Wasteform is the first barrier to prevent radionuclide release from repositories into the biosphere. Since leaching rates of nuclides in wasteform significantly impact on safety assessment of the repository, clarifying the leaching behavior is critical for accurate safety assessment. However, the current waste acceptance criteria (WAC) of the Gyeongju repository only evaluates leachability indexes for Cs, Sr, and Co, which are tracers for nuclear power plant waste streams. Furthermore, ANS 16.1, the current leaching test method used in WAC, applies deionized water (DI) as leachant. However, the interactions between wasteform and groundwater environment in the repository may not be reflected. Therefore, it is necessary to review the current leaching test method and nuclides that may require the extra evaluation of leachability beyond the Cs, Sr, and Co. Tc and I are key nuclides contributing to high radioactive dose in safety assessment due to their high mobility and low retardation factor. The groundwater conditions within the repository, such as pH and Eh significantly affect the chemical form of Tc and I. For example, Tc in H2O system tends to form hydroxide precipitates in neutral pH condition and TcO4 - in strong alkaline environments according to the Pourbaix diagram. In case of I, it generally exists in the form of I-, while it exists as IO3 - as Eh increases. Although the current leaching test at the Gyeongju repository applies DI as a leachant, the actual repository is expected to have a highly alkaline environment with a substantial amount of various ions in the groundwater. Consequently, the leaching behavior in the ANS 16.1 test and the actual disposal condition is different. Thus, it is necessary to analyze the leaching behavior of Tc and I with reflecting the actual disposal environment. In this study, the leaching behavior of Tc and I is investigated by following ANS 16.1 leaching test method. The solidified waste specimens containing 10 mmol of Re and I were manufactured with cement, which is widely used as a solidification material. Re was applied instead of Tc, which has similar chemical behavior to Tc, and NH4ReO4 and NaI were used as surrogates for Re and I. As a leachant, deionized water and cement-saturated groundwater were prepared and the concentration of nuclides in the leachant is analyzed by ICP-OES. As the result of this study, experimental data can be applied to improve the WAC and disposal concentration standards in the future.

Republic of Korea is preparing to decommission Kori Unit 1 and Wolsong Unit 1. Decommissioning of a nuclear power plant proceeds in the following stages: shutdown, transition period, decontamination, cutting, waste treatment, and site restoration. When nuclear power plant is decommissioned, It is expected that approximately 80,000 drums of radioactive waste will be generated per nuclear power plant. Therefore, various technologies are being researched and developed to reduce this to approximately 14,500 drums. Technologies for waste volume reduction are largely mechanical and electrical/thermal methods. Representative examples of mechanical volume reduction technologies include super compactors and electrical/thermal volume reduction technologies include induction and plasma torch furnaces. Both technologies are effective reduction technologies, but the reduction ratio varies depending on the type or condition of waste before treatment. For example, as a result of testing waste reduction using a super compactor at NUKEM in Germany, the reduction ratio was found to be between 1.3 and 7 depending on the type or condition of waste such as chips, ash, scrap metal, sand, etc. And according to IAEA-TECDOC-1527, when reducing the volume of metals, aluminum, lead, copper, brass, etc. using induction melting, the waste volume reduction ratio is 5 to 20. In this paper, referring to these results, a melting test was conducted using a previously developed plasma torch with an output of more than 100 kW. And volume reduction characteristics of this plasma torch was considered depending on waste type or condition.

Structural stability of a waste form can be provided by the waste form itself (steel components, etc.), by processing the waste to a stable form (solidification, etc.), or by emplacing the waste in a container or structure that provides stability (HICs or engineered structure, etc.). The waste or container should be resistant to degradation caused by radiation effects. In accordance with the requirements for the domestic waste acceptance criteria, irradiation testing of solidified waste forms containing spent resin should be conducted on specimens exposed to a dose of 1.0E+6 Gy and other material 1.0E+7 Gy. Expected cumulative dose over 300 years is about 1.770E+6 Gy for spent resin and 0.770E+6 Gy for dried concentrated waste generated from NPPs generally. According to NRC Waste Form Technical Position, to ensure that spent resins will not undergo adverse degradation effects from radiation, resins should not be generated having loadings that will produce greater than 1E+6 Gy total accumulated dose. If it necessary to load resins higher than 1E+6 Gy, it should be demonstrated that the resin will not undergo radiation degradation at the proposed higher loading. This is the recommended maximum activity level for organic resins based on evidence that while a measurable amount of damage to the resin will occur at 1E+6 Gy, the amount of damage will have negligible effect on disposal site safety. Cementitious materials are not affected by gamma radiation to in excess of 1E+6 Gy. Therefore, for cement-stabilized waste forms, irradiation qualification testing need not be conducted unless the waste forms contain spent resins or other organic media or the expected cumulative dose on waste forms containing other materials is greater than 1E+7 Gy. Testing should be performed on specimens exposed to IE+6 Gy or the expected maximum dose greater than 1E+6 Gy for waste forms that contain ion exchange resins or other organic media or the expected maximum dose greater than 1E+7 Gy for other waste forms. This is suggestion as a review result that requirement for irradiation testing of solidified waste forms has something to be revise in detail and definitively.

The permanent disposal of discharged spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and contaminated radioactive waste generated from the subsequent chemical treatments of SNF has become a serious pending issue in many countries that operate the nuclear power plants. Among the diverse engineering solutions proposed for the disposal of high-level radioactive waste (HLW), deep geological disposal (DGD) has been considered as the most proven and safe option to prevent any significant release of radionuclides into the biosphere and to predictably ensure the long-term performance of disposal system. The DGD system consists of multiple structural components; the bentonite clay-based buffer and tunnel backfills are designed to perform the primary hydrogeochemical functions of 1) inhibiting the ingress of groundwater and reactive substances that could compromise the integrity of canister and 2) retarding the migration of released radionuclides into biosphere by providing the sufficient chemisorption sites. Montmorillonite, which is a 2:1 phyllosilicate mineral belonging to smectite group, constitutes the majority of bentonite, and it mainly predominate the swelling and chemisorption capacities of the clay material. Thus, it is essentially required to thoroughly understand the chemical interactions of major radionuclides and other important substances with montmorillonite in advance to accurately evaluate the long-term retention performance of engineered barriers and to reduce the uncertainties in the safety assessment of a deep geological repository (DGR) ultimately. Thus far, sorption of dissolved species onto mineral adsorbents has been generally described and quantified using the simple sorption-desorption distribution coefficient (Kd) concept; since any specific reaction mechanisms are not considered and reflected in the Kd concept, an empirical Kd value is intrinsically dependent on the aqueous conditions under which it was measured. In this framework, substantial scientific efforts have been made to develop a robust basis for geochemically parametrizing the sorption phenomena more reliably, and the application of thermodynamic sorption modeling (TSM), which is based on the chemical principle of mass action laws, has been studied with the aim of improving overall confidence in the description of radionuclide migration under a wide range of aquatic conditions. The disposal performance demonstration R&D division of KAERI introduced a new reference Ca-bentonite clay called Bentonil-WRK (Clariant Korea) for HLW disposal research in 2021 as the domestic Ca-bentonite sources have being depleted. We successfully separated and purified Ca-montmorillonite from the Bentonil-WRK clay, and its geochemical characteristics were meticulously studied by means of XRD, BET, CEC, FT-IR analyses and controlled acid-base titration. In this work, chemical sorption behaviors of aqueous iodide and benzoate, which are a major fission product in HLW and a model ligand of complex natural organic matters present in the deep geological environment, onto the purified Camontmorillonite were assessed under ambient conditions of S/L = 5 g/L, I = 0.01 M CaCl2, pH = 4- 9, pCO2 = 10-3.4 atm, and T = 25°C. Further, their unique adsorption envelopes and corresponding thermodynamic reaction constants refined from the diffuse double layer model (DDLM)-based inverse modeling of experimental sorption data were discussed.

During PIV (Physical Inventory Verification), the IAEA has been inspecting the CANDU-Type spent fuels using an optical fiber-based scintillation detector. KINAC has developed a new verification instrument to deal with problems of the existing one such as low sensitivity, heavy and large dimension, and inconvenience-in-use. Our previous studies focused on how to develop the new instrument and had not included its performance tests. Field tests were carried out recently at Wolsung unit 4 to evaluate performance of the existing and new instruments. The objective of this paper is to discuss background noise produced in the optical fiber signal cable itself. The verification equipment for the CANDU-type Heavy Water Reactor spent fuels uses a scintillation detector to bond a scintillation material to the end of an optical signal cable. At this time, the radiation signal obtained by a data acquisition system is the signal generated from the scintillator (p-terphenyl organic scintillator) and the optical signal cable ; The signal produced in the optical cable itself is background noise to degrade the spent fuel verification equipment. To characterize the background radiation noise, the spent fuel bundles at Wolsung Unit 4 were measured using the optical fiber cable without the radiation scintillator. This signal is generated by reaction of the optical cable and the radiation emitted from the spent fuel. From experimental results, it was observed that the background noise signal of the optical cable increased as the optical cable went down in the downward direction, because the cable length irradiated by the radiation increased with the optical cable area in the spent fuel storage pool. Difference in the background noise signal was dependent on the location of the vertical direction and the signal of the new optical cable was up to about 5 times higher than that of the existing cable. While, the new cable has the cross-section area about 3.2 times larger than the old cable. Our past studies showed that total signal amplitude – sum of signals generated from the scintillator and optical fiber - of the new verification instrument was at least about 15 times greater than that of the existing one. Considering the total signal and background noise signal, from this measured results, it was confirmed that the scintillator characteristics – in particular, light output and decay time – has a dominant impact on the signal sensitivity of the newly developed instrument. More details will be discussed at the conference.

In this study, we synthesized pH-controlled resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) gels through the polymerization of two starting materials: resorcinol and formaldehyde. The prepared RF gels were dried using an acetone substitution method, and they were subsequently carbonized under nitrogen atmosphere to obtain carbon xerogels (CX_Y) prepared at different pH (Y). The carbon xerogels were utilized as active materials for coin-type organic supercapacitor electrodes to investigate the influence of pH on the electrochemical properties of the carbon xerogels. The carbon xerogels prepared at lower pH (CX_9.5 and CX_10) exhibited sufficient particle growth, with a three-dimensional network of particles during the RF gel formation, resulting in the development of abundant mesopores. Conversely, the carbon xerogels prepared at higher pH (CX_11 and CX_12) retained densely packed structures of small particles, leading to pore collapse and low specific surface areas. Consequently, CX_9.5 and CX_10 showed high specific surface areas, and provided ample adsorption sites for the formation of electric double layers with electrolyte ions. Moreover, the three-dimensional particle network in CX_9.5 and CX_10 significantly enhanced electrical conductivity. The presence of well-developed mesopores in these materials further facilitated the effective transport of electrolyte ions, contributing to their superior performance as organic supercapacitor electrodes. This study confirmed that pH-controlled carbon xerogels are one of the promising active materials for organic supercapacitor electrodes. Furthermore, we concluded that pH during RF gel formation is a crucial factor determining the electrode performance of the carbon xerogels, highlighting the need for precise pH control to obtain high-performance carbon xerogel electrodes.

The importance of urban green space creation is increasingly recognized as the most realistic and efficient approach for fine dust mitigation in urban areas. Particularly considering the characteristics of domestic cities, the application of buffer green spaces along roads can maximize the efficiency of fine dust reduction without the need for separate green space creation. Accordingly, this study analyzed the fine dust mitigation effects based on the types of plantings in the central dividers and roadside trees in Jeonju City, Jeollabuk-do. To do this, we controlled various external variables of urban space and considered the planting arrangement types in the central dividers, carrying out the analysis using a CFD simulation. The simulation results confirmed that the central dividers with plantings demonstrated more effective ultrafine dust reduction than those without. Moreover, the arrangement of roadside trees showed a greater ultrafine dust reduction effect when adopting a multilayered structure compared to a single layer. Based on these findings, we concluded that installing both trees and shrubs simultaneously in the central dividers and along roads was effective for ultrafine dust mitigation. On this basis, we quantified the dust reduction effects of plants in urban street environments and proposed planting guidelines for roadside green spaces to improve air quality.

This study was conducted to investigate the growth characteristics of cucumber (Cucumis sativus L. ‘Joeunbaekdadagi’) and tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L. ‘Dotaerang Dia’) seedlings by light intensities and CO2 concentrations in a closed-type plant production system (CPPS). Cucumber and tomato seeds were sown in 50-cell trays and germinated in CPPS at air temperature 25 ± 1°C and relative humidity 50 ± 10% for 4 days. After germination, the CO2 concentrations and light intensity treatment were treated at 500 (ambient), 1,000, and 1,500 μmol·mol-1 and 100, 200, and 300 μmol·m-2·s-1 photosynthetic photon flux density (PPFD), respectively. The leaf area of cucumber showed the highest value in CO2 1,500 μmol·mol-1. However, the leaf area of the tomato had no significant difference in CO2 concentrations and light intensities treatments. In cucumber and tomato both seedlings, the growth and quality such as compactness and leaf area rate were increased with the increase of light intensity, and there were highest in 300 μmol·m-2·s-1. The root surface and number of root tips of cucumber and tomato seedlings were significantly increased with the increase in light intensity. In conclusion, the regulation of the CO2 concentrations and light intensity can control the growth and quality of cucumber and tomato seedlings in CPPS, especially, increasing the light intensity can improve more significantly the growth and quality of seedlings.

이 연구는 잠재프로파일 분석을 활용하여 청소년의 그릿 유형에 따른 진로적응력을 분석하고자 하였다. 한국아동청소년패널조사 2018((KCYPS 2018)의 4차년도 자료를 활용했으며, 전국에 걸쳐 고등학교 1학년에 재 학 중인 2,218명의 학생이 본 연구의 대상이었다. 자료 분석 결과는 다 음과 같다. 첫째, 적합도 지수와 잠재프로파일 분류에 따라 4집단으로 구분되었다. 1집단은 ‘목표·흥미형’, 2집단은 ‘그릿취약형’ 3집단은 ‘단기 노력추구형’ 4집단은 ‘그릿안정형’으로 명명하였다. 둘째, ‘목표·흥미형’, ‘그릿취약형’ ‘그릿안정형’은 진로적응력을 예측하였다. 이러한 연구결과 를 근거로 하여 진로적응력을 예측하는 그릿을 높이기 위한 다각적인 논 의가 활발히 이루어질 필요가 있다.

PURPOSES : This study analyzes the estimated traffic volumes on roads and railways based on econometrics. METHODS : The accuracy of traffic forecasting was analyzed based on the average difference between predicted and actual values. This study distinguishes itself from existing literature by conducting a comparative analysis categorized by project type. In this study, econometric analyses, including bias and efficiency evaluation, were conducted for 308 projects in Korea. RESULTS : We conducted econometric analysis by dividing the data into project types. This study examines the accuracy of estimates in South Korea's road and railway projects concerning various factors, including project types (mobility-focused or accessibility-focused), implementing agencies, and the performance of preliminary feasibility studies. Notably, it identifies a tendency for overestimation, particularly in railway projects and mobility-focused road projects, such as expressways and national highways, as well as in projects executed by local governments. The mean percentage error (MPE) for the analyzed projects was -46.62%, indicating a significant overestimation bias with resulting inefficiencies. However, our analysis revealed that road projects, particularly those accompanied by preliminary feasibility studies and implemented by the central government, exhibited reduced bias and improved efficiency. The presence or absence of preliminary feasibility studies significantly influenced estimation bias. Interestingly, even when preliminary feasibility studies are conducted, the choice of the implementing agency remains a crucial factor affecting estimation bias. In addition, railway projects continue to demonstrate a notable overestimation bias, warranting further attention. CONCLUSIONS : Considering bias, efficiency, and MPE is advisable when forecasting traffic.

마늘은 백합과 알리움속에 속하는 작물로 약용, 양념채소로 많이 소비되어져 왔다. 마늘은 6월에 수확하여 1개월 간의 건조과정을 거치게 되는데 보통 장마기와 겹치게 되어 연평균 부패율은 5%이상으로 높다. 마늘의 저장중 병해충은 뿌리응애, 마늘혹응애, 마른썩음병 등으로 섭식에 따른 부패를 유발하며, 건조시기를 단축하고 효율적인 건조를 통하여 감모율을 줄이는 것이 중요하다. 마늘의 병해충 피해를 줄이기 위해 개발한 열풍 흡기식 건조장치를 포함하여 관행, 열풍 건조기, 흡기식 건조 등 4가지 방법으로 마늘을 건조하였으며, 방법별 건조소요 일수, 부패율 등을 조사하였다. 연구결과 열풍-흡기식 건조장치의 순환 공기의 온습도는 외기대비 7.8℃ 높았고, 28.6% 낮았으며, 건조 소요일수는 관행건조 대비 31% 수준으로 우수하였다. 또한 병해충 피해 양상은 관행 건조 대비 4.4%p낮아 건조 기간 및 정상품율이 관행 대비 우수하여, 관행 건조를 대체 가능할 것으로 생각된다.