Radioactive Waste Management in Korea

Nuclear Environment Technology Institute (NETEC) of Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company, Ltd. (KHNP) is responsible for the management of radioactive waste generated from nuclear power plants and radioisotope (RI) users in Korea. KHNP/NETEC is also in charge of establishing efficient spent fuel storage for nuclear power plants. Among the research and development activities of KHNP/NETEC to develop advanced technologies for radioactive waste management, the most elaborate work is on the development of vitrification technology for the treatment of all streams of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes generated from nuclear power plants. Recent tests showed that the developed technology could be successfully applied to the commercial treatment of radioactive wastes. The spent fuels are stored onsite before they are transported to the centralized interim storage facility, which is expected to be available in 2016. Since the current onsite spent fuel storage capacity has to be expanded, reracking for the existing spent fuel pools and trans-shipment of the spent fuels between neighboring reactors are under way. Also, a more space-effective dry storage system than the existing concrete silo is under development for the CANDU spent fuels. According to the implementation plan of the national radioactive waste management policy, a low- andmore » intermediate-level waste repository is to open by 2008. KHNP/NETEC is currently working for the selection of appropriate candidate sites.« less