In all geodisposal scenarios it is key to understand the interaction of radionuclides with mineral particles during their formation/recrystallisation. Studying processes at the molecular scale provides insight into long-term radionuclide behaviour. Uranium is a significant radionuclide in higher activity wastes destined for geological disposal, and iron (oxyhydr) oxides (e.g. goethite, 􀟙-FeOOH). are ubiquitous in and around these systems, formed via processes including metal corrosion and microbially induced reactions. There are numerous reports of uranium-incorporation into iron (oxyhydr) oxides, therefore it has been suggested that they may be a barrier to uranium migration in geodisposal systems. However, long-term stability of these phases during environmental perturbations are unexplored. Specifically, U-incorporated iron (oxyhydr) oxide phases may interact with Fe(II) and sulphide from biological or geological origin. Firstly, electron transfer occurs between adsorbed Fe(II) and iron oxyhydroxides, with potential for changes in the speciation of incorporated uranium e.g. oxidation state changes and/or release. Secondly, on exposure to aqueous sulfide, iron (oxyhydr) oxides undergo reductive dissolution and recrystallisation to iron sulphides. Understanding the fate of incorporated uranium during these process in key to understanding its long term behaviour in subsurface systems. A series of experimental studies were undertaken where U(VI)-goethite was synthesized then reacted with either aqueous Fe(II) or S(-II), and the system monitored over time using geochemical analysis and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) techniques e.g. U LIII-edge and MIV-edge HERFD-XANES. Reaction with aqueous Fe(II) resulted in electron transfer between Fe(II) and U(VI)-goethite, with > 50% U(VI) reduced to U(V). XAS analysis revealed that U remained within the goethite structure, and electron transfer only occurred within the outermost atomic layers of goethite. which led to U reduction. Rapid reductive dissolution of U(VI)-goethite occurred on reaction with sulfide at pH7. A transient release of aqueous U was observed during the first day, likely due to uranyl(VI)-persulfide species. However, U was retained in the solid phase in the longer term. In contrast, the sulfidation of U adsorbed to ferrihydrite at pH 12.2 led to the immediate release of U (< 10% Utotal) associated with a colloidal erdite (NaFeS2·2H2O) phase. Moreover, in the bulk phase the surface of ferrihydrite was passivated by sulfide, and U was found to have been trapped within surface associated erdite-like fibres. Overall, these studies further understanding of the long-term behaviour of U-incorporated iron (oxyhydr)oxides supporting the overarching concept of iron (oxyhydr) oxides acting as a barrier to U migration.

During the normal operation boron concentrates and spent resins are generated. The boron concentrates are treated by concentrated waste drying system (CWDS) and results in fine powder form. The solidification or application of high integrity container (HIC) is required for the disposal of the dried boron concentrates. The spent resin is stored in storage tank after the water treatment. The spent resin also requires solidification or application of HIC to satisfy the waste acceptance criteria (WAC) in Korea. The solidification process requires periodic validation. The repeated validation and complicated process hesitates the practical application. The application of HIC offers various advantages, including flexible free standing water requirement, higher waste loading compared to solidification, and simple process. The polymer concrete (PC), which is a primary component for PC-HIC exhibits good material stability. The expected transportation mechanism of nuclide in the PC-HIC are 1) diffusion by concentration, 2) permeation by pressure, and 3) capillary suction when considering the disposal condition. Since the PC-HIC effectively prevents the intrusion of neighboring water and volume of free standing water is lower than 1%, it seems that diffusion by concentration is the primary transportation mechanism. In this study, the property of PC is investigated based on Cl ion diffusion test to evaluate the material reliability. The results indicate that PC exhibits superior stability compared to ordinary portland cement. In addition, the reliable life time of PC is estimated base on the element transportation phenomena.

The Korea Nuclear Safety Act defines a high integrity container (HIC) as “a radioactive waste packaging container that can maintain its integrity for more than 300 years under the general underground environment and disposal conditions in Korea”, and detailed technical standards are not described. The US Nuclear Safety Commission’s “Low-Level Waste Licensing Branch Technical Position on Waste Form” describes the detailed requirements for solidification and HIC. The main contents of the US NRC technical position include limiting the free standing water, minimum design life, demonstrating mechanical, thermal and radiation stability, etc. In this study, the stability evaluation was performed to understand the mechanical strength with respect to horizontal and vertical loads. The basic property of polymer concrete was carefully evaluated, including compressive strength, structural fatigue resistance, etc. The long term creep test, loading of 40% of compressive strength, indicates that the polymer concrete exhibits good long term mechanical integrity.

During the treatment of spent nuclear fuel, radioactive iodine is generated in a liquefied or gaseous form in a specific process. In the case of iodine 129, it is a long-lived nuclide with a very long halflife and has high groundwater mobility under repository conditions. Despite showing a low radioactivity value, research on the management of radioactive iodine from a long-term perspective is continuously being performed. Although research has been conducted using borosilicate glass as a medium for solidifying iodine, compatibility of I in borosilicate glass is very small and the volatility is high in the solidification process. So it is not suitable as a solidified substance of iodine. Therefore, studies on other solidification media to replace them are continuously being conducted. Our research team tried to develop a new medium that can contain iodine in a solidified body stably through a simple heat treatment process and can improve problems such as volatility and waste loading. Iodine is captured as AgI in the Ag ion-exchanged zeolite. So, TeO2, Ag2O, and Bi2O3 having a high AgI loading rate were used as main components. It was named TAB after taking the first letter of each element. In previous studies, the physical properties, structure, and chemical stability of TAB materials were confirmed. PCT (Product Consistent test) was performed to confirm chemical stability. It is mainly used to compare the chemical stability of glass materials with other glass materials, but there are limitations in evaluating the long-term chemical stability of materials. In this experiment, we tried to evaluate the long-term stability of TAB and compare it with borosilicate, which is conventionally used to treat radioactive waste. In addition, we tried to understand the leaching behavior inside the TAB medium. For this purpose, ASTM C1308 test was performed for 365 days, and distilled water and KURT groundwater were used as leachates to examine the effect of ions in the groundwater on the solidified body. To analyze the leaching behavior, ICP-MS and ICP-OES analyses were performed, and the cross-section of the sample after leaching was observed through SEM.

This study investigated the effect of temperature deviation on the water-holding capacity, tenderness, lipid oxidation, and color stability of Korean Hanwoo (韓牛) beef during long-term aging. The striploins (M. longissimus lumborum) were aged for 56 days at 2±1oC (T1), 2±2oC (T2), or 2±3oC (T3). Drip loss and cooking loss were higher (p<0.05) in T3 than in T1 on day 56. The Warner-Bratzler shear force value was similar for all treatments during aging times. On day 56, the content of 2-thiobarbituric acid reactive substances was higher (p<0.05) in T3 as compared to T1. The CIE L* and b* values were similar for all treatments, but the a* value was lower (p<0.05) in T3 than in T1 on the last day. These findings indicate that high temperature deviation adversely affects the water-holding capacity, lipid oxidation stability, and color stability of Hanwoo beef during long-term aging.

Chronic problems of water treatment membranes are fouling phenomena and membrane damage during the cleaning process. In this study, to solve these problems, a separation membrane in the form of a hollow fiber having excellent physical properties was produced by using the thermally induced phase separation (TIPS). The material used to make the water treatment membrane is poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF). In the evaluation of the properties of the manufactured hollow fiber, citric acid which is an acidic solution and NaCl which is a basic solution were used and experiments of chemical resistance were proceed. In order to confirm the performance of hollow fiber membrane, water flux and tensile strength were measured.

The exosomes are the most studied nanometer-sized extracellular vesicles (40-100 nm) in eukaryotic cell. Exosomeharbors various molecular components of their cell origin, including nucleic acids and proteins, and it is involved in intraand intercellular communication. These characteristics make exosomes to be a prospective biomarkers, therapeutic agents,or drug delivery vehicles. Edible insect industry is rapidly growing up in Korea. The insect exosomes were isolated fromthe larvae of Korean rhinoceros beetle, Allomyrina dichotoma, and White-spotted flower chafer, Protaetia brevitarsis, sothat they can be used for diagnosis of insect disease. The stable preservation of exosome is very important for diagnosisand research, especially for long term storage. Here, the stable recovery of exosome isolated from hemolymph of A. dichotomalarva was evaluated by analyzing exosomal protein and RNA after storage in -70°C for three months.

We have investigated the washing method of as-synthesized CdSe/ZnS core/shell structure quantum dots (QDs) and the effective surface passivation method of the washed QDs using PMMA. The quantum yield (QY%) of assynthesized QDs decreases with time, from 79.3% to 21.1%, owing to surface reaction with residual organics. The decreased QY% is restored to the QY% of as-synthesized QDs by washing. However, the QY% of washed QDs also decreases with time, owing to the absence of surface passivation layer. On the other hand, the PMMA-treated QDs maintained a relatively higher QY% after washing than that of the washed QDs that were kept in toluene solution for 30 days. Formation of the PMMA coating layer on CdSe/ZnS QD surface is confirmed by HR-TEM and FT-IR. It is found that the PMMA surface coating, when combined with washing, is useful to be applied in the storage of QDs, owing to its long-term stability.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been researched for use in biomedical applications, particularly for cell-based therapies and regenerative medicine due to their self-renewing capacity and ability to differentiate into multiple cell types such as adipose, bone, and tendon tissues. Cryopreservation of MSCs is a common preservation method that is advantageous for cellular therapies in human and veterinary medicine. Adipose tissue-derived cells have been shown to maintain their properties after cryopreservation. In this study, we investigated the morphology, proliferation (cumulative population doubling level and doubling time), cell surface markers (CD34, CD90, and CD105), and ability to differentiate into adipose, bone, and cartilage tissues in vitro of equine adipose tissue-derived MSCs (eAD-MSCs) and miniature pig adipose tissue-derived MSCs (mpAD-MSCs) with and without long-term cryopreservation. The eAD-MSCs and mpAD-MSCs were analyzed immediately and after being frozen in liquid nitrogen for 3 years and 2 years, respectively. Cryopreserved eAD-MSCs maintained their morphology, proliferation rate, and cell surface markers compared with fresh cells. With the exception of proliferation rate, cryopreserved mpAD-MSCs also maintained their fresh cell characteristics. The proliferation rate of cryopreserved mpAD-MSCs was higher than that for fresh cells. Cryopreservation did not change the adipogenic, chondrogenic, or osteogenic differentiation potentials of eAD-MSCs and mpAD-MSCs. In summary, long-term cryopreservation maintains the cell phenotype and differentiation ability of eAD-MSCs and mpAD-MSCs. These results might be useful when developing veterinary medicine and clinical applications.

벤토나이트 완충재의 열수거동 실험에서는 고준위폐기물처분장 완충재로 유력하게 고려되고 있는 국산 벤토나이트를 대상으로 열수특성을 규명하고, 또 그 결과를 바탕으로 KRS 처분환경에서 벤토나이트 완충재의 장기건전성을 평가하였다. 실험결과, 벤토나이트 완충재의 열수반응은 주 구성광물인 스멕타이트의 일라이트화를 통해 진행되었으며, 온도, 농도, pH는 이러한 일라이트화에 중요한 열수반응인자 역할을 하였다. KRS 처분환경에 대한 국산벤토나이트 완충재의 장기건전성을 분석한 결과, 정상상태에서는 벤토나이트 완충재가 오랜 기간 동안 방벽재기능을 유지하였지만, 보수적인 조건에서는 약 년이 경과했을 때 벤토나이트 완충재를 구성하는 스멕타이트의 50%이상이 일라이트로 전환되어 방벽재로서의 팽윤능력을 상실할 수 있음을 예상할 수 있었다.

Si FEA로부터 tip의 표면을 Ti 금속으로 silicidation한 새로운 3극형 Ti-silicided Si FEA를 제작하고 이의 전계 방출특성을 조사하였다. 제작된 소자에서 단위 pixel(pixel area : 1000μm×1000μm, tip array : 200μm×200μm</TEX>)을 통해 측정된 전계 방출 특성은 108Torr의 고진공 상태에서 turn-on 전압이 약 70V로, 아노드 방출전류의 크기와 current degradation이 VA=500V, VG=150V 바이어스 아래에서 각각 2nA/tip와 0.3%/min로 나타났다. 3극형 Ti-silicided Si FEA의 낮은 turn-on 전압과 높은 전류안정성은 Si tip 표면에 형성된 실리사이드 박막의 열화학적 안정성과 낮은 일함수에 기인하는 것으로 판단된다.

We have studied the optimum location of the sensor to evaluate the condition of the structure by performing the structural analysis on the landing pier. It is judged that it is appropriate to place the strain sensor of the landing pier at the upper part, the middle part and the upper part of the pile at 30% below the pile.