CEO Cha Sung-soo of Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) shakes hands with President David Peattie of Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of the UK after they signed an MOU on nuclear decommissioning, radwate management and public acceptance at NDA headquarters in Cumbria, UK, last Oct. 30.

Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) gave the nod to a plan to take in 503 drums of radwaste from the Wolsong Nuclear Power Complex for three days from Jan. 21.

Acceptance of radwaste from the complex came one year after it was halted due to analysis errors by Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI).

The suspension took effect as KAERI announced radioactive analysis errors found on 945 drums out of 2,600 drums of radwaste handed over to the agency in Gyeongju in 2018.

KORAD said the radwaste was being transported safely on an exclusive road between the Wolsong Nuclear Power Complex and the radwaste agency.

Gyeongju City’s civilian watchdog body, city council and residents in Yangbuk County demanded a halt to the shipments of radwaste until the pending issues are solved, such as acceptance of sea water, citing KAERI’s analysis errors.

After KORAD stopped acceptance radwaste for treatment, a joint private-public investigation team was inaugurated to ease misgivings over the safety of the radwaste treatment site among Gyeongju citizens and to restore trust.

The joint 19-member team comprised of five neighborhood notables, four watchdog body members and four experts. The team had 11 plenary session meetings, 10 experts’ meetings and conducted inspection tours to the site on six occasions.

Last June, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) found that a probe into 2,111 drums out of 2,600 drums of radwaste that had been delivered to the radwaste treatment site since 2015 carried erroneous information on the concentration of nuclides.

Comparing the corrections and the erroneous figures, the NSCC found that the concentration degree of the nuclides in question came under the permissible levels of the low- and immediate level radwaste treatment site.

KORAD also confirmed that the reanalysis of 10 drums of KAERI’s radwaste found the concentration degree fell short of the radwaste treatment facility’s upper limit of 0.52 percent, which doesn’t cause safety risks.

KORAD CEO Cha shakes hands side by side with President Janne Mokka of Finnish waste management company Posiva and Managing Director Mika Pohjonen of Posiva Solutions after KORAD and Posiva struck an MOU on cooperation in high-level radwaste treatment technology and management knowhow at Helsinki, Finland, last Oct. 28. (Photos: KORAD)

NSSC Gives Go-Ahead to 2nd Stage Project of MACSTOR Dry Spent Fuel Storage System

NSSC gave the green light to the construction of the second-stage MACSTOR dry spent fuel storage system for Wolsong Nuclear Power Units 1 to 4 on Jan. 10.

Six members out of an eight-member commission supported the additional construction of the MACSTOR dry spent fuel storage facility.

The current spent nuclear fuel storage facility for the Wolsong Nuclear Power Complex stands at a 93 percent storage rate, so saturation is expected to occur around next November.

The second-stage project is predicted to take at least 22 months as there are many stumbling blocks, to be overcome. If the current canister-type dry spent fuel storage system is counted, the combined storage rate of the storage facilities is estimated to stand at 96.5 percent.

Citing the situation, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. submitted a request for the construction of an additional MACSTOR dry spent fuel storage facility.

The project had been on the hold, citing the outbreak of a strong 5.8-degree earthquake in Gyeongju and the current government’s energy paradigm shift to wean nuclear power off the nation.

Finally, the second-stage MACSTOR dry spent fuel storage facility project was submitted to NSSC last November.

The Wolsong Nuclear Power Complex has four units in operation since the 1st unit was put into commercial operation in 1983.

Unit 1, whose life span was originally scheduled to be extended, was ordered to be halted permanently last December, citing lack of economic benefits. Units Nos. 2, 3, and 4 have design life span in 2026, 2027 and 2029, respectively.