nuclear power plants, radionuclides added by abnormal routes or errors in data can be identified through the list of expected nuclides and radioactivity data during decommissioning by analyzing cases of overseas nuclear power plants decommissioning. Therefore, it is expected that safety information of nuclear power plants in the United States (i.e. all information related to safety, such as radioactive waste characteristics and accident or decommissioning information at nuclear power plants) can be utilized when decommissioning Korea nuclear power plants. Therefore, in this study, the characteristics of solid radioactive waste were analyzed by collecting solid radioactive waste data during operation and after permanent shutdown of nine PWR nuclear power plants in the United States, and the correlation between the characteristics data of solid radioactive waste was analyzed. However, in the case of Korea, only data from the United States were analyzed because there was no data for each radionuclide that were disclosed when disposing of radioactive waste in LILW repository and there was no nuclear power plant that had been decommissioned. Correlation analysis of solid radioactive waste was performed by linking radioactivity of radionuclides, volume of waste, and total radioactivity data based on decommissioning work and accident data after permanent shutdown or during operation. The correlation analysis of total radioactivity, volume, and radioactivity of each nuclide of solid radioactive waste during operation and after permanent shutdown was performed using XLSTAT, an Excel add-in software, for carrying out Mann-Kendall Test and estimating Sen’s slope. Trends during operation and after permanent shutdown were compared and the effects of specific events or tasks were analyzed. This study is expected to be utilized as basic data related to safety management of decommissioning Korea nuclear power plants in future.

본 논문은 극저준위폐기물 관리에 관한 중국의 정책과 규정들을 소개하고 있다. 오래된 시설의 중요한 해체 및 부지복구 프로그램에 주어진 바와 같이, 극저준위폐기물의 처분을 위한 새로운 시설의 필요성이 대두되고 있다. 여러가지 일반적인 설계원리들은 다중방벽에 의해 폐기물을 격리시키는 중저준위폐기물 처분시설과 같다. 콘크리트 방벽을 사용하는 것 대신에 벤토나이트 또는 고밀도 폴리에틸렌 멤브레인을 사용하는 것 외에 통상적으로 처분시설의 설계는 위해폐기물 처분시설의 설계와 같다. 극저준위폐기물 처분시설 2개소의 공학적 설계가 소개되었다.

Pyroprocessing에 의한 사용후핵연료 처리 과정에서 방사성 희토류 염화물이 포함된 폐용융염이 발생된 다. 이러한 폐 용융염 내에 존재하는 방사성 희토류 염화물을 산화물로 침전시켜 회수함으로서 용융염을 재 생할 수 있다. 최종적으로 발생되는 방사성 희토류 산화물의 저장과 처분에 적합한 monolithic 고화체를 제 조하기 위한 연구를 수행하였다. 본 연구에서는 고상 소결에 의해 붕규산 유리에 의한 고화체 제조, 희토류 산화물을 모나자이트로 합성한 후 붕규산 유리에 의한 고화체 제조를 수행하였다. 또한 zinc titanate 세라믹 이 주요성분인 고화 매질(ZIT)을 개발하여 고화체를 제조하였으며 각각의 고화체에 대한 침출 및 물리화학 적 특성을 비교 평가하였다. 고상 소결에 의해 제조된 ZIT 매질 고화체는 내 침출성이 크며 밀도가 크고 열전 도도가 우수한 특성을 나타내었다.