Due to the necessity of isolating spent nuclear fuel (SNF) from the human life zone for a minimum of 106 years, deep geological disposal (DGD) has emerged as a prominent solution for SNF management in numerous countries. Consequently, the resilience of disposal canisters to corrosion over such an extended storage period becomes paramount. While copper exhibits a relatively low corrosion rate, typically measured in millimeters per million years, in geological environment, special attention must be directed towards verifying the corrosion resistance of copper canister welds. This validation becomes inevitable during the sealing of the disposal canister once SNFs are loaded, primarily because the weld zone presents a discontinuous microstructure, which can accelerate both uniform and localized corrosion processes. In this research, we conducted an in-depth analysis of the microstructural characteristics of copper welds manufactured by TIG-based wire are additive manufacturing, which is ideal for welding relatively large structures such as a disposal canister. To simulate the welds of copper canister, a 12 mm thick oxygen-free plate was prepared and Y and V grooves were applied to perform overlay welding. Both copper welding zones were very uniform, with negligible defects (i.e., void and cracks), and contained relatively large grains with columnar structure regardless of groove types. For improving microstructures at welds with better corrosion resistance, the effect of preheat temperature also investigated up to 600°C.

In-depth disposal of spent nuclear fuel means safe disposal of spent nuclear fuel by the concept of a multi-barrier system composed of an artificial barrier, an engineering barrier, and a natural barrier system of natural rock at a depth of less than 500 m underground. Disposal canisters are needed to store high-level waste in a deep environmental for a long time, and in order to demonstrate the performance of deep disposal canisters for spent nuclear fuel at underground research facilities (URL), it is intended to design disposal canisters and manufacture internal canisters. The internal canisters of spent nuclear fuel disposal canisters manufactured as a result of the study are combined with external copper canister technology and are directly used for demonstration of engineering barrier performance in underground facilities (URL) essential for final disposal of spent nuclear fuel. Disposal canister manufacturing technology and manufacturing process are used to manufacture disposal canisters for future final disposal projects in connection with domestic unique disposal systems. The quality inspection and quality management technology applied when manufacturing disposal canisters contribute to securing the soundness of disposal canisters that primarily maintain the safety of in-depth disposal by using them in the actual disposal business. By visually showing the development status of domestic disposal technology by displaying the prototype of disposal canisters manufactured as major achivements, the public can raise awareness of the domestic technology and safety of in-depth disposal of spent nuclear fuel.

Since spent nuclear fuel (SNF) should be isolated from the human life zone for at least 106 years, deep geological disposal (DGD) is considered a strong candidate for SNF management in many countries. Therefore, a disposal canister should be nearly immune to corrosion in such a long-term storage environment. Even though copper has a low corrosion rate of a few millimeters per million years in geological environments, the corrosion resistance of the copper welds must be preferentially validated, which inevitably occurs during the sealing of the disposal canister after the SNF is loaded. This is because the weld zone is a discontinuous area of microstructure, which can accelerate uniform and localized corrosion. In this study, the microstructural characteristics of copper welds in different welding conditions such as friction stir welding, electron beam welding, cold spray, were analyzed, focusing on the formation of microstructure, which affects resistance to corrosion. In addition, the microstructure and corrosion properties of the copper weld zone manufactured by recent wire-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology were experimentally evaluated. From this preliminary test result, it was found that the corrosion characteristics of the welds produced by the AM process using wire are comparable to those of the conventional forged copper plate.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether galvanic corrosion of copper occurs by inserting a third barrier layer with a higher corrosion potential than copper between copper and cast iron when the copper layer is locally perforated by pitting or partial corrosion. A triple layer composed of copper, inserted metal, and carbon steel was manufactured by cold spray coating of inserting metal powders such as Ag, Ni, and Ti on carbon steel plate followed by Cu coating on it. First, the corrosion properties were evaluated electrochemically for each metal coating. As a result of Tafel plot anaylsis in KURT groundwater condition, the corrosion potential of Fe (-567 mV) was much lower than that of Cu (-91 mV), and the corrosion potential of Ni (-150 mV) was also lower than that of Cu. Therefore, Ni was likely to corrode before Cu. However, the corrosion current of Ni was lower than that of the Cu. In the galvanic specimen where the copper and inserting metal were exposed together, Cu-Fe was much lower corrosion potential of -446 mV, and the corrosion potential of Cu-Ti, Cu-Ni, and Cu-Ag were slightly higher than that of Cu. Therefore, it seemed that Ag, Ni, and Ti all might promote galvanic corrosion of surrounding copper when the copper layer was perforated to the inserted metal layer. If the metal insertion presented in this study operates properly, the disposal container does not need to worry about the partial corrosion or non-uniform corrosion of external copper layer.

The major concern in the deep geological disposal of spent nuclear fuels include sulfide-induced corrosion and stress corrosion cracking of copper canisters. Sulfur diffusion into copper canisters may induce copper embrittlement by causing Cu2S particle formation along grain boundaries; these sulfide particles can act as crack initiation sites and eventually cause embrittlement. To prevent the formation of Cu2S along grain boundaries and sulfur-induced copper embrittlement, copper alloys are designed in this study. Alloying elements that can act as chemical anchors to suppress sulfur diffusion and the formation of Cu2S along grain boundaries are investigated based on the understanding of the microscopic mechanism of sulfur diffusion and Cu2S precipitation along grain boundaries. Copper alloy ingots are experimentally manufactured to validate the alloying elements. Microstructural analysis using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy demonstrates that Cu2S particles are not formed at grain boundaries but randomly distributed within grains in all the vacuum arc-melted Cu alloys (Cu-Si, Cu-Ag, and Cu-Zr). Further studies will be conducted to evaluate the mechanical and corrosion properties of the developed Cu alloys.

The International Atomic Energy Agency recommends the deep geological disposal system as one of the disposal methods for high-level radioactive waste (HLW), such as spent nuclear fuel. The deep geological disposal system disposes of HLW in a deep and stable geological formation to isolate the HLW from the human biosphere and restrict the inflow of radionuclides into the ecosystem. It mainly consists of an engineered barrier and a natural barrier. Safety evaluation using a numerical model has been performed primarily to evaluate the buffer’s long-term stability. However, although the gas generation rate input for long-term stability evaluation is the critical factor that has the most significant influence on the long-term hydraulic-mechanical behavior of the buffer, in-depth research and experimental data are lacking. In this study, the gas generation rate on the interface between the disposal canister and the buffer material, a component of the engineered barrier, was mainly studied. Gas can be generated between the disposal canister and the buffer material due to various causes such as anaerobic corrosion of the disposal canister metal, organic matter decomposition, radiation decomposition, and steam generation due to high temperature. The generation of gas in such a disposal environment increases the pore gas pressure in the buffer and causes internal cracks. The occurred cracks increase the intrinsic permeability of the buffer, which leads to a decrease in the primary performance of the buffer. For this reason, it is essential to apply the appropriate gas generation rate according to the disposal condition and buffer material for accurate long-term stability analysis. Therefore, the theoretical models regarding the estimation of gas generation were summarized through a literature study. The amount of gas generated was estimated according to the disposal environment and material of the disposal canister. It is expected that estimated values might be used to estimate the long-term stability analysis of buffer performance according to the disposal condition.

In this paper, an approach developed by the Finnish nuclear waste management organization, Posiva, for the construction license of a geological repository was reviewed. Furthermore, a computer program based on the approach was developed. By using the computer program, the lifetime of a copper disposal canister, which was a key engineered barrier of the geological repository, was predicted under the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) geologic conditions. The computer program was developed considering the mass transport of corroding agents, such as oxygen and sulfide, through the buffer and backfill. Shortly after the closure of the repository, the corrosion depths of a copper canister due to oxygen in the pores of the buffer and backfill were calculated. Additionally, the long-term corrosion of a copper canister due to sulfide was analyzed in two cases: intact buffer and eroded buffer. Under various conditions of the engineered barrier, the corrosion lifetimes of the copper canister due to sulfide significantly exceeded one million years. Finally, this study shows that it is necessary to carefully characterize the transmissivity of rock and sulfide concentration during site characterization to accurately predict the canister lifetime.

원자력발전의 최대 걸림돌은 사용 후 핵연료인 고준위폐기물이다. 높은 방사능과 발생하는 열은 사용 후 핵연료의 안전한 처분을 어렵게 하고 있다. 현재 유일한 처리방법은 심지층 처분기술이다. 본 논문은 이와 같은 심지층 처분기술의 핵심기술 중의 하나인 처분용기의 구조안전성 설계문제를 다루고 있다. 특히 처분장에서 처분용기 처분 시 사고로 운송차량에서 추락 낙하 하여 지면과 충돌하는 경우 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력에 의하여 처분용기에 발생하는 응력 및 변형에 대한 비선형구 조해석을 수행하였다. 해석의 주된 내용은 심지층 처분장에서 운반차량으로 처분용기 운반 중 사고로 추락낙하 하여 지면과의 충돌 시에 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력을 기구동역학해석 상용 컴퓨터코드인 RecurDyn으로 구하고 이 충격력에 의하여 처 분용기에 발생하는 응력 및 변형을 유한요소 정적 구조해석 상용 컴퓨터코드인 NISA를 이용하여 구한 것이다. 해석결과는 충돌 충격 시간 중 발생하여 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력에 의하여 처분용기, 특히 처분용기의 위 덮개 혹은 아래 덮개에 큰 응력과 대변형이 발생함을 보여주고 있다.

In this study, to replace the ‘J-slot joint’, a joint device between a disposal canister and an emplacement jig in Deep Borehole Disposal process, a novel joint device was designed and tested. The novel joint device was composed of a wedge on top of a disposal canister and a hook box at the end of a winch system. The designed joint device had merits in that it can recombine an emplaced canister freely without the replacement of the joint component. Moreover, it can be applied to various emplacement jigs such as drill pipes, wire-lines, and coiled tubing. To demonstrate the designed joint device, the joint device (Φ 110 mm, H 148 mm), a twin canister string (Φ 140 mm, H 1,105 mm), and a water tube (Φ 150 mm, H 1,500 mm) as a borehole model were manufactured at 1/3 scale. As deployment muds, Na-type bentonite (MX-80) and Ca-type (GJ II) bentonite muds were prepared at solid contents of 7wt% and 28wt%, respectively. The manufactured joint device showed good performance in pure water and viscous muds, with an operation speed of 10 m·min-1. It was concluded that the newly developed joint device can be used for the emplacement and retrieval of a deep disposal canister, below 3~5 km, in the future.

To overcome the low mechanical strength and corrosion behavior of a carbon steel canister at high temperature condition of a deep borehole, SiC ceramics were studied as an alternative material for the disposal canister. In this paper, a design concept for a SiC canister, along with an outer stainless steel container, was proposed, and its manufacturing feasibility was tested by fabricating several 1/3 scale canisters. The proposed canister can contain one PWR assembly. The outer container was also prepared for the string formation of SiC canisters. Thermal conductivity was measured for the SiC canister. The canister had a good thermal conductivity of above 70 W·m-1·K-1 at 100℃. The structural stability was checked under KURT environment, and it was found that the SiC ceramics did not exhibit any change for the 3 year corrosion test at 70℃. Therefore, it was concluded that SiC ceramics could be a good alternative to carbon steel in application to deep borehole disposal canisters.

고준위폐기물 처분용기를 처분장에서 처분 시 사고로 운송차량에서 추락낙하 하여 지면과 충돌하는 경우 처분용기에 가 해지는 충격력에 의해 처분용기에 응력이 발생한다. 본 논문에서는 고준위폐기물 처분용기의 구조안전성 설계과정의 일환으 로 이와 같은 충격력에 의하여 여러 가지 처분용기 모델에 발생하는 응력에 대한 비교연구를 수행하였다. 연구의 주된 내용 은 이와 같은 비교연구를 통하여 구조적으로 건전한 처분용기의 설계에 관한 것이다. 처분장에서 운반차량으로 처분용기 운 반 중 사고로 추락낙하 하여 지면과의 충돌 시에 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력은 기구동역학해석 상용 컴퓨터코드인 RecurDyn으로 구하였다. 이렇게 구한 충격력에 의하여 여러 가지 처분용기 모델에 발생하는 응력 및 변형은 유한요소해석 상용 컴퓨터코드인 NISA를 이용하여 구하였다. 이 응력과 변형 값들의 비교 검토를 통하여 구조적으로 건전한 처분용기에 대한 연구를 수행하였다. 연구결과 처분용기 내부 고준위폐기물 다발을 감싸는 외곽 벽의 두께가 두꺼워 질수록 또는 처분 용기의 직경이 커질수록 처분용기에 발생하는 응력이 커지는 것을 알 수 있었다. 그러나 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력도 처 분용기의 직경이 커짐에 따라 증가하였다. 그럼에도 불구하고, 단위 충격력 당 발생하는 변형의 크기는 직경이 증가함에 따 라 감소하였다. 따라서 결론적으로 직경이 증가할수록 처분용기는 구조적으로 건전함을 알 수 있었다.

본 논문은 강체간의 충돌에 의한 충격력에 대한 수학적 정해 및 고준위폐기물 처분용기의 지면 추락낙하사고 시의 충돌충격에의 응용 논문으로 강체간 충돌에 의해 발생하는 충격력 특히 고준위폐기물 처분용기의 지면 추락낙하 충격사고 시 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력을 구하는 기구동역학 수치해석 연구를 수행하였다. 이를 통하여 고준위폐기물 처분용기의 구조안전성 설계과정에서 요구되는 처분용기 처분 시 사고로 추락낙하 하여 지면과 충돌하는 경우 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력을 수치적으로 구하였다. 수치해석 연구의 주된 내용은 기구동역학해석 상용 컴퓨터코드를 이용하여 처분장에서 운반차량으로 처분용기 운반중 사고로 추락낙하 하여 지면과의 충돌 시에 처분용기에 가해지는 충격력을 구하는 기술적인 방법에 관한 것이며 이를 토대로 지면과 충돌하는 처분용기에 발생하는 충격력을 구하는 문제를 수치적으로 다루었다. 이렇게 수치적으로 구한 충격력을 이론적으로 구한 값들과 비교하였다. 비교결과 이론값들과 잘 일치함을 알 수 있었다.