Consequence analysis of a transportation accident of radioactive spent resin waste from a heavy water-cooled reactor to a the Gyeongju radioactive waste disposal facility

Abstract

Radiological assessments of hypothetical accidents resulting in the dispersion of radioactive material are needed to ensure the safety of the public, especially during the transport of waste to disposal facilities. Therefore, a radiological impact assessment was conducted, assessing a hypothetical accident near the Wolsong receiving area during the transportation of radioactive spent resin waste from a heavy water-cooled reactor to the Gyeongju disposal facility. The HotSpot Health Physics code was used in this case study. It Because of the variability in transportation conditions, eight accident scenarios were considered based on waste type (cement solidification and dry spent resin), waste activity (low and intermediate level waste), and accident severity (1% or 10% radionuclide release). From the results, the form of the radioactive waste was the most important factor in determining the total effective dose equivalent (TEDE), because the aerosol fractions of dispersed radionuclides differed among the radioactive waste forms. Among the scenarios, the 10% release fraction and radioactive waste of dry spent resin scenario resulted in the highest TEDE of 1.4E-3 Sv within 10 min of exposure at a distance of 0.03 km, which was higher than the 1E-3 Sv/year dose limit for the public. A radiological impact assessment of spent resin waste transportation for the public was completed based on the specific scenarios.