October 26-28, 2022
Members of Seoul National University Nuclear Fuel Cycle & Nonproliferation Lab (SNUNFC) recently travelled to Jeju island, South Korea to attend the combined conferences: 7th East Asia Forum On Radwaste Management (EAFORM) & Korean Radioactive Waste Society (KRS) annual general meeting and autumn conference. They were joined by several international visitors, Dr James Amphlett, former SNUNFC member now at Seaborg Technologies in Denmark, Dr Clint Sharrad, collaborator from the University of Manchester in the UK along with his student Mr Daniel Barton, as well as Dr Tatiana Grebennikova who finished off her two month secondment with the laboratory.

EAFORM 2022 (7th East Asia Forum On Radwaste Management)
The Safe, secure, and sustainable solutions to the management of spent nuclear fuels and radioactive wastes are critical to the viability and continuing peaceful use of nuclear power and other advanced nuclear applications.

With no exception, current nuclear energy programs in the East Asian area are all faced with such challenges. Although each of these programs has developed its own technology base, implementation strategy, and infrastructure, the urgent need for further technology enhancement on radioactive waste management and implementation of radioactive waste disposal are becoming more essential to all. Enhancing international collaboration will benefit participants through the sharing of knowledge and expertise, as well as other intangible benefits such as public comprehension of safety issues and support for repository establishment.
The EAFORM is principally opened to all research organizations and others related to radioactive waste management. The purpose of the EAFORM is to promote information exchange, to share knowledge, and to encourage international collaboration in a bilateral or multilateral mode. As an international forum on radioactive waste management, the East Asia Forum on Radwaste Management (EAFORM) has been held biannually since 2006. the 7th EAFORM will was held on Oct. 26-28, 2022 in Jeju Island, Republic of Korea. The EAFORM has been previously held as follows.
1st EAFORM was held in Taipei in 2006,
2nd conference was held in Tokyo in 2008,
3rd conference was held in Gyeongju in 2010,
4th conference was held in Beijing in 2013,
5th conference was held in Taichung 2015,
6th conference was held in Osaka in 2017,
7th conference was held in Jeju Island in 2022.

EAFORM 2022 opened with welcome remarks, including congratulatory remarks from Dr Clint Sharrad who has collaborated with several institutions throughout Korea in the area of nuclear decommissioning over the past 10 years. What followed was a plenary session of six talks from international researchers based in the Asia-pacific area, including our very own Prof. Sungyeol Choi who delivered his insights on "Small Modular Reactors and Radioactive Waste Management" commenting on both current challenges and future direction of travel.
The conference took place over two days. Dr Sharrad opened the Decontamination & Decommissioning technical session detailing recent developments made in his group on the treatment of irradiated nuclear graphite with molten salts. Staying with the theme of molten salts, SNUNFC former student Dr Amphlett gave an invited talk on handling waste from molten salt reactors in relation to the work on-going at Seaborg Technologies. Daniel Barton, current Ph.D. student at the University of Manchester, provided insights into his current field of study, the characterisation of contaminated stainless steel. By far the most rewarding talk was given by Samuel Park, current SNUNFC Ph.D. student who presented for the first time at an international conference in English. The talk was received well by everyone in attendance, with robust defence in the Q&A session provided by Samuel. Well done!.
Mr. Park: "Development of Coupled 3D Thermo-Hydro Code for Repository Integrity Assessment"
Dr. Amphlett: "Fuel Cycle and Waste Options for Molten Salt Reactors – A Seaborg Technologies Perspective"
Dr. Sharrad: "Novel Molten Salt Technology for Decontaminating Irradiated Nuclear Graphite"
Mr. Barton: "Characterisation of Contaminated Stainless Steel From Acidic Reprocessing Environments"

SNUNFC members also contributed to the poster session held during the EAFORM:
Dr Liu: "Carbon Nitrides for Tunable Uranium Recovery"
Dr Foster: "X-Ray Computed Tomography Non-Destructive Evaluation of Geopolymers for Eventual Carbon-14 Solidification"
W. Yang: "Development of a Machine Learning Model for Determination of Electrode Surface Area With Cyclic Voltammogram of Two Rod Electrodes in Molten Salts"
N. Chae: "Chemical Reaction Model for Pyrite Oxidation and Dissolution in Deep Geological Repository"
S. Seo: "Simulation of CRUD Generation in the Primary Coolant System, Purification System, and Shutdown Cooling System of Pressurizer Water Reactor"
Korea Radioactive Waste Society 2022 Fall Conference
SNUNFC were also out in force for the KRS autumn conference. M.S. student Pilhyeon Ju followed up his recent appearance at the Korean Nuclear Society conference delivering a talk to a packed audience. Pilhyeon detailed his current study on the "Development of Energy Mix Simulation Model for 2050 Net-Zero Carbon" in which he modelled the current South Korea Government energy scenarios targeting net-zero carbon by 2050.

SNUNFC students also contributed to the poster session held during the KRS Radiochemistry session:
S. Seo: "Influence of Effective Thermal Conductivity on the Radiolytic and Chemical Environment Within the CRUD Deposits"
W. Lee: "Thermal NaCl-MgCl2 Salt Purification for Reducing Reactor Vessel Corrosion"
H. Kim: "Quantitative Analysis of Sr and Cs in LiCl-KCl Molten Salt by Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS)"
J. Kim: "Magnesium Chloride Dehydration Methods Using Thermal and Electrochemical Treatments"

This years autumn conference was also cause for celebration for the SNUNFC team with several members winning awards.
Congratulations to Prof. Sungyeol Choi for being awarded the 제4회 신진연구자상 (4th Early Career Researcher Award) at the Korean Radioactive Waste Society annual general meeting and autumn conference for his continued contribution to R&D within the nuclear fuel cycle. Well done also to N. Chae & W. Yang for being awarded 2022 KRS Best Oral Presentation Awards in their respective sessions.
N. Chae: "Transient Mixed-potential Model for Oxic and Anoxic Corrosion of a Cu Canister" - High-Level Waste Disposal
W. Yang: "Characterization of Fine and Ultrafine Particles Generated During the Dismantling of a Mock-up Reactor Pressure Vessel" - Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation
Further Reading:
EA-Form 2022: https://eaform2022.org/ Dr Sharrad: Novel Molten Salt Technology for Decontaminating Irradiated Nuclear Graphite
Energy Daily: ‘방사성폐기물 관리 동아시아 포럼 (EAFORM 2022)’ 개최
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