Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT) (방사성폐기물학회지)

Korean Radioactive Waste Society (한국방사성폐기물학회)
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Internal Dose Assessment of Worker by Radioactive Aerosol Generated During Mechanical Cutting of Radioactive Concrete

원전 방사성 콘크리트 기계적 절단의 방사성 에어로졸에 대한 작업자 내부피폭선량 평가

  • Park, Jihye (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Yang, Wonseok (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Chae, Nakkyu (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Lee, Minho (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology) ;
  • Choi, Sungyeol (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology)
  • Received : 2020.03.17
  • Accepted : 2020.06.10
  • Published : 2020.06.30
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Abstract

Removing radioactive concrete is crucial in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. However, this process generates radioactive aerosols, exposing workers to radiation. Although large amounts of radioactive concrete are generated during decommissioning, studies on the internal exposure of workers to radioactive aerosols generated from the cutting of radioactive concrete are very limited. In this study, therefore, we calculate the internal radiation doses of workers exposed to radioactive aerosols during activities such as drilling and cutting of radioactive concrete, using previous research data. The electrical-mobility-equivalent diameter measured in a previous study was converted to aerodynamic diameter using the Newton-Raphson method. Furthermore, the specific activity of each nuclide in radioactive concrete 10 years after nuclear power plants are shut down was calculated using the ORIGEN code. Eventually, we calculated the committed effective dose for each nuclide using the IMBA software. The maximum effective dose of 152Eu constituted 83.09% of the total dose; moreover, the five highest-ranked elements (152Eu, 154Eu, 60Co, 239Pu, 55Fe) constituted 99.63%. Therefore, we postulate that these major elements could be measured first for rapid radiation exposure management of workers involved in decommissioning of nuclear power plants, even if all radioactive elements in concrete are not considered.

원전 해체 공정 중 다량의 콘크리트 방사성 폐기물의 절단 과정에서 불가피하게 방사성 에어로졸이 생성된다. 방사성 에어로졸은 인체 호흡기 흡착에 의한 내부피폭을 유발하기 때문에 작업자의 방사선 방호를 위한 내부피폭평가가 필수적으로 시행되어야 한다. 그러나 실제 작업환경의 에어로졸 특성값을 사용하기에는 선행 연구가 미비하며 콘크리트에 포함된 방사성 핵종의 수가 많기 때문에 정확한 작업자 내부피폭평가를 위해서는 상당한 시간과 인력이 필요하다. 따라서, 본 연구에서는 사전 연구된 콘크리트 에어로졸 특성값을 활용하여 원전 해체 전 절단 작업자의 내부 피폭량을 빠르게 예측할 수 있는 새로운 방법론을 제시하고자 한다. 본 연구팀은 콘크리트 절단 시 발생하는 사전 연구에서 발표된 에어로졸의 수농도 크기 분포데이터를 뉴턴-랩슨법을 이용하여 피폭평가 계산에 필요한 방사능중앙 공기중역학직경(Activity Median Aerodynamic Diameter)값으로 변환하였다. 또한 원전 정지 10년 후 비방사능 값을 ORIGEN code로 계산하였으며, 최종적으로 핵종별 예탁유효선량을 IMBA 프로그램을 이용하여 계산하였다. 핵종별 예탁유효선량값을 비교한 결과 152Eu에 의한 최대 예탁유효선량은 전체 선량값의 83.09%를 차지하고, 152Eu를 포함한 상위 5개 원소(152Eu, 154Eu, 60Co, 239Pu, 55Fe)의 경우 최대 99.63%를 차지함을 확인하였다. 따라서 원전 해체 전 콘크리트의 구성 원소 중 상위 5개 주요 원소 측정을 먼저 시행한다면 더 빠르고 원활한 방사능 피폭관리 및 해체 작업 안전성 평가가 가능할 것으로 판단된다.

Keywords

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