February 2003, No.10

Issued by KHNP / NETEC

The FNCA 2002 Workshop on RWM- Daejeon, Korea -he FNCA 2002 Workshop on Radioactive Waste
Management(RWM) was held from November 1822, 2002, at Daejeon, Korea. This workshop was hosted
by the Ministery of Science and Technology(MOST) of
Korea, the Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Co.,
Ltd.(KHNP) / Nuclear Environment Technology
Institute(NETEC) of Korea and the Ministry of
Education, Culture, Sports, Science andTechnology(MEXT) of Japan, in cooperation with Japan
Atomic Industrial Forum, Inc.(JAIF).
Representatives from policy making organizations,
regulation sectors, and R&D institutes on radioactive
waste management attended the workshop from countries
under the FNCA frame work, i.e. Australia, China,
Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Thailand, and Vietnam. An IAEA export also participatedin the workshop upon the invitation from the workshop
organizers.
In the first session of the first day, country reports
were presented about present status and progress ofradioactive waste management activities in each FNCA
country. A number of countries reported on the status ofcontrol and regulation against transfer of radioactive
materials across the borders.
In the second session, the discussion confirmed thefinal draft of the Consolidated Report on Radioactive
Waste Management prepared earlier, and the way toeffectively implement the findings.
In the third and fourth sessions on the second day,T

sub-meetings were held on Radioactive Waste from
Decommissioning and Waste Characterization
respectively. The sub-meetings provided with an in-depth
discussion and promoted the exchange of informationand the sharing of experiences, and thus promoted mutual
understandings. A poster session to introduce industrial
level technologies in relation to radioactive waste
management was also held.
On the third day, a technical visit to Yonggwang
Nuclear Power Unit 1 was made. New radwaste
treatment facility of Unit 6 and solid radwaste storage
building were introduced to the visitors.
On the fourth day, the Sub-meeting on
TENORM(Technologically Enhanced Naturally
Occurring Radioactive Materials) was held to exchange
technical information and experiences on thisincreasingly important global issue.
In session 6, results of the Spent Radiation Source
Management Task Group carried out by the Philippines,
Thailand, Indonesia, Korea, and Japan were reported withthe ways to strengthen the SRS management in theregion.
Finally, the participants reviewed and agreed on therolling 3-year work plan on radioactive waste
management in FNCA.
Participants agreed that the continuation of thisprogram will contribute to the safe radioactive waste
management and radiation protection in the FNCA
countries in the context of the global environment.
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Newsletter Radioactive Waste Management

Tokai-1 Decommissioning Project
Prior to the reactor dismantling,
conventional facilities outside the reactor
area are to be removed for the purpose of
securing a transportation route for reactor
dismantling wastes, and also to get the spacefor waste conditioning facilities. These
conventional facilities dismantling work
would balance the workload through the 17
years long term decommissioning project.
The project program is divided into three phases.

Prof. Toshiso Kosako
RWM Project Leader
Research Center for Nuclear
Science and Technology,
The University of TokyoJapan

The amount of wastes arising from Tokai-1
decommissioning is estimated at 177kt in total, and about
10% of them are estimated as radioactive wastes. Allradioactive wastes from the Tokai-1 decommissioning
besides spent fuel reprocessing wastes are classified as
the Low Level radioactive Waste (LLW) in Japan. The
burial disposal facility is expecting to be constructed
before the commencement of third phase (reactor
dismantling); the majority of wastes will arise in thisphase.
The total cost of the Tokai-1 decommissioning projectis estimated at 89 billion yen (740M$) as of year 2001, in
which about 35 billion-yen (290M$) is for dismantling
cost and 54 billion yen (450M$) is for radioactive waste
treatment and disposal cost.
It is very important for saving the decommissioning
expense to reduce the radioactive waste volume and to
reduce the cost of construction and operation of burial
facility.

Tadamichi Satoh
Decommissioning Project Department
The Japan Atomic Power Company

Tokai-1 (Gas Cooled Reactor) nuclear power plant of
the Japan Atomic Power Company started commercial
operation in 1966 as the first commercial nuclear power
plant in Japan and ceased its operation in 1998. As defuelling activities were completed, JAPC launched Tokai1 decommissioning in December 2001 after thesubmission of the notification of decommissioning plan
to the competent authority. This is the first instance of thedecommissioning of a commercial nuclear power plant inJapan.
JAPC’s strategy on Tokai-1 decommissioning projectis that the Tokai-1 plant would be dismantled
continuously through phase (stage) 1 to 3 and the land
will be a green field for future nuclear power generation.
The reactor area, i.e. reactor and biological shieldenvelope, will be stored in safe condition for 10 years to
reduce radioactivity.

Tokai-1 decommissioning project has an importantrole for demonstrating that the decommissioning ofcommercial nuclear power plant can be executed safely
and economically, and for establishing the key
technologies for future LWR decommissioning in Japan.

<Decommissioning Project Schedule>
Phase

JFY

First Phase2001 ~ 2005

2006 ~ 2010

Preparation work
Remove conventional
facilities

Second Phase
Third Phase2011 ~ 2017

Remove SRUs
Safe-Store of Reactor Area

2

Reactor Dismantling
Building
Dismantling

Radioactive Waste Management Newsletter

Conditioning & Packaging of Low Level
Solid Waste-An Australian Approach

Mr. Lubi Dimitrirski
RWM Project Leader
Head, Waste Operation &Technology Development
ANSTO

Australia

a cement-based composite has beenformulated by ANSTO, and will be routinely
produced by the plant. Batch quality of thecement-composite will be analysed to ensurecompliance with strict quality standards,
including leaching and decomposition
testing.

Automation was considered to be a key design feature
for the plant to accommodate both ALARA principles
relating radiological exposure to workers and reducemanning requirements. The turnkey operation will
dispense measured quantities of sand, cement, water andother important additives into a shear-mixer, dependent
upon the size of the batch to
be processed. The plant isdesigned to accommodate
ANSTO’s requirements intreating and conditioning allof its historical and newly
generatedradioactive
wastes.

To accommodate the strict requirements ofconditioning and packaging of radioactive wastes,
relevant to Australia’s National Radioactive Waste
Repository, ANSTO has opted for cement-based
technologies, consistent with international practice. To
this end ANSTO is installinga cementation plant in its
newly completed Waste
Treatment and Packaging
Facility.

The Cementation Plant
will have the capacity tocondition and treat bothhomogeneousandThe heart of theheterogeneous waste types,
cementation plant is thestored on the ANSTO site
shear mixer, capable ofsince the early 1960s. The
producing 300 L of motar
LLSW drums held in storage for Cement Conditioning
Plant
designwas(mixture of cement, sandconceptualised by ANSTO staff, with the contract being
and water) in 3 minutes. The mixed product is thenawarded to a local manufacturer, having expertise in the
discharged to a 600 L agitated holding tank, from whicharea of industrial plant design and construction. ANSTO
it can be used to encapsulate or infill radioactive waste
has approximately 5600 LLSW drum held in storage. It is
drums. The plant has an in drum mixing facility that cananticipated that all of these drums, with a few exceptions,be used to produce homogeneous waste forms, suitable
will be suitable for disposal in the Australian National
for conditioning spent ion exchange resins and liquid
Radioactive Waste repository after conditioning.
wastes. The Cementation Plant will be operated by
ANSTO staff with radioactive waste management
expertise, and in compliance with ISO 9000:2000
certified Quality Assurance system. The plant isscheduled to be fully operational by September 2003, inlight of the pending commissioning of the Australian
National Radioactive Waste Repository anticipated tooccur in late 2004.

Cement-based conditioning and treatment
technologies for radioactive waste disposal must meetstrict requirements for acceptance by the contractors of
the Australian National Waste Repository. For instance
one criteria for the treated waste is that the structural
stability of the waste form must be maintained for aperiod of 300 years. To accommodate this strict criterion,
3

Newsletter Radioactive Waste Management

Philippines Host NSRA Expert in Radioactive
Waste Management
Research Institute (JAERI). In 1981, he wasappointed as Reviewer of Nuclear Safety
Eulinia M. Valdezco
RWM Project Leader
Head, Radiation Proection
Services
Philippine Nuclear ResearchInstitute (PNRI)

Bureau at the Science and Technology
Agency and three years later, its Chief

The Philippines

Reviewer for Nuclear Safety Review. He
went back to the JAERI as Deputy Directorof the Department of Decommissioning andWaste Management from 1995 a position he held until
Mr. Yutaka Kawakami, presently a Technicalthe middle of 1998. Mr. Kawakami then became theConsultant of the Japan Nuclear Safety Research

Executive Managing Director of the Radioactive Waste

Association (NSRA) is in the Philippines for a 5-weekManagement and Nuclear Facility Decommissioning

technical exchange program starting in February 2003

Technology Center, popularly known as RANDEC wherewith experts from the Philippine Nuclear Research

he retired after four years of work. He has been an active

Institute (PNRI). He is expected to provide technicalparticipant in a number of expert advisory andservice to the PNRI in the area of radiation safety andconsultancy meetings at the IAEA, which has resulted inradioactive waste management. The PNRI has

a number of technical documents published by the IAEA

established, with technical assistance from the IAEA, andfor distribution to Member States. He has likewise

is currently operating a centralized radioactive waste

presented a number of papers in several international

treatment and storage facility. The PNRI, through theconferences on radioactive waste management and waste

Radiation Protection Services, is also implementing asafety held in many countries.

project on the Site Selection and Conceptual Design of a
Near Surface Disposal Facility, which is funded by the

The Nuclear Safety Research Association (NSRA)International Atomic Energy Agency under its technicalwas established in 1964 at about the same time thatassistance program. A number of activities related to the

nuclear safety research is starting in Japan. It is a non-TC project are being pursued in accordance with aprofit organization and is expected to render scientificnational work plan developed by the counterpart staff,

viewpoints on any relevant issues it is called upon toheaded by Ms. Eulinia M. Valdezco of the PNRI.

review and to make recommendations. The NSRA

Among these on-going activities are the review anddispatches Japanese experts in a number of fields ofapproval of the proposed waste classification scheme andspecialization, e.g. research reactor, nuclear regulations,

categorization of radiation sources, including thelicensing of nuclear facilities and others. Among thedevelopment of the waste acceptance criteria andmany activities it is involved with at present is inradiological safety assessment methodologies, among

Radiation Emergency Medicine, specifically theothers. The exchange of technical information with local

training/education of doctors and nurses near Nuclear

experts will be focused on these areas.

Power Plant Sites. The President of NSRA is Dr. Kazuo
Sato, who was the Former Chairman of Japan’s Nuclear

Mr. Kawakami’s professional experience started with

Safety Commission.

the Radioisotope Center at the Japan Atomic Energy

4Radioactive Waste Management Newsletter

The Regional Co-ordination Seminar for theDecision Makers for the Implementation ofRadiation Protection
Mr. Sutat Thiangtrongjit
RWM Project Leader
Head, Radioactive Waste
Management Project
Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP)

Thailandon Upgrading of Radiation Protection
Infrastructure was designed to help develop
radiation protection infrastructure of selecteddeveloping countries, with national programon peaceful use of atomic energy, to be inline with the internationally accepted Basic
Safety Standards (BSS). Participation will

Ms. Nanthavan Chataraprachoom
Senior Nuclear Chemist Radioactive Waste
Management Project OAP

The Regional Co-ordination Seminar for theDecision Makers for the Implementation of Radiation
Protection, 3-5 February 2003 in connection with
Regional Seminar for Senior Staff of Regulatory
Agencies on Approaches for the Effective Regulation ofRadiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Source, 6-7
February 2003, Bangkok, Thailand.
include high ranking officials, at the decision making
level, and the projects counterparts of the participating
Member States namely; Bangladesh, China, India,
Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Pakistan, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand andViet Nam with the total of 31 (25 from abroad and 6 fromThailand).

The combined events are held by the International
Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) with the collaboration of
the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) as the host country
in accordance with the planned activities to harmonize
the radiation protection regional activities of the Model
Projects and of the Regional Cooperative Agreement(RCA) in East Asia and the Pacific. The Model Project5

Newsletter Radioactive Waste Management

Current Status of RWM on the Nuclear Energy
Development in Vietnam
radioactive waste from NPPs and solving
measures as well as Vietnams ability to treat
and manage radioactive waste in future. In
collaboration with Korea, VAEC is preparing
a governments policy for treatment andmanagement of radioactive waste.
In the end of the year 2001, the project
VIE/9/07: Infrastructure for Treatment and Managementof Radwaste had completed in Dalat Nuclear ResearchInstitute (NRI). It formulated the national policy and legal
framework and to establish a technical infrastructure forradioactive waste management, but the scale of thisproject only satisfied radioactive wastes that weregenerated from NRI and other institutions in the South ofVietnam. However the radioactive waste conditioning
and storage facility in NRI is in a poor state and does notmeet the present international standards. Therefore, in theyears of 2002-2003, VAEC is carrying out the plan totreat and manage all radioactive waste, which wascollected and accumulated from activities of institutions
related to radioactive waste in the North of Vietnam, toestablish a technical infrastructure for Phung interim
storage to meet the demand of radioactive waste
treatment and management in near future.
We hope that, with the experiences we learnt fromother countries, especially Japan and Korea, we will havea suitable policy on radioactive waste management andgood solve problems on radioactive waste managementin future.

Dr. Tran Kim Hung
RWM Project Leader, Director
Department of International
Relations and Planning
Vietnam Atomic Energy
Commission (VAEC)

VietnamDr. Nguyen Ba Tien
Deputy Director,
Purification Technology Division,
Institute for Technology of Radioactive andRare Elements (ITRRE, VAEC)

In the year of 2002, there were extremely important
activities in the field of nuclear energy development in
Vietnam. The Ministry of Industry (MOI), the Ministry of
Science and Technology (MOST) and Vietnam Atomic
Energy Commission (VAEC) were entrusted to carry out
projects: Pre-feasibility Project on Construction of theFirst Nuclear Power Plant in Vietnam, Project on Strategy
on Nuclear Energy Development in Vietnam, andStudying to Elucidate the Seven Important Issues Related
to the Development of Nuclear Power in Vietnam.
According to the contents of these projects, the issueof radioactive waste treatment and management allays isimportant matter. VAEC had carried out studying on
clarifying major issue facing the world today relating to6

Radioactive Waste Management Newsletter

Engineered Barrier Test Facility for the Near
Surface Disposal of Low and IntermediateLevel Radioactive Wastes
and disposal cover system is to limit water
infiltration and to prevent the waste packages
from contact with water. A test facility ofengineered barriers reflecting the conceptual
design of disposal cover and vault system is
now under construction at KHNP-NETEC(see Figure). The in situ experiments will befollowed after in the test facility.
This research project is focused on evaluation andperformance demonstration of the engineered barrier andcover system. In November of this year, the 2nd
Workshop on Safety and Performance Validation of
LILW Near Surface Disposal Facility is planned at
KHNP-NETEC.

Dr. Myung-jae SongRWM Project Leader
General Manager, R&D Division
Nuclear Enviroment Technology
Institute (NETEC)
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power
Co., Ltd (KHNP)

Korea

Dr. Chang-Lak Kim
Radwaste Disposal Research Group, Group Leader
Nuclear Environment Technology Institute
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd

Nuclear Environment Technology
Institute (NETEC) of Korea Hydro &Nuclear Power Co., Ltd has made much
efforts for several years to have disposal
facility of low- and intermediate-level
radioactive wastes. Four candidate sites of
LILW disposal facility were announced by
the government in February of this year.
The safety of a near-surface disposal
facility is strongly dependent on theperformance of engineered barriers such as
disposal cover, backfill and concrete vault.
The primary objective of engineered barrier

7

Newsletter Radioactive Waste Management

Bird’s-eye View of the Korean Radioactive Waste
Management Complex

Nuclear Environment Technology Institute
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd.
P.O.Box 149, Yusung-gu, Daejeon, 305-600, Korea
Tel : +82-42-870-0313 Fax : +82-42-870-0354