LEACHABILITY OF RADIONUCLIDES FROM CEMENT-SOLIDIFIED WASTE FORM PRODUCED AT KOREAN NUCLEAR POWER PLANT

The leach test of radionuclide in cement-solidified waste form was performed. After leach test, compressive strength of waste form was measured. Cement-solidified waste form produced at Korean nuclear power plant, Kori (PWR) was chosen for the leach test. Specimens were cored out from a full-scale waste form (2001 drum size). The leach test procedure used for this study was ANSI/ANS 16.1 procedure. The leach ability indexes for cesium and cobalt isotopes were determined. Semi-infinite model was used for analysis of the controlling mechanism in the release of isotopes. Release mechanism of cesium was dominated by diffusion but release of cobalt behaved somewhat differently from the diffusion controlled release. Averaged leachability indexes were 8.6 for cesium and 11.4 for cobalt. Compressive strength after leach/ immersion test was 7.34 MPa for the sample immersed in simulated seawater and 8.34MPa for the sample immersed in deionized water.