ML20135D906

Trip Rept on 961104-05 Visit to Taejon Republic of Korea to Attend 1996 Symposium on Safety of Radwaste Mgt Meeting. Agenda Encl

ML20135D906
Person / Time
Issue date:	12/05/1996
From:	Tae Ahn NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
To:	Bell M NRC OFFICE OF NUCLEAR MATERIAL SAFETY & SAFEGUARDS (NMSS)
References
NUDOCS 9612100242
Download: ML20135D906 (7)

Text

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pn ara p* $t UNITED STATES j

g NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION g

• WASHINGTON, D.C. 20566 4 001 s,

/ December 5, 1996 f MEMORANDUM T0: Michael J. Bell, Chief l Engineering and Geosciences Branch Division of Waste Management ,

Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards Donna Chaney Division of Nonproliferation Exports and Multilateral Relations Office of International Programs THRU: Richard Weller, Section Leader g4M Engineering and Material Section Division of Waste Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards FROM: Tae M. Ahn, Materials Engineer gu Engineering and Material Section Division of Waste Management Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards

SUBJECT:

TRIP REPORT - THE 1996 SYMPOSIUM ON SAFETY OF RADI0 ACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT, NOVEMBER 4-5, 1996, TAEJON, KOREA The 1996 Symposium on Safety of Radioactive Waste Management (SSRWM '96) was i held from November 4-5, 1996, in Taejon, Republic of Korea (ROK). The meeting  ;

agenda is attached. The SSRWM was organized by the Korea Institute of Nuclear i Safety (KINS). KINS is the technical expert agency that carries out all of the day-to-day regulatory responsibilities of the ROK Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), the national regulator. I was invited at KINS' expense to participate in the Symposium and present a paper entitled " Spent Fuel Behavior in the Yucca Mountain Repository." In addition to myself, there were four '

speakers from the international community: 1) M. Raynal, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); 2) R. Andrews, INTERA, Inc., of Management and Operating Contractor (M&O), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE); 3) H. Matsuzaru, Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI); and 4) J. Vira, Posiva Oy of Finland. The rest of the presentations were made by internal attendees from regulatory, implementation, and research organizations. A copy of the entire Symposium proceedings is available for inspection in my office.

The Symposium focused primarily on the safety issues of intermediate- and high-level radioactive waste (HLW) management in relation to the Korean program of nuclear waste management. My participation allowed me to share e, tM}

i l U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission information and to update NRC's knowledge i of what is being done internationally. It also served as an NRC cooperative j 9612100242 961205 66 M PDR ORG NOMA PDR D f g)-[p l NHG HLE CENTER CDPY I I X p3 m v kw-qq %k_ y d 4 j\e m y _ ,

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M. Bell 2 i

support to ROK's nuclear safety program, which the NRC Office of International Programs (OIP) advises is carried out under the auspices of both the NRC-MOST  !

l information exchange and cooperation arrangement and the US-ROK Joint Standing  ;

! Commiittee on Nuclear and Other Energy Technologies, j j The symposium begar, with presentations by five Xorean speakers on the Korean program. The legislation and the infrastructure for radioactive waste i

management and radiation protection, are being developed. The technical standards and criteria for the safe radioactive waste management will be made l by next year. A total of 22 nuclear powee plants will operate by the Year 2006; two research reactors will be decommissioned; and Korea has been trying to develop fuel cycle technology. By the end of 1996, about 2800 tons of spent fuel will be generated from 11 currently operating power plants. The Korean program often used the IAEA rules,. standards, and guidelines as their bases for regulating nuclear waste management. The International Commission on Radiological Protection rules are such examples. The United States (U.S.)

rules, standards, and guidelines were less frequently referenced.

M. Raynal (IAEA) spoke of the IAEA's program in the achievement of safety in radioactive waste management. IAEA is currently making great efforts in the followir.g areas: (1) preparation of an incentive convention on the safety of

radioactive waste management, (2) development of the Radioactive Waste Safety Standards Program, and (3) technical assistance to countries in upgrading l

their radiation and waste management infrastructure.

l My presentation contained background information on the U.S. HLW program, )

container failure, and radionuclide releases. I focused on three aspects of -

HLW managements: (1) detailed analyses (site characterization plan), l (2) performance assessments, and (3) engineering designs. Many of the Korean attendees were familiar with the U.S. program. They asked about the revision of subsystem requirements; incorporation of recommendations made by the National Academy of Sciences; and compliance with IAEA rules, standards, and

guidelines.

J. Vira (Posiva Oy of Finland) summarized the regulatory rules and related issues in the Finnish HLW program. Within the IAEA framework of HLW management, the fundamental principles of the Finnish program are being developed. Special issues, such as retrivability, were discussed in more

! detail.

H. Matsuzuru (JAERI) discussed the Japanese programs on the disposal of reprocessed HLW and radioisotopes from other facilities such as nuclear material production facilities. A more detailed presentation was made on performance assessments for the geologic disposal. For the deterministic assessment, JAERI developed a code, " Generic Safety Assessment Code for Geologic Disposal of Radioactive Waste" (GSRW), under anticipated geologic

conditions. The code consists of modules for container, vitrified waste form,

bentonite buffer zone, geosphere, and bios'phere. For the stochastic i assessment on disruptive scenarios, JAERI relies on expert judgments to .

develop the code "GSRW-PSA." i i

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M. Bell 3 f R. Andrews (INTERA) focused on summarizing M&O's experience in the Total System Performance Assessment (TSPA) area. An emphasis was placed on the '

concept, methodology, and implication of the performance assessment using an example problem of the prcposed Yucca Mountain repository. A few Korean

, attendees were familiar with TSPA-95 and expressed their interests in DOE l assessments of dilution.

l There were a series of presentations on Korean programs in the last session on November 4. The presentations consisted of: (1) the present status of technical standards in radioactive waste management, (2) the radiation protection concept in radioactive waste disposal, (3) the nuclear facility and public acceptance, and (4) an approach to radiological safety assessment of an underground disposal facility. The fourth presentation was very interesting. l P.-S. Hahn of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) summarized a KAERI performance assessment code to be used for low , intermediate , and HLW management. Critical discussions were made on the range of uncertainty, model verification and validation, data collection, and heterogeneity of flow paths.

In addition, a schematic relation among conservatism, compliance, and

phenomenological observations seems tu be very useful to construct the code l l flow chart. j

The second day, all foreigners were scheduled to take tours to a power plant

and nearby ancient temples. We were unaware that these tours were to take place. In parallel, second day sessions were held for the Korean attendees.

Overall, this Symposium helped to support existing Korean programs. My i participation was beneficial to NRC's mission, and the information gained,  !

! such as overviews of IAEA and Korean programs, and performance assessment codes of JAERI and KAERI, is very useful to us.

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DATE /.2 / C/96 is./f/96 0FFICIAL RECORD COPY ACNW: YES NO # l IG : YES NO / Delete file after distribution: Yes - No LSS : YES N0 /

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Monday, November 4 i

09:00 Registration [ Auditorium]

1 10:00 Opening Ceremony Welcoming Address l President Se-Jong KIM, KINS i

President In Soon CHANG, NEMAC i

Complimentary Address Director General Seung Koo LEE, MOST 10:30 Regulatory Aspect _for Radioactive Waste Management Mr Jae ock Chang (Director, MOST) -

1 11:00 Milestone on Radioactive Waste Management Project Mr. Kee-Doo Hong (Director, MOTI) gg 11:30 Special Address : Mr Michel Raynal (IAEA)

Safety of Radioactive Waste Management

'" - Development of International Safety Standards -

25 12:00 Lunch [ KINS Cafeteria]

SESSION 1 Auditorium Chairman: Dr. Seong Ho Na 13:15 Special Address : Dr. Tae M. Ahn (US NRC) I Spent Fuel Behavior in the Yucca Mountain Repository 1 13:45 Special Address : Dr. Juhani Vira (POSIBA, Finland)

Regulatory Trends for the Disposal and Spent Fuel in Finland 1-7 i 14:15 Special Address : Dr Matsuzuru Hideo (JAERI, Japan) l Nuclear Waste Disposal and Safety Assessment . 1-18 i

! l 14:45 Special Address : Dr. Robert W. Andrews (INTERA, USA)

The Use of Performance Assessment to Prioritize Site and Design )

j Information Needs for a Hign-Level Waste Repository Examples from

e J Yucca Moun t a i n " ~ """ ~ ~ ~ -"""" ""- """"""" ~ ~ ~ ~ "--"""""""" 1-33 )

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15:15 Coffee Break

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i SESSION 2 Auditorium Chairman: Mr. Tae Won Suk L

15:30 Present status on Technical Standards of Radioactive Waste Management (Sang floon Parl . KINS) ~~~"""""--""""""""""- 2-1 l 16:00 Radiation Protection Concept on Radioactive Waste Disposal l

Faci 1it'ies ( Seog Guen Kwon , KINS ) . .. ... .. .. .. ... .. . .. .... ... . .. . .. -""-" 2-10 16:30 Nuclear Facility and Public Acceptance

( Soong Pyung K i m , Chos un Un i v. ) ..... ......... ............... ... .."""""""" 2-17 17:00 An Approach to Radiological Safety Assessment of Underground Disposal Facility (Pil Soo Hahn, NEMAC)

' 18 : 00 Recep t i on [ Con f er enee Room] . .. ...... ...... ... ... ... ... ...... ... ...... ... ... ...... .. 2-25 l

i Tuesday, November 5 l

SESSION 3 Conference Room Chairman: Dr. Byoung Moo Kang

, 10:00 Experience of Spent Fuel Storage Technology in Korea

! (Joo Sang Lee, KEPC0)

................................ - . - - ... - - - - " " " " 3-1 1

10:30 The Requirements and the Siting Approach Selecting Candidate Area for the Radioactive Waste Management Facilities in Korea

! (Byoung Moo Kang, NEMAC) ..~..- - - ~ ~ ~.-"~ ~..- ~~~~~"""" 3-7 11:00 Coffee Break 11:15 The Site Characterization Plan and Activities for the Radioactive  !

Waste Management Facility (Si Tae Yun, NEMAC)

-..- ~ ~.- ~.-...- ~...-............................ 3-17 11:45 Overview of Design Concepts for the LLW Disposal and Spent Fuel i Storage Facilities in Korea j (Kab Seok Ko , K0PEC) ..~....- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~. - ~ ~ ~ ~ 3-40 12:15 Lunch [ KINS Cafeteria) iV l , _ .. - -

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SESSION 4 . Conference Room Chairman: Dr. Jhinwung Kim l i

13:30 Current Status and Prospects of R&D Activities.in Radioactive  !

Wast e Management . (Kun lai Lee , KAlST) """""****** ****"**"** *** * ** *" 4-1  ;

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J I 114:00 Characterization of Fracture and'Hydrogeological System for  :

s Comprehensive Safety Evaluation of LLW Disposal Site in Subsurface Rock Mass (Young Hoon Lee, Yonsei Univ.) -

4-12 l 14:30 Coffee Break-14:45 Post Closure Survei11ance and It's Effeet on Design and Operation i of LLW Disposal Facility (loo Ho Whang, Kyunghee Univ.)

15:15 Decommissioning Strategy of Korean Nuclear Power Plant's (Myung Jae Song, KEPRI) 4-2s .\

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