• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.17-24
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• 2008

Exposure risk assessment of pesticide molinate using the RICEWQ model in a rice paddy plot was performed to observe the effects of various water and pesticide management scenarios. Several scenarios were developed to represent the specific water and pesticide management practices of rice cultivation in Korea. The results of the scenario analysis using the RICEWQ model simulation from the previous studies were analysed. The molinate risk for aquatic organisms is evaluated by the ratio of the predicted environmental concentration(PEC) and the predicted no-effect concentration(PNEC). The results showed that the no-effect periods for aquatic organisms for the deep, shallow and very shallow irrigation conditions were 33.3, 28.9 and 25.6 DATs for the lable rate application and 36.4, 33.7 and 30.8 DATs for the double lable rate application, respectively. The higher application rate showed greater exposure risk to the aquatic organisms. Based on this study, the withholding period of molinate practiced in Korea, that is 3 to 4 DATs, must be much longer. The results of this study can be used for the non-point source pollution control and environmental policy making regarding pesticides.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2024

Currently, there are no interim storage facilities and permanent disposal facilities in Korea, so all spent nuclear fuels are temporarily stored. However, the temporary storage facility is approaching saturation, and as a measure to this, the 2nd Basic Plan for the Management of High-Level Radioactive Waste presented an operation plan for dry interim storage facilities and dry temporary storage facilities on the NPP on-site. The dry storage can be operated in various ways, and to select the optimal dry storage method, the reduction of exposure for workers must be considered. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a worker exposure scenario according to the dry storage method and evaluate and compare the radiological impact for each method. The purpose of this study is to develop an exposure scenario for workers transporting spent nuclear fuel by dry storage method. To this end, first, the operation procedure of the foreign commercial spent nuclear fuel dry storage system was analyzed based on the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). 1) the concrete overpack-based system, 2) the metal overpack-based system, and 3) the vertical storage module-based system were selected for analysis. Factors were assumed that could affect the type of work (working distance, working hours, number of workers, etc.) during transportation work. Finally, the work type of the processes involved in transporting spent nuclear fuel by dry storage method was set, and an exposure scenario was developed accordingly. The concrete overpack method, the metal overpack method, and the vertical storage module method were classified into a total of 31, 9, and 23 processes, respectively. The work distance, work time, and number of workers for each process were set. The product of working hours and number of workers (Man-hour) was set high in the order of concrete overpack method, vertical storage module method, and metal overpack method, and short-range work (10 cm) was most often applied to the concrete overpack method. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for performing radiological comparisons of transport workers by dry storage method of spent nuclear fuel.

• Toxicological Research
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.69-79
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• 2013

The purpose of this study was to investigate the current status of metal pollution in the sediment from rivers, lakes, and streams in active gold mining districts in Ghana. Two hundred and fifty surface sediment samples from 99 locations were collected and analyzed for concentrations of As, Hg, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Zn, Pb, Cd, Ni, and Mn using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS). Metal concentrations were then used to assess the human health risks to resident children and adults in central tendency exposure (CTE) and reasonable maximum exposure (RME) scenarios. The concentrations of Pb, Cd, and As were almost twice the threshold values established by the Hong Kong Interim Sediment Quality Guidelines (ISQG). Hg, Cu, and Cr concentrations in sediment were 14, 20, and 26 times higher than the Canadian Freshwater Sediment Guidelines for these elements. Also, the concentrations of Pb, Cu, Cr, and Hg were 3, 11, 12, and 16 times more than the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC) sediment guideline values. The results of the human health risk assessment indicate that for ingestion of sediment under the central tendency exposure (CTE) scenario, the cancer risks for child and adult residents from exposure to As were $4.18{\times}10^{-6}$ and $1.84{\times}10^{-7}$, respectively. This suggests that up to 4 children out of one million equally exposed children would contract cancer if exposed continuously to As over 70 years (the assumed lifetime). The hazard index for child residents following exposure to Cr(VI) in the RME scenario was 4.2. This is greater than the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) threshold of 1, indicating that adverse health effects to children from exposure to Cr(VI) are possible. This study demonstrates the urgent need to control industrial emissions and the severe heavy metal pollution in gold mining environments.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.143-153
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• 2018

Background: The determination of the amount of radionuclides and internal dose for the worker who may have intake of radionuclides results in a variation due to uncertainty of measurement data and ingestion information. As a result of this, it is possible that for the same internal exposure scenario assessors could make considerably different estimation of internal dose. In order to reduce this difference, internal exposure scenarios for nuclear facilities were developed, and intercomparison were made to determine the harmonization of dose assessment results among the assessors. Materials and Methods: Seven cases on internal exposures incidents that have occurred or may occur were prepared by referring to the intercomparison excercise scenario that NRC and IAEA have carried out. Based on this, 16 nuclear facilities concerned with internal exposure in Korea were asked to evaluate the scenarios. Each result was statistically determined according to the harmonization discrimination criteria developed by IDEAS/IAEA. Results and Discussion: The results were evaluated as having no outliers in all 7 cases. However, the distribution of the results was spread by various causes. They can be divided into two wide categories. The first one is the distribution of the results according to the assumption of the intake factors and the evaluation factors. The second one is distribution due to misapplication of calculation method and factors related to internal exposure. Conclusion: In order to satisfy the harmonization criteria and accuracy of the internal exposure dose evaluation, it is necessary that exact guidelines should be set on low dose, and various intercomparison cases also be needed including high dose exposure as well as the specialized education. The aim of the blind test is to make harmonization evaluation, but it will also contribute to securing the expertise and high quality of dose evaluation data through the discussion among the participants.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.6
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• pp.1231-1242
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• 2020

The Kori Unit 1 will be decommissioned after a permanent shutdown in June 2017. South Korea has a 0.1 mSv/yr exposure limit standard for limited or unlimited site release. This is South Korea's first commercial NPP; therefore, if the containment building is reused as a memorial hall, it will contribute to the improvement of public understanding and enhance the public's acceptance of NPPs. Also, existing Kori Unit 1 nuclear power plant manpower resources can be reused after decommissioning and resident staff and memorial hall visitors can activate nearby commercial areas. Therefore, such a reuse scenario may also prevent an economic recession. The exposure dose was calculated using the following scenarios: worker in the containment building, visitor in the containment building, and worker in buildings other than the containment building. The exposure dose in the buildings was calculated by the RESRAD-BUILD developed by the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). The preliminary exposure dose and derived concentration guideline level (DCGL) were derived.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2736-2747
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• 2022

The operations in the design lifecycle of a nuclear power plant targeted to be decommissioned lead to neutron activation. Operations in the decommissioning process include cutting, decontamination, disposal, and processing. Among these, cutting is done close to the target material, and thus workers are exposed to radiation. As there are only a few studies on pressurizers, there arises the need for further research to assess the radiation exposure dose. This study obtained the specifications of the AP1000 pressurizer of Westinghouse and the distribution of radionuclide inventory of a pressurizer in a pressurised water reactor for evaluation based on literature studies. A cutting scenario was created to develop an optimal method so that the cut pieces fill a radioactive solid waste drum with dimensions 0.571 m × 0.834 m. The estimated exposure dose, estimated using the tool VISIPLAN SW, in terms of the decontamination factor (DF) ranged from DF-0 to DF-100, indicating that DF-90 and DF-100 meet the ICRP recommendation on exposure dose 0.0057 mSv/h. At the end of the study, although flame cutting was considered the most efficient method in terms of cutting speed, laser cutting was the most reasonable one in terms of the financial aspects and secondary waste.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.891-905
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• 2011

Climate vulnerability index is usually defined as a function of the climate exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity, which requires adequate selection of proxy variables of each variable. We selected and used 9 proxy variables related to climate exposure in the literature, and diagnosed the adequacy of them for application in Korean peninsula. The selected proxy variables are: four variables from temperature, three from precipitation, one from wind speed, and one from relative humidity. We collected climate data over both previous year (1981~2010) and future climate scenario (A1B scenario of IPCC SERES) for 2020, 2050, and 2100. We introduced the spatial and temporal diagnostic statistical parameters, and evaluated both spatial and time variabilities in the relative scale. Of 9 proxy variables, effective humidity indicated the most sensitive to climate change temporally with the biggest spatial variability, implying a good proxy variable in diagnostics of climate change vulnerability in Korea. The second most sensitive variable is the frequency of strong wind speed with a decreasing trend, suggesting that it should be used carefully or may not be of broad utility as a proxy variable in Korea. The A1B scenario of future climate in 2020, 2050 and 2100 matches well with the extension of linear trend of observed variables during 1981~2010, indicating that, except for strong wind speed, the selected proxy variables can be effectively used in calculating the vulnerability index for both past and future climate over Korea. Other local variabilities for the past and future climate in association with climate exposure variables are also discussed here.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.49-58
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• 2004

It is important to select a risk based priority area for environmental policy formation and decision-making. We estimated the health risks and associated damage costs from exposure to fine particles and assigned priority areas for twenty -five districts in Seoul. In order to estimate the theoretical mortality incidence of the health risk, baseline risks were estimated from mortality rates in two low level areas of fine particles, Seocho Gu and Cheju city To estimate the damage cost from the risk estimates, we investigated and estimated the willingness to pay (WTP) for specific risk reduction. We assumed two different locations as the reference area, Cheju city as Scenario I and Seocho gu as Scenario II. From the results, the five districts, Kwangjin, Chungnang, Kangbuk, Nowon, and Kangnam, ranked high in the categories of both health risk and economic risk. Damage costs were over twenty billion won in each of these districts. As there are uncertainties in these results, the parameter values such as PM$_{2.5}$ level, dose -response slope factor, baseline risk, exposure population and WTP should be continuously validated and refined.d.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4181-4190
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• 2023

Nuclear power plants are subjected to various processes during decommissioning, including cutting, decontamination, disposal, and treatment. The cutting of massive bio-shields is a significant step in the decommissioning process. Cutting is performed near the target structure, and during this process, workers are exposed to potential radioactive elements. However, studies considering worker exposure management during such cutting operations are limited. Furthermore, dismantling a nuclear power plant under certain circumstances may result in the unnecessary radiation exposure of workers and an increase in secondary waste generation. In this study, a cutting scenario was formulated considering the bio-shield as a representative structure. The specifications of a standard South Korean radioactive waste disposal drum were used as the basic conditions. Additionally, we explored the hot-to-cold and cold-to-hot methods, with and without the application of polishing during decontamination. For evaluating various scenarios, different cutting time points up to 30 years after permanent shutdown were considered, and cutting speeds of 1-10nullm²/h were applied to account for the variability and uncertainty attributable to the design output and specifications. The obtained results provide fundamental guidelines for establishing cutting methods suitable for large structures.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.155-161
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• 1999

Objectio ostinato the carcinogenic risks from the ingestion of some carcinogenic pesticides (CPs) in vegetables sampled at a local agricultural product market in Seoul. Methods: After applying a hazard identification step, we selected four pesticides, such as DDT, dieldrin, folpet, and heptachlor epoxide, for this risk assessment. Concentrations of each pesticide were measured from randomly sampled vegetables. In order to estimate the human exposure levels, we combined the concentration of pesticides in the vegetables with consumption rate of those vegetables. Three scenarios were hypothesized for human exposure assessment. Scenario I was the most conservative which supposed the undetected CPs would be the detection limit values. Scenario II was assumed that the undetected CPs would be a half of the detection limit values, and finally scenario III merely considered only values greater than the detection limit values. We finally presented the estimated carcinogenic risks on the basis of the traditional risk assessment procedure suggested by U.S. EPA. Results: Pesticides including DDT, dieldrin, folpet and heptachlor epoxide were detected in 9 samples (6%) in the range of $0.0006\sim0.09ppm$. The daily intake levels of carcinogenic pesticides were estimated in the range of $0.0009\sim0.0079{\mu}g/day$. As we expected, excess cancer risks based on scenario I was also the highest $(1.1\times10^{-8}\sim5.5\times10^{-5})$. Conclusions: We found that the estimated risks from the pesticides we investigated were not serious. We, however, propose that a continuos monitoring is needed to make sure for the protection of public health.