• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.38-45
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• 2014

This paper describes the results of assessment of radiological dose resulting from operation of the Daedeok nuclear facilities including the HANARO research reactor, which has been performed to assure whether or not to comply with the regulation standards of the radioactive effluents releases. Based on the meteorological data and the radiation source term, the maximum individual doses were evaluated from 2010 to 2012. The atmospheric dispersion and the deposition factors of gaseous effluents were calculated using the XOQDOQ computer code. ENDOS-G and ENDOS-L code systems were also used for maximum individual dose calculation from gaseous and liquid effluents, respectively. The results were compared with the regulation standards for the radioactive effluents presented by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC). The effective doses and the thyroid doses of the maximum individual were calculated at the maximum exposed point in the Daedeok site, and contributions of exposure pathways to the radiological doses resulting from gaseous and liquid radioactive effluents were evaluated at each facility of the Daedeok site. As a result, the maximum exposed age was analysed to be the child group, and the operation of HANARO research reactor had a major effect more than 90% on the individual doses. The main exposure pathways for gaseous radioactive effluent were from ingestion and inhalation. The effective doses and the thyroid doses were considerably influenced by tritium and iodine, respectively. The gaseous radioactive effluents contributed more than 90% on the total doses, whereas the contributions of the liquid radioactive effluents were relatively low. Consequently, the maximum individual dose due to radioactive effluents from the nuclear facilities within the Daedeok site were less than 3% of the regulation standard over 3 years; therefore, it can be concluded that radioactive effluents from the nuclear facilities were well managed, with the radiation-induced health detriment for residents around the site being negligible.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.464-468
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• 2008

Purpose: Effective half life of I-131 ($T_{eff}$) in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer treated by I-131 is must-know value for dose calculation and determination of release time from isolation room. There has been no report about $T_{eff}$ in Koreans. Thus, author tried to measure dose rate without radiation exposure to faculty members and calculated $T_{eff}$. Methods: Probe of radiation survey meter was fixed at the wall of isolation room, and body of survey meter was placed outside the room. With this simple arrangement, author could measure radiation frequently without radiation exposure to faculty members in 68 patient (F=55, M=13, age=$47{\pm}13.7$) treated by I-131 ($3.7{\sim}7.4\;GBq$) for differentiated thyroid cancer from Jan 2006 to Dec 2006. From this data, $T_{eff}$, 48 hr retention rate, and the time necessary to whole body retention of I-131 become less than 1.1 GBq were calculated. Serum creatinine levels were measured before and after thyroid hormone withdrawal. Results: $T_{eff}$ was $15.4{\pm}4.3\;hr$ ($9.4{\sim}32.5\;hr$). There was a loose correlation between $T_{eff}$ and serum creatinine concentration (r=0.45). 48hr retention was $4.9{\pm}4.2%$ ($1{\sim}23%$). Time necessary to whole body retention of I-131 become less than 1.1 GBq was calculated as $47.1{\pm}13.2\;hr$ for 9.25 GBq, $42.1{\pm}11.9\;hr$ for 7.4 GBq, $35.7{\pm}10.0\;hr$ for 5.55 GBq, and $26.7{\pm}7.5\;hr$ for 3.7 GBq dose of I-131. Conclusion: Author successfully measured radiation dose rates in isolated patients treated by high dose of I-131 without radiation exposure to the faculty members with simple arrangement of survey meter probe. Using those data, $T_{eff}$ and some other indices were calculated.

• Proceedings of the Korea Contents Association Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.1159-1166
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• 2009

The use of cone-beam computed tomography(CBCT) has been proposed for guiding the delivery of radiation therapy. A kilovoltage imaging system capable of radiography, fluoroscopy, and cone-beam computed tomography(CT) has been integrated with a medical linear accelerator. A standard clinical linear accelerator, operating in arc therapy mode, and an amorphous-silicon (a-Si) with an on-board electronic portal imager can be used to treat palliative patient and verify the patient's position prior to treatment. On-board CBCT images are used to generate patient geometric models to assist patient setup. The image data can also, potentially, be used for dose reconstruction in combination with the fluence maps from treatment plan. In this study, the accuracy of Hounsfield Units of CBCT images as well as the accuracy of dose calculations based on CBCT images of a phantom and compared the results with those of using CT simulator images. Phantom and patient studies were carried out to evaluate the achievable accuracy in using CBCT and CT stimulator for dose calculation. Relative electron density as a function of HU was obtained for both planning CT stimulator and CBCT using a Catphan-600 (The Phantom Laboratory, USA) calibration phantom. A clinical treatment planning system was employed for CT stimulator and CBCT based dose calculations and subsequent comparisons. The dosimetric consequence as the result of HU variation in CBCT was evaluated by comparing MU/cCy. The differences were about 2.7% (3-4MU/100cGy) in phantom and 2.5% (1-3MU/100cGy) in patients. The difference in HU values in Catphan was small. However, the magnitude of scatter and artifacts in CBCT images are affected by limitation of detector's FOV and patient's involuntary motions. CBCT images included scatters and artifacts due to In addition to guide the patient setup process, CBCT data acquired prior to the treatment be used to recalculate or verify the treatment plan based on the patient anatomy of the treatment area. And the CBCT has potential to become a very useful tool for on-line ART.)

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.75-80
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• 2000

The predicted results of INDAC code were compared with measured $^3H$ concentrations in air and pine-needle around the Wolsung site. The optimal sets of input data to INDAC were in addition selected by comparing the measured values with the predicted values of INDAC based on various conditions such as the release modes of effluents into the environment, the classification of wind classes, and the consideration of terrain. The predicted $^3H$ concentrations in air and pine-needle were shown to have good agreement with measured values, although there are some limitations such as uncertainties in measured values, complex topology around the site, and the land-sea breeze effects. The assumption on the $^3H$ behavior in vegetables or plants that the ratio of $^3H$ concentration in plant water to $^3H$ concentration in atmospheric water is 1/2 was shown to be conservative in terms of the audit calculation performed by the regulator. It was also found that data sets based on mixed mode and no terrain data were not appropriate for the audit calculation ensuring the compliance with regulations. Thus, if the mixed mode is considered as the release mode of effluents into the environment, meteorological data measured at 58 m height and terrain data should be used to evaluate the atmospheric dispersion factor.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.587-594
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• 2018

The purpose of this study was to develop the indirect dosimetry by calculation (IDC) method for diagnostic X-ray equipment. The experiments were performed with inverter type X-ray tubes: Toshiba (E7252X, Japan) and Varian (RAD-14, USA). For the development method, we first applied the standard quality of X-ray beam shown in the TRS457 document, and second, to produce the constants of trendline for the IDC, the total filtration on X-ray beam was subdivided. Third, in order to increase the precision, the energy region was divided into the high energy region and the low energy region and developed by the IDC. In order to verify the IDC, mean dose (mR) values were measured for three Toshiba X-ray tubes and three Varian X-ray tubes at clinical medical institutions and then compared with the IDC on the 2013. As a result, compared with the previous study, the accuracy of the IDC of this study were improved by 2.71% and 9.91% in Toshiba and Varian X-ray tubes, respectively.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.167-172
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• 2008

Recently a high-quality voxel model of a Korean adult male was constructed at Hanyang University by using very high resolution serially-sectioned anatomical images of a cadaver, which was provided by the Korean Institute of Science and Technology Information (KISTI). Most existing voxel phantoms are developed based on an individual in the supine posture. This study converted the HDRK-Man voxel model into surface model and adjusted the flattened back of the HDRK-Man to a normal shape in the upright posture using 3D graphic softwares such as $3D-DOCTOR^{TM}$, $Rapidform^{(R)}$2006, $Rhinoceros^{(R)}$4.0, $MAYA^{(R)}$8.5. The effective doses of adjusted model were compared with those of unadjusted model for some standard irradiation geometries (i.e., AP, PA, LLAT, RLAT). In general, the differences were not very large and, among those, the largest difference was found for the PA radiation geometry, as expected. These methodologies can be used for the development of various deformed posture models of HDRK-Man in the later stage of this project.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.109-116
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• 2000

One consideration of radiation delivery in cervical cancer is the complication of critical organs, e.g., bladder and rectum. The absorbed dose of bladder and rectum in HDR intracavitary brachytherapy is measured indirectly with TLD dosimetry A method for the complication reduction of bladder and rectum is suggested. For two-hundred cervical cancer patients, follow-up MRI images were reviewed and distances from cervical central axis to bladder and rectum and vaginal wall thickness were measured. The sealed TLDs were placed upon the gauze packing of the ovoids and the distances to the TLDs from the ovoid center were measured in the simulation film and actual doses of bladder and rectum were calculated. From published data, maximal tolerance doses of bladder and rectum were derived and based on the permissible doses per fraction in HDR brachytherapy the packing thicknesses were determined in both directions. The required minimal packing thicknesses for bladder and rectum were 0.43 and 0.92 cm, respectively. The results were compared with computer calculation using the Meisberger polynomial approach. It is our hope this study can be used for a guideline for users in clinic in estimating critical organ dose in bladder and rectum in HDR brachytherapy in vivo dosimetry.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.84-93
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• 2004

Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a technique that delivers a high dose to a target legion and a low dose to a critical organ through only one or a few irradiations. For this purpose, many mathematical methods for optimization have been proposed. There are some limitations to using these methods: the long calculation time and difficulty in finding a unique solution due to different tumor shapes. In this study, many clinical target shapes were examined to find a typical pattern of tumor shapes from which some possible ideal geometrical shapes, such as spheres, cylinders, cones or a combination, are assumed to approximate real tumor shapes. Using the arrangement of multiple isocenters, optimum variables, such as isocenter positions or collimator size, were determined. A database was formed from these results. The optimization procedure consisted of the following steps: Any shape of tumor was first assumed to an ideal model through a geometry comparison algorithm, then optimum variables for ideal geometry chosen from the predetermined database, followed by a final adjustment of the optimum parameters using the real tumor shape. Although the result of applying the database to other patients was not superior to the result of optimization in each case, it can be acceptable as a plan starling point.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.369-380
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• 2017

In order to manage the uncertainty about the evaluation and analysis of the human intrusion scenario of the Gyeongju Low and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste(LILW) disposal facility, the calculation result by the GENII code was assessed using the RESRAD code, which was developed to evaluate the radiation effects of contaminated soil. The post-drilling scenario was selected as a human intrusion scenario into the near-surface disposal facility to analyze the uncertainty of the modeling by identifying any limitations in the simulation of each code and comparing the evaluation results under the same input data conditions. The results revealed a difference in the migration of some nuclides between the codes, but confirmed that the dose trends at the end of the post-closure control period were similar for all exposure pathways. Based on the results of the dose evaluation predicted by RESRAD, sensitivity analysis on the input factors was performed and major input factors were derived. The uncertainty of the modeling results and the input factors were analyzed and the reliability of the safety evaluation results was confirmed. The results of this study can be applied to the implementation 'Safety Case Program' for the Gyeongju LILW disposal facility.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.223-232
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• 2017

Objectives: In response to increased interest in the safety of children's products, a risk management system is being prepared through exposure assessment of hazardous chemicals. To estimate exposure levels, risk assessors are using deterministic and probabilistic approaches to statistical methodology and a commercialized Monte Carlo simulation based on tools (MCTool) to efficiently support calculation of the probability density functions. This study was conducted to analyze and discuss the usage patterns and problems associated with the results of these two approaches and MCTools used in the case of probabilistic approaches by reviewing research reports related to exposure assessment for children's products. Methods: We collected six research reports on exposure and risk assessment of children's products and summarized the deterministic results and corresponding underlying distributions for exposure dose and concentration results estimated through deterministic and probabilistic approaches. We focused on mechanisms and differences in the MCTools used for decision making with probabilistic distributions to validate the simulation adequacy in detail. Results: The estimation results of exposure dose and concentration from the deterministic approaches were 0.19-3.98 times higher than the results from the probabilistic approach. For the probabilistic approach, the use of lognormal, Student's T, and Weibull distributions had the highest frequency as underlying distributions of the input parameters. However, we could not examine the reasons for the selection of each distribution because of the absence of test-statistics. In addition, there were some cases estimating the discrete probability distribution model as the underlying distribution for continuous variables, such as weight. To find the cause of abnormal simulations, we applied two MCTools used for all reports and described the improper usage routes of MCTools. Conclusions: For transparent and realistic exposure assessment, it is necessary to 1) establish standardized guidelines for the proper use of the two statistical approaches, including notes by MCTool and 2) consider the development of a new software tool with proper configurations and features specialized for risk assessment. Such guidelines and software will make exposure assessment more user-friendly, consistent, and rapid in the future.