New Start, New Standard
[Post-Back-end management] Radioactive Waste disposal
[Operation] Safety evaluation lifespan management [Back-end menagement] Nuclear power plants decommissioning
![[Post-Back-end management] Radioactive Waste disposal](/eng/img/sub/sub02.gif)
[Post-Back-end management] Radioactive Waste disposal
Regulatory guides require that radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and other facilities be disposed of safely in appropriately designed and constructed facilities in accordance with applicable laws, depending on the concentration of radioactivity and its hazard level. KEPCO E&C is leading the comprehensive design of radioactive waste disposal facilities in Korea by implementing the consecutive projects of the first stage cave-type disposal facility for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste without high levels of heat and radioactivity, the second stage vault-type disposal facility since 2014, and the third stage landfill-type disposal facility since 2021. Furthermore, KEPCO E&C is carrying out the design of a radioactive waste dry storage facility for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Kori and Hanbit nuclear power plant sites since 2023.
Description
Design of cave disposal facility for radioactive waste
- Cave disposal facilities are suitable for the disposal of low and intermediate-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and industrial facilities. KEPCO E&C is the exclusive company in Korea with holding a track record of designing cave disposal facilities for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste.
Major Experiences
- NPP waste management facility preliminary design;
- Radioactive waste disposal facility preliminary concept design;
- LILW #1 disposal facility Design (in progress)
Design of radioactive waste surface disposal facility
- Surface disposal of radioactive waste is a suitable disposal method for low-level radioactive waste with low radioactivity. KEPCO E&C is designing the first surface disposal facility in Korea, which is under construction in Gyeongju.
Major Experiences
- LILW #2 disposal facility preliminary design;
- Wolsong nuclear environment center 2nd stage construction project basic design;
- LILW #2 disposal facility Design (in progress)
Design of landfill disposal facility for radioactive waste
- The large quantities of high-level radioactive waste generated during the decommissioning of nuclear facilities including nuclear power plants, should be disposed of in landfill disposal facility with an engineered barrier to prevent leakage of radioactive material into underground and surface water under natural phenomenon. KEPCO E&C has completed the design of landfill disposal facilities and is currently carrying out the project.
Major Experiences
- NPP waste management facility preliminary design;
- Radioactive waste disposal facility preliminary concept design;
- 2ND stage disposal facility site evaluation;
- LILW #3 trench-type disposal facility Design (in progress)
Design of spent nuclear fuel dry storage facility
- Spent nuclear fuel generated from a nuclear reactor facility must be discharged out of it before decommissioning and safely stored in temporary or intermediate storage facility containment until it is fully disposed of. KEPCO E&C boasts dry storage facility design capability to store spent nuclear fuel safely, free from all potential accident.
Major Experiences
- Conceptual design for the spent nuclear fuel (2012);
- Preliminary feasibility study of the storage facility site for light water reactor spent nuclear fuel (2016~2019);
- Planning for spent nuclear fuel transportation/storage standardization (2016~2019);
- Comprehensive design service for Kori spent nuclear fuel dry storage facility (in progress);
- Comprehensive design service for Hanbit spent nuclear fuel dry storage facility (in progress)
Design of an independent storage pool for spent nuclear fuel
- The related technology remodels and operates the spent nuclear fuel storage-related systems of a nuclear reactor facility into an independent system solely used to store spent nuclear fuel during decommissioning. It can facilitate the decommissioning work of nuclear reactor facilities and reduce their management costs before decommissioning. KEPCO E&C possesses a patent on the design of an independent spent nuclear fuel pool.
Major Experiences
- Expansion of the storage capacity of spent fuel rack in spent fuel pool of heavy and light water reactors (1995~2010)