• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2017

The Fukushima nuclear accident caused by an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami on March 11, 2011 has seriously impacted the environment surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. While all the residents near the plant were evacuated from the area deemed uninhabitable after the accident, residents of the neighboring area outside of the evacuation zone still seem to live in fear of invisible radiation. To understand Fukushima residents' thinking about the environmental risks that accompany a nuclear disaster, we utilize a poll of the residents of Fukushima conducted in 2013. Based on the survey data, we reveal factors that seem to strongly affect their knowledge and concerns about nuclear power plants. The results of the multivariate analysis show the importance of the following two factors: (1) confidence in mass media, and (2) trust in institutions in charge of administering the accident, especially the central government, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and Tokyo Electric Power Company. We conclude that the more people trust mass media and particular institutions, the more likely it is that they are have an elevated sense of anxiety and fear of the presence of nuclear plants.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.627-635
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• 2014

Currently the highest speed limit on the road traffic congestion or because you can not cope with climate change to cause a traffic accident may be a factor. According to the Road Traffic Act as well as 20% to 50% in case of inclement weather, but the driver must slow speed left to the judgment of the difficulties, and to slow the vehicle and the relative velocity between the vehicle does not run longer be a big influence on the environment and safety. Thus, variable speed control for drivers on the road, specify the appropriate maximum speed limit in bad weather It keeps motorists slowed the run rate to prevent accidents or reduce the severity of accident damage is expected to be possible. The purpose of this study is the frequent traffic accidents Continuous Busan (City Freeway) around the variable speed control in the appropriate sections so that it can be done by analyzing the characteristics of traffic accidents were the severity of the accident. Highway and urban environment, the geometry of the structure because it has a lot of Curved planar point compared to wet and dry road surfaces by simulated rain wet had bom the more the speed the greater the risk of an accident was the result. Based on these results, the primary section, first urban highway tunnel, near the lamp, near Toll Plaza, near binary Outlet after considering various factors such as speed reduction is needed in the first period by conducting awareness and recognize the need for the participation of the driver and the future city installation and operation of highways in all sectors is expected to be expanded.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.34-46
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• 2020

Unlike research focused on existing technologies and individual errors to analyze the causes of incidents, this study approached them from an organization and culture. And this study is not a one way study but cyclical study what can track cause down using causal loop diagram methodology. Four diagnostic criteria for the negative state of the safety culture : secretive, blame, failure to learning, and incremental learning, combine literature study and expert opinion to derive 41 variables. Connecting these variable make 4 causal loop diagrams and total causal loop diagram. Case accumulation in secretive, accident report in blame, knowledge accumulation in failure to learning, near miss discovery in incremental learning are the main variables. Safety incident is the objective variable by classifying them into 4 stages in total loop, leading track as the most affect is case accumulation, and Step 4 as you can see accident report and near miss discovery are the result of tracking down the cause. This study can be used as a basis for improving the management priority and the system in incident prevention.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.47 no.2
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• pp.155-165
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• 2021

Objectives: Acute exposure to high concentrations of chemicals can occur when a chemical accident takes place. As such exposure can cause ongoing environmental pollution, such as in the soil and groundwater, there is a need for a tool that can assess health effects in the long term. The purpose of this study was assessing the health risks of residents living near a chemical accident site due to long-term exposure while considering the temporal concentration changes of the toxic chemicals leaked during the accident until their extinction in the environment using a multimedia environmental dynamics model. Methods: A health risk assessment was conducted on three cases of formaldehyde chemical accidents. In this study, health risk assessment was performed using a multimedia environmental dynamics model that considers the behavior of the atmosphere, soil, and water. In addition, the extinction period of formaldehyde in the environment was regarded as extinction in the environment when the concentration in the air and soil fell below the background concentration prior to the accident. The subjects of health risk assessment were classified into four groups according to age: 0-9 years old, 10-18 years old, 19-64 years old, and over 65 years old. Carcinogenic risk assessment by respiratory exposure and non-carcinogenic risk assessment by soil intake were conducted as well. Results: In the assessment of carcinogenic risk due to respiratory exposure, the excess carcinogenic risk did not exceed 1.0×10-6 in all three chemical accidents, so there was no health effect due to the formaldehyde chemical accident. As a result of the evaluation of non-carcinogenic risk due to soil intake, none of the three chemical accidents had a risk index of 1, so there was no health effect. For all three chemical accidents, the excess cancer risk and hazard index were the highest in the age group 0-9. Next, 10-18 years old, 65 years old or older, and 19-64 years old showed the highest risk. Conclusion: This study considers environmental changes after a chemical accident occurs and until the substance disappears from the environment. It also conducts a health risk assessment by reflecting the characteristics of the long-term persistence and concentration change over time. It is thought that it is of significance as a health risk assessment study reflecting the exposure characteristics of the accident substance for an actual chemical accident.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2019

BACKGROUND: Hydrogen fluoride is one of the 97 accident preparedness substances regulated by the Ministry of Environment (Republic of Korea) and chemical accidents should be managed centrally due to continual occurrence. Especially, hydrogen fluoride has a characteristic of rapid diffusion and very toxic when leaking into the environment. Therefore, it is important to predict the impact range quickly and to evaluate the residual contamination immediately to minimize the human and environmental damages. METHODS AND RESULTS: In order to estimate the accident impact range, the off-site consequence analysis (OCA) was performed to the worst and alternative scenarios. Also, in order to evaluate the residual contamination of hydrogen fluoride in crop, the samples in accident site were collected from 15-divided regions (East direction from accident sites based on the main wind direction), and the concentration was measured by fluoride ($F^-$) ion-selective electrode potentiometer (ISE). As a result of the OCA, the affected distance by the worst scenario was estimated to be >10 km from the accident site and the range by the alternative scenario was estimated to be about 1.9 km. The residual contamination of hydrogen fluoride was highest in the samples near the site of the accident (E-1, 276.82 mg/kg) and tended to decrease as it moved eastward. Meanwhile, the concentrations from SE and NE (4.96~28.98 mg/kg) tended to be lower than the samples near the accident site. As a result, the concentration of hydrogen fluoride was reduced to a low concentration within 2 km from the accident site (<5 mg/kg), and the actual damage range was estimated to be around 2.2 km. Therefore, it is suggested that the results are similar to those of alternative accident scenarios calculated by OCA (about 1.9 km). CONCLUSION: It is difficult to estimate the chemical accident-affecting range/region by the OCA evaluation, because it is not possible to input all physicochemical parameters. However simultaneous measurement of the residual contamination in the environment will be very helpful in determining the diffusion range of actual chemical accident.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.16-25
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• 2020

Background: To investigate radiological effects on biota, it is necessary to assess radiation dose for flora and fauna living in a terrestrial ecosystem. This paper presents a dynamic model to assess radioactivity concentration and radiation dose of terrestrial flora and fauna after a nuclear accident. Materials and Methods: Litter, organic soil, mineral soil, trees, wild crops, herbivores, omnivores, and carnivores are considered the major components of a terrestrial ecosystem. The model considers the physicochemical and biological processes of interception, weathering, decomposition of litter, percolation, root uptake, leaching, radioactive decay, and biological loss of animals. The predictive capability of the model was investigated by comparison of its predictions with field data for biota measured in the Fukushima forest area after the Fukushima nuclear accident. Results and Discussion: The predicted radioactive cesium inventories for trees agreed well with those for evergreens and deciduous trees sampled in the Fukushima area. The predicted temporal radioactivity concentrations for animals were within the range of the measured radioactivity concentrations of deer, wild boars, and black bears. The radiation dose for the animals were, for the whole simulation time, estimated to be much smaller than the lower limit (0.1 mGy·d^-1) of the derived consideration reference level given by the International Commission on Radiological Protection for terrestrial flora and fauna. This suggested that the radiation effect of the accident on the biota in the Fukushima forest would be insignificant. Conclusion: The present dynamic model can be used effectively to investigate the radiological risk to terrestrial ecosystems following a nuclear accident.

• Journal of Auto-vehicle Safety Association
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.20-26
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• 2018

The fatality of rollover accidents in motor vehicle crashes is high despite their low incidence. Through the investigation of a 12-passenger van rollover accident in which 10 passengers were involved, we intend to analyze the correlation between the severity of the injury and the position of the occupants. We collected accident information from medical records, interviews, photo-images of the damaged van, field surveys, and the results of the Korean New Car Assessment Program (KNCAP). Based on the occupants' position, we classified injury sites and estimated injury severity. Passenger injury severity was evaluated by trauma score calculation. The initiation type of the rollover accident was passenger side 'fall-over' and the Collision Deformation Classification (CDC) code for the damaged van was 00TDZO3. The crash of the van involved 10 passengers, with an average age of $16.3{\pm}4.2years$. Few of the occupants had fastened seat belts at the time of the incident, and there was no airbag installed. One patient sustained severe liver injury and another was diagnosed with a fracture of the right humerus. The most common injuries were at the upper extremities and the neck. The average of Injury Severity Score (ISS) was $4.8{\pm}5.9$, and the average ISS of right-seated, mid-seated and left-seated occupants was $7.5{\pm}9.3$, $1.5{\pm}0.7$, and $3.3{\pm}2.1$ respectively (p>0.05). In the rollover (to-passenger side) accident of occupant unfastened, the average ISS of right-seated occupants (near side) was higher, but there was no statistically significant difference.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Navigation and Port Research Conference
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• 2011.06a
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• pp.85-86
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• 2011

On 7 December 2007, the Hebei Spirit, a 260,000 dwt VLCC, anchored near Korea's Daesan Port, was collided with a passing crane-carrying barge Samsung1, which was under tow of two tugs Samsung T5 and Samho T3. In this study, the behaviour of Hebei Spirit at the time of the accident has been reproduced and analyzed by simulation. This study precedes the study for the investigation of any available countermeasures for Hebei Spirit to prevent the accident. The simulation has been done only for Hebei Spiri and the motion of Samsung barge is just given with recorded AIS data. Dynamic characteristics of Hebei Spirit have been modeled based on empirical data and her sea trial data. Effects of current, wave and wind are also estimateed using empirical formula. Considering uncertainty of environmental condition and control of Hebei Spirit, simulation has been done by varying engine control method and holding power coefficients of the anchor. Finally, based on simulations, the most plausible scenario on the state of anchor and engine control could cause real accidents.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
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• v.36 no.5_4
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• pp.1255-1266
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• 2020

In this study, a complex simulation prototype was developed for rapid and accurate prediction of chemical dispersion range in order to reduce human casualties caused by chemical accidents. Complex simulation considered the leakage momentum during the near-field dispersion to take into account the leakage characteristics of the chemical. In the far-distance dispersion process, the wind distribution of the existing model, which was presented uniformly, was improved using weather and topographical information around the accident site, to realize a wind field similar to the actual one. Finally, the damage range was more precise than the existing model in line with the improved near- and far-distance dispersion process. Based on the results of damage range prediction of the complex simulation, it is expected that it will be highly utilized as a system to support policy decision-making such as evacuation and return of residents after a chemical accident.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.1-7
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• 2008

In the last five years, 36 people died and 79 were wounded because of carbon monoxide poisoning accident. A CO poisoning accident is higher than any other gas accident in the rate of deaths/incidents. Most of these CO poisoning accidents were caused by defective exhaust tube in the old gas boiler and multi-use facility. In this study, the spread mechanism of CO gas released from leakage hole of exhaust tube was analyzed by concentration measuring test. A CO gas leaked form exhaust tube in a building was the highest concentrated near the ceiling. CO alarm sets installation test confirmed that the alarm sets near the ceiling operated first, and the bottom and middle sets operated after $30{\sim}40$ minutes. Through these experiments, the reasonable installation location of CO alarm was made certain and suggested.