Status of safeguards R&D on pyroprocessing related facilities at KAERI

The Republic of Korea (ROK) has implemented the Safeguards By Design (SBD) concept in nuclear fuel cycle facilities. Since the early 1990s KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) has developed several nuclear fuel cycle facilities for research activities on spent fuel treatment. Such facilities include the DUPIC Fuel Development Facility (DFDF), the Advanced spent fuel Conditioning Process Facility (ACPF), and the PyRoprocessing Integrated inactive DEmonstration facility (PRIDE). PRIDE is an engineering-scale R&D facility, handling non-irradiated depleted uranium and surrogates to develop and test key technologies for the pyroprocess. The data obtained from this facility will be used to evaluate the feasibility of a pyroprocessing facility in the future. DFDF consists of one concrete hot cell used for the technology development of the DUPIC (Direct Use of Pressurized Water Reactor Fuel in CANDU) fuel fabrication as well as for a voloxidation of irradiated PWR spent fuel rod cuts to produce a feed material for the electrolytic reduction process in ACPF. ACPF consists of two interconnected hot cells with two shielded rear doors for a material transfer designed for research on the electrolytic reduction of spent oxide fuel into a metallic form. Pyroprocessing related facilities that contain less than one significant quantity of nuclear material but that utilize technologies and equipment related to the electrochemical recycling of spent fuel have been treated as category III by the IAEA. The demand for robust safeguards applied to pyroprocessing facilities require the IAEA to develop new safeguards measures and techniques. KAERI’s safeguards R&D will provide the IAEA and the international community with credible assurances regarding a state’s fulfilment of its safeguards obligations.