In underground repository environments, various types of engineered barriers are installed to hinder the mobility of radionuclides. Cement admixtures, especially used to improve workability for concrete, are composed of fairly high organic molecules and have a dispersing effect through bonding with the C-S-H of the concrete. Previous studies have shown that complex-forming organics like EDTA, NTA, and ISA have a significant effect on the mobility of radionuclides, but the studies on the behavior and stability of combined complexes in hydrated cement are lacking. So, we selected a commonly used polycarboxylic-ester (PCE) type cement admixture and stable Co as a surrogate of Co-60 to perform desorption experiments from hydrated cement containing the admixture. Radioactive Co is known to be a common contaminant in nuclear fission and medical facilities and considered to exist as a relatively stable phase in repositories. In addition, the evaluation of cobalt can be a standard of safety issue for other radionuclides with the presence of cement admixture in repository. In this study, cement samples were prepared at water/cement ratio of 0.55 and cured for 28 days at 23-25°C and at least 80% of humidity with varying cement admixtures of 0.0, 0.1, and 2.0wt%. To evaluate the stability of cobalt in the weathered cement, a 0.001 M HCl solution was used to simulate cement weathering conditions on a hot plate at 60°C for 1 day using a solid/liquid ratio of 1:100. Degree of weathering was confirmed using XRD analysis. The adsorption experiments were performed by adding 0.0042 mmol of cobalt (CoCl2, Sigma-Aldrich, anhydrous ≥ 98.0%) to the weathered cement for 3 days using a platform shaker at 200 rpm, and the supernatant was separated using a syringe filter (<0.20 um) before ICP-MS analysis to determine the amount of Co adsorption. Cobalt desorption was tested for the Co-adsorbed cement using 0.019 mmol of calcium (Ca(NO3)2·4H2O, Sigma-Aldrich, 99%) for 3 hours to 14 days. The results showed that adsorbed cobalt with and without cement admixture was stably bound to cement, and did not increase any noticeable Co release by 2.0wt% PCE admixture. However, additional experiments using varying contents of PCE and other admixtures should be conducted to provide a standard for assessing the safety of cement admixtures in repositories.

고준위방사성폐기물 처분장의 완충재 후보물질 선정을 위해 경주 벤토나이트를 대상으로 수리특성, 팽윤특성, 열적특성, 역학특성 및 핵종유출 저지특성을 조사하였다. 실험결과, 압축 벤토나이트의 수리전도도는 m/s 이하로 매우 낮았으며 건조밀도가 증가할수록 감소하였다. 팽윤압은 0.66 ㎫∼14.4 ㎫ 사이의 값을 보였으며 건조밀도에 따라 증가하였다. 건조밀도가 1.4 Ms/㎥ ∼ 1.8 Mg/㎥1.4 일때, 열전도도, 열축압축강도 (unconfined compressive strength), 탄성계수 (Young's modulus of elasticity), Poisson 비는 각각 0.80 ㎉/m ∼1.52 ㎉/m , 0.55 ㎫ ∼ 8.83 ㎫, 59 ㎫ ∼ 1275 ㎫, 0.05 ∼ 0.20의 값을 나타내었다. 압축벤토나이트에 대한 핵증 확산계수는 산화 환경에서 측정되었으며, 주어진 실험조건에서 삼중수소 (H-3)는 1.7 /s ∼ 3.4 /s. 양이온 핵종 (Cs, Sr , Ni)은 8.6 /s ∼ 1.3 /s, 음이온 핵종 (I, Tc)은 1.2 /s ∼ 9.5 /s, 악티나이드 핵종은 3.0 /s ∼ 1.8 /s 사이의 값을 나타내었다. 이때 확산계수는 모든 핵종에 대해 압축벤토나이트의 건조밀도가 증가할수록 감소하는 경향을 보였다.