• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.3 no.2
• /
• pp.113-123
• /
• 2005

The removal of radioactive corrosion products from the reactor coolant through a magnetic filter system is one of the many approaches being investigated as a means to reduce radiation sources and exposures to the operational and maintenance personnel in a nuclear power plant. Many research activities in water chemistry, therefore, have been performed to provide a filtration system with high reliability and feasibility and are still in process. In this study, it was devised the magnetic filter system with permanent and electric magnets to remove the corrosion products in the coolant stream taking an advantage of the magnetic properties of corrosion particles. Permanent magnets were used for separation of corrosion products and electric magnets were utilized for flocculation of colloidal particles to increase in their size. Experiments using only permanent magnets, in the previous study, displayed the satisfactory outcome of filtering corrosion products and indicated that the removal efficiency was more than 90 $\%$ for above 5 $\mu$m particles. Experiments using electric magnets also showed the good performance of flocculation without chemical agents and exhibited that most corrosion particles were flocculated into larger aggregates about 5 $\mu$m and over in diameter. It is, thus, expected that the magnetic filter system with the arrangement of permanent and electric magnets will be an effective way for the removal of radioactive corrosion products with considerably high removal efficiency.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.311-319
• /
• 2003

We developed a grid-based Gaussian plume model to evaluate tracer release data measured at Young Gwang nuclear site in 1996. Downwind distance was divided into every 10m from 0.1km to 20km, and crosswind distance was divided into every 10m centering released point from -5km to 5km. We determined dispersion factors, ${\sigma}_y\;and\;{\sigma}_z$ using Pasquill-Gifford method computed by atmospheric stability. Forecasting ability of the grid-based Gaussian plume model was better at the 3km away from the source than 8km. We confirmed that dispersion band must be modified if receptor is far away from the source, otherwise P-G method is not appropriate to compute diffusion distance and diffusion strength in case of growing distance. So, we developed an empirical equation using linear programming. An objective function was designed to minimize sum of the absolute value between observed and computed values. As a result of application of the modified dispersion equation, prediction ability was improved rather than P-G method.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.73-86
• /
• 1999

The ion-exchange method for the purification of primary coolant has been used broadly in PWR(pressurized water reactor)-type nuclear power plants due to its high decontamination efficiency, simple system, and easy operation. However, its non-selective removal of metal and non-radionuclides shortens its life, resulting in the generation of a large amount of waste ion-exchange resin. In this study, the feasibility of electrodeionization (EDI) was investigated for the purification of primary cooling water using synthetic solutions under various experimental conditions as an alternative method for the ion exchange. The results shows that as the feed flow-rate increased, the removal efficiency increased and the power consumption decreased. The removal rate was observed as a 1000 decontamination factor(DF) at a nearly constant level. For the synthetic solution of 3 ppm TDS (Total Dissolved Solid), the power consumption was 40.3 mWh/L at 2.0 L/min of feed flow rate. The higher removal rate of metal species and lower power consumption were obtained with greater resin volume per diluting compartment. However, the flow rate of the EDI process decreased with the elapsed time because of the hydrodynamic resistivity of resin itself and resin fouling by suspended solids. Thus, the ion-exchange resin was replaced by an ion-conducting spacer in order to overcome the drawback. The system equipped with the ion-conducting spacer resolved the problem of the decreasing flow rate but showed a lower efficiency in terms of the power consumption, the removal rate of metal species and current efficiency. In the repeated batch operation, it was found that the removal efficiency of metal species was stably maintained at DF 1000.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.35 no.1
• /
• pp.21-25
• /
• 2010

Burnup of spent fuel should be determined accurately for the safety control of spent fuel. Especially, it is necessary to measure the burnup profile along the nuclear fuel axis. In the present work, an ionization chamber was designed and fabricated to measure the gamma ray profile inside the guide tube of spent fuel. The ionization chamber was composed of three parts; induction part, gas-inlet part, and sensor part. The sensor part had two electrodes; cathode and anode. A guide electrode was considered in the ionization chamber design to make the ionization chamber to be inserted easily into the guide tube. Pure gas (argon and xenon) was inserted into the ionization chamber, and the leakage current and saturation curve were measured to determine the operation characteristics of the ionization chamber. The gamma ray radiation was also measured in relatively high dose environment. The gamma ray profile of the spent fuel will be measured with the ionization chamber.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.33 no.2
• /
• pp.67-76
• /
• 2008

As the first comprehensive attempt at a national implementation, this study aims at assessing the external costs of major electricity generation technologies in Korea, particularly an evaluation of the impacts on human health resulting from exposures to atmospheric radiological emissions from nuclear power plants, and a monetary quantification of their damages. The methodology used for the assessment of the externalities of the selected fuel cycles has been developed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), namely the SimPacts Model Package. The model is internationally recognized as a tool which can be applied to a wide range of fuels, different technologies and locations, for an externalities study. In this study, the relevant emissions are quantified first and then their impacts on human health are evaluated and compared. The study focused on all the nuclear power plants for the last 6 years ($2001{\sim}2006$) in Korea. With respect to nuclear power, the impact analysis only focuses on a power generation, however the front- and back-end nuclear fuel cycles are not included, namely uranium mining, conversion, enrichment, reprocessing, conditioning, etc., because these facilities are not present in Korea. The analysis results show that nuclear power in general, generates low external costs. The highest damage costs from the nuclear power plants among the 4 sites in Korea were estimated to be 3.9 mills/MWh, which is about 1/20th of the result for a similar case study conducted in the U.K., implemented through the ExternE project. This difference is largely due to the number of radionuclides included in the study and the amount of released radioactive emissions based on up-to-date information in Korea. In this study, the sensitivities of the major factors for nuclear power plants were also calculated. The analysis indicates that there was around a ${\pm}3%$ damage costs variation to a ${\pm}15%$ change of the reference population density and a ${\pm}1%$ damage cost variation to a $1{\sim}30$ meters change of the effective release height, respectively. These sensitive calculations show that there is only a minor difference when the reference costs are compared.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.109-114
• /
• 1998

Radiological safety for the conventional operation of Demonstration-Scale Incineration Plant (DSIP) was assessed on the basis of the results of trial burns using the simulated and real radioactive wastes. Radiation dose assessments for routine releases on an annual basis as well a several severe accidental releases on a short-term basis (2h) revealed that there would be no significant environmental impact when low-level waste Is incinerated in DSIP. For semivolatile radioactive cesium species, expected emission concentrations slightly exceeded 10% of maximum permissible concentration. Removal characteristics of the bag filter for condensed-phase cesium species was investigated by the trial burns of simulated waste with inactive cesium tracer. In the off-gas before passing through bag filter, distributions of condensed cesium species in the transition size ranging between the diffusional and inertial region are less than 5%. The overall collection efficiency of the bag filter for cesium species was higher than 99.9%, showing enough decontamination capability as a primary filter for the low-temperature dry off-gas system in radwaste incineration plant.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.41 no.1
• /
• pp.49-55
• /
• 2016

Background: For the purpose of baseline data collection and enhancement of environmental monitoring the distribution studies of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{90}Sr$ in the soil of Uljin province was performed and the relation between surface soil activities and soil properties (pH, TOC and median of the surface soil) was analyzed. Materials and Methods: For 14 spots within 10 km from the NPP surface soil samples were collected and soils for depth profile were sampled for 3 spots in April 2011. Using ${\gamma}$-ray spectrometry with HPGe detector, the concentrations of $^{137}Cs$ were determined and the concentrations of $^{90}Sr$ were measured by counting ${\beta}$-activity of $^{90}Y$ (in equilibrium with $^{90}Sr$) in a gas flow proportional counter. Results and Discussion: The concentration ranges of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{90}Sr$ were $<0.479-39.6Bq{\cdot}(kg-dry)^{-1}$ (avg. $7.51Bq{\cdot}(kg-dry)^{-1}$) and $0.209-1.85Bq{\cdot}(kg-dry)^{-1}$ (avg. $0.74Bq{\cdot}(kg-dry)^{-1}$) which were similar to the reported values from other regions in Korea. The activity ratio of $^{137}Cs$ to $^{90}Sr$ in surface soils was around 9.67, which is much bigger than the initial value of 1.75 for worldwide fallouts because of faster downward movement of $^{90}Sr$ after fallout than that of $^{137}Cs$. For depth profile studies soils were collected down to 40 cm depth for the locations of Deokgu, Hujeong and Maehwa. The $^{137}Cs$ concentration distribution of the first two showed maximum values at top soils and decreased rapidly in exponential manner, while $^{90}Sr$ showed two local maximum values for soils near top and about 30 cm depth. Through linear fittings between the $^{137}Cs$ and $^{90}Sr$ concentrations of surface soil and pH, TOC and median of the surface soil, the only probable relationship obtained was between $^{137}Cs$ and TOC (determination coefficient $R^2=0.6$). Conclusion: The concentration ranges of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{90}Sr$ in Uljin were similar to the reported values from other regions in Korea. The only probable relationship obtained between activities and soil properties was between $^{137}Cs$ and TOC.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.130-134
• /
• 1993

Radiostrontium is one of fallouts. It can be absorbed through intestine and causing radiation injury to bones. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the inhibitory effect of 10% chitosan (water soluble and insoluble) and 10% alginate (water soluble and insoluble) on radiostrontium adsorption. Water soluble and insoluble chitosans and alginates were given to 10 NIH male mice in each group for 7 days. At the 7th day, 74 MBq of $^{85}Sr$ were given through orogastric tube. Chitosans and alginates were given for additional 7 days. During the 7 days, radioactivities of feces were counted daily. Finally animals were sacrificed, and radioactivities of bones were counted. Fecal excretion was significantly higher in chitosan and alginate group as compared to control from the 1st day (p < 0.01). Water soluble chitosan group showed highest fecal excretion. Bony retention was significantly lower in the treated group than the control (p < 0.01). There was no difference among treated groups. In conclusion, both water soluble and insoluble chitosans and alginates were effective agents on lowering orally ingested radiostrontium ($^{85}Sr$).

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.32 no.2
• /
• pp.45-50
• /
• 2007

In this study, uptake rates of internal organs and daily urinary excretion rates were measured to get more reliable estimation results for Korean. Radioactive iodine($^{131}I$) of $100{\mu}Ci$ was administered by ingestion to 28 adult males for the experiment and then the radioactivity in thyroid gland, liver, stomach, small intestine, kidneys, and urine was measured after time intervals of 2, 4, 6 and 24 hours. Uptake rates of each organ and daily urinary excretion rates were calculated on the basis of these experimental results. As a result, uptake rates of 19.70% for thyroid and daily urinary excretion rates of 71.12%, on the average, were indicated. The maximum of uptake rates and daily urinary excretion rates were recorded after 2 hours of administration of $^{131}I$, but those rates were decreased gradually later. It was also found that uptake rates were the highest in stomach, followed by the left kidney, liver, small intestine and right kidney except for thyroid gland. In this experiment, the calculated uptake change rate in thyroid gland after 24 hours of administration of $^{131}I$ was different from that of ICRP-54/67(30%) and ICRP-78(25%). Thus, it is necessary to apply more reliable approach, reflecting the characteristic of Korean physiology and to obtain the basic data of results using this approach for calculation of the internal adsorbed dose. In the future, this approach can be helpful for the internal dose assessment of radiation workers in a nuclear power plant or in a hospital.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.231-242
• /
• 1976

The effects of temperature and pressure of leaching water on the leaching of radionuclides from bitumen-waste products were studied. The principal results are as follows: The fraction of $^{90}$ Sr and $^{137}$ Cs leached for periods of up to 120 days at 8atm was 2.1$\times$10$^{-6}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ , day$^{-1}$ and 6.02$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ respectively and at 5$^{\circ}C$, 1.7$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ and 4.01$\times$10$^{-5}$ ($\textrm{cm}^2$/g)$^{-1}$ day$^{-1}$ respectively. These values were lower than those in atmospheric pressure and room temperature. No diffence in the leaching rate with sea and distilled water was observed for the bitumen-waste products containing 40wt% salts. It appears that these results could be saved by improving safety in the dumping of sea. The effect of the softening point of pure asphalt or bitumen-waste product by $^{60}$ Co irradiation was increased with increasing total dose. Irradiation of asphalts at a total dose of 5.8$\times$10$^{8}$ rad showed no evidence of volume and caused no swelling. The functional groups of blown asphalt by infrared spectra are also identified.