▶ Date: 2023. 12. 07(THU)

▶ Time: 4:30 ~ 5:30PM

▶ Venue: Research Building I, #310

▶ Speaker: Dr. Jin-Seop, Kim(KAERI)

▶ Title: State of the Art on High-Level Nuclear Waste Disposal Study in Korea

▶ Abstract:

No matter how advanced back-end nuclear fuel cycle are developed, inevitably, high-level nuclear waste will be generated. For the permanent disposal of high-level waste, such as spent fuel, deep geological disposal, generally disposing waste more than 500 meters underground in deep rock formations, are considered as the most technically and environmentally safe disposal option. To develop a deep geological disposal system, it can be divided into five technical areas as : 1) site characterization, 2) disposal system design, 3) performance assessment of multiple barrier, 4) development of safety cases, and 5) performance validation of disposal system using URL(Underground Research Laboratory). Currently, the conceptual disposal design (KRS+) has been proposed by KAERI in 2020, consisting of an engineered barrier with a copper-steel double structured canister, bentonite buffer and backfill materials, and a natural rock barrier. Research is actively underway to demonstrate the performance of the engineered barrier system as part of multi-lateral government project(2021 to 2029). Various engineering and on-site scale disposal experiments are being carried out to identify the coupled interactions between EBS(Engineered Barrier Systems) in KURT(KAERI Underground Research Tunnel). Notably, long-term corrosion experiments of canisters, erosion/piping in buffer, and coupled THMC (Thermal-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical) validation represent the key in-situ tests. In parallel, the research is concurrently conducted on the development of a high-efficiency multilayer disposal system, which is very unique and optimized for domestic geological conditions.