Current status of the radioactive waste treatment facility in KAERI

The radioactive waste generated at KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) is collected, treated and stored in the RWTF (Radioactive Waste Treatment Facility). In the storage facilities of the RWTF, there are about 12,000 drums of solid wastes. These wastes should be treated and sent to a disposal facility in the future. The activities in 2005 for the disposal of this radioactive waste were the preparation of a radioactive waste certification program, a characteristics analysis of the radioactive waste for a regulatory clearance and the development of a treatment method for the uranium containing chemicals. The waste certification program was established to cover the requirements for a radiological, physical and chemical characterization, a physical/chemical restriction, prohibited items, packaging, identification, labeling and documentation. This program was set up as a preliminary program for a certification of the radioactive waste generated at KAERI and should be revised to meet the WAC (Waste Acceptance Criteria) of a disposal agency. On the other hand, the objective of the characteristics analysis was a regulatory clearance of the contaminated soil and concrete. These wastes were generated during the decommissioning process of a research reactor in 1988. The analysis results showed that more than 70% of the soil can be regulatory cleared without any treatment. Finally, a method for the treatment of a radioactive chemical waste with uranium was developed. During the development process, an acid dissolution was applied to extract the uranium from the waste sludge. The uranium concentration of the dissolved solution was estimated to be 6.97E-01 Bq/ml, and the specific activity of the final waste sheets was evaluated to be 4.3 Bq/g. Based on the efforts to reduce the amount of radioactive wastes for a disposal, the RWTF can considerably save on the disposal cost. In addition to that, a disposal can be progressed smoothly based on the developed waste certification program by meeting the requirements that will be suggested by a regulatory body or a disposal agency. (authors)