• Journal of Korea Society of Industrial Information Systems
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.31-39
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• 2020

According to lessons learned from an accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it is advisable to make a comprehensive radiation survey by the accident phase for efficient response and risk management using diverse survey platforms. This study focuses on the technical status of environmental radiation monitoring using a UAV (Unmanned aerial vehicle) and the performance test of developed aerial survey system based on two detectors with an high energy resolution through the field application to contaminated areas. Finally, the performance of aerial survey at diverse flight heights was successfully achieved by introducing the correction factor to represent the results into ambient dose rate at 1m above the ground.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.485-492
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• 2009

The thermal fatigue crack(TFC) is one of the life-limiting mechanisms at the nuclear power plant operating conditions. In order to evaluate the structural integrity, various non-destructive test methods such as radiographic test, ultrasonic test and eddy current are used in the industrial field. However, these methods have restrictions that defect detection is possible after the crack growth. For this reason, acoustic emission testing(AET) is becoming one of powerful inspection methods, because AET has an advantage that possible to monitor the structure continuously. Generally, every mechanism that affects the integrity of the structure or equipment is a source of acoustic emission signal. Therefore the noise filtering is one of the major works to the almost AET researchers. In this study, acoustic emission signal was collected from the pipes which were in the successive thermal fatigue cycles. The data were filtered based on the results from previous experiments. Through the data analysis, the signal characteristics to distinguish the effective signal from the noises for the TFC were proven as the waveform difference. The experiment results provide preliminary information for the acoustic emission technique to the continuous monitoring of the structure failure detection.

• Journal of Wetlands Research
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.179-189
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• 2008

Fauna of Shinpo nuclear powerplant site were surveyed during Feb 27-Mar 4, 2003 as a part of ecological environmental survey. This area is well dominated by coniferous trees (Pinus densiflora) aging 15-50 years. In the shoreline black pine (P. thungergii) is the dominant species and was planted for wind protection. Around Shinpo areas inside 50 km in radius was found 170 bird species (18 orders, 40 families) were recorded. Natural monument in the areas were included white-stork(Cygonia boyciana) estimated 8 species of birds. Although the habitat of Shinpo area is deteriorated due to deforestation, illegal hunting, etc. the fauna seems to be rich in species. Despite the sudden halt of KEDO(Korea Peninsula Energy Development Organization) project the conservation efforts and continuous monitoring are required considering a continuation of the project.

• Korean Journal of Optics and Photonics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.166-171
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• 2017

Hydrogen gas is a green energy sources because it features no emission of pollutants during combustion. But hydrogen gas is very dangerous, being flammable and very explosive. Hydrogen gas detection is very important for the safety of a nuclear power plant. Hydrogen gas is generated by oxidation of nuclear fuel cladding during a critical accident, and leads to serious secondary damage in the containment building. This paper discusses the development of a Raman lidar system for remote detection and measurement of hydrogen gas. A small, portable Raman lidar system was designed, and a measurement algorithm was developed to quantitatively measure hydrogen gas concentration. To verify the capability of measuring hydrogen gas with the developed Raman lidar system, experiments were carried out under daytime outdoor conditions by using a gas chamber that can adjust the hydrogen gas density. As results, our Raman lidar system is able to measure a minimum density of 0.67 vol. % hydrogen gas at a distance of 20 m.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.71-78
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• 2011

Yeong-Gwang N.P.P Private Environment Supervisory Organization analyzed over 3,000 samples including 10 marine and 24 land samples from the year 2,000 to 2009. According to the results of the analysis, artificial nuclides that resulted from the effect of Yeong-Gwang Nuclear Power Plant operations were not detected in most samples. However, from the rain and seawater samples, which were taken from inside the plants such as the intake, the discharge and the observatory, $^3H$ was detected although it was below the regulation level. The $^3H$ concentration detected in the rain taken from the observatory, by the yearly average criterion, was 30.5~40.0 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, which is around 20 times the $^3H$ concentration detected in the surroundings of the power plants, but it is 0.1% of the regulation level of 40,000 $Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$. Also, $^3H$ concentration detected in the seawater taken from the intake and the discharge, by the yearly average criterion, was 2.75~17.8$Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, which means the concentration detected in the discharge is about 140~280% higher than that detected in the intake except the year 2006. Based on these results, it was determined that, although lower than the regulation level, the $^3H$ in gas and liquid form detected in the rain and seawater sampled from the observatory and the discharge was released into the environment from the power plants. Therefore, regular monitoring and analysis is required on the level of $^3H$ in the observatory and the discharge.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.511-519
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• 2019

The concrete gravity dam is one of the most important parts of the nation's infrastructure. Besides the benefits, the dam also has some potentially catastrophic disasters related to the life of citizens directly. During the lifetime of service, some degradations in a dam may occur as consequences of operating conditions, environmental aspects and deterioration in materials from natural causes, especially from dynamic loads. Cumulative Absolute Velocity (CAV) plays a key role to assess the operational condition of a structure under seismic hazard. In previous researches, CAV is normally used in Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) fields, but there are no particular criteria or studies that have been made on dam structure. This paper presents a method to calculate the limitation of CAV for the Bohyeonsan Dam in Korea, where the critical Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) is estimated from twelve sets of selected earthquakes based on High Confidence of Low Probability of Failure (HCLPF). HCLPF point denotes 5% damage probability with 95% confidence level in the fragility curve, and the corresponding PGA expresses the crucial acceleration of this dam. For determining the status of the dam, a 2D finite element model is simulated by ABAQUS. At first, the dam's parameters are optimized by the Minitab tool using the method of Central Composite Design (CCD) for increasing model reliability. Then the Response Surface Methodology (RSM) is used for updating the model and the optimization is implemented from the selected model parameters. Finally, the recorded response of the concrete gravity dam is compared against the results obtained from solving the numerical model for identifying the physical condition of the structure.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.35-42
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• 2022

When an accident occurs, the associated human activity is typically regarded as a "human error," or a temporal deviation. On the other hand, if the accident results in a serious loss or if it evokes a social issue, the person determined to be responsible may be punished with a "violation" of related laws or regulations. However, as Heinrich stated, it is neither appropriate nor reasonable in terms of probability theory and cognitive science to distinguish whether it is a "human error" or a "violation" with a criterion of resultant accident severity. Nonetheless, some in society get on the social climate to strengthen regulations on workers who have caused accidents, especially violations. This response can present a social issue due to the lack of systematic judgment procedure which distinguishes violations from human errors. The purpose of this study was to develop an objective and systematic procedure to assess whether workers' activities which induced industrial accidents should be categorized as violations rather than human errors. Various analysis techniques for the determination of violation procedure were investigated and compared using an analysis approach method. An appropriate technique was not found, however, for judging the culpability of intentional violations. As an alternative, this study developed the process of creating violations, based on cognitive procedure, as well as the criteria to determine and categorize an activity as a violation. In addition, the developed procedure was applied to cases of industrial accidents and nuclear power plant issues to test its practical applicability. The study demonstrated that the proposed model could be used to determine the existence of a violation even in the case of multiple workers who work simultaneously.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.654-659
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• 2018

In this study, continuous long-term observation is implemented with an ocean radar. Ocean radar conducts remote observation (combined) with ground-based radars, which enable a series of simultaneous observations of an extensive range of the coast with high frequency. An ocean radar for continuous long-term observation is operated at Samcheok on the east coast of Korea. Samcheok experienced tsunami damage in recent years and is the location of a nuclear power plant. In order to examine the reliability of the ocean radar, a pressure-type wave gauge, ultrasonic wave gauge, and ocean buoy are installed for the purpose of data comparison and verification. The ocean radar used in this study is an array-type HF-RADAR named WERA (WavE RAdar). The analysis of the data obtained from continuous long-term observations showed that the radar observations were in agreement with more than 90% of the wave data collected within a 25 km range from the center of two sites. Less than 1% of the entire observation data was unmeasured by the time series analysis. As a result of comparing the radar data with the direct observations made by the wave gauge, it was inferred that the RMS deviation is less than 20cm and the correlation coefficient was in the range of 0.84 ~ 0.87. Moreover, supported by such observations, a comprehensive monitoring system is being developed to provide the public with real-time reports on waves and currents via the internet.

• Ocean and Polar Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.341-356
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• 2015

A nation has a sovereign right to develop and use its natural resources according to its policies with regard to development and the relevant environment. A nation also has an obligation not to harm other countries or damage environments of neighboring countries as consequences of such actions of developments or use of natural resources. However, international precedents induce a nation to take additional actions not to cause more damages from the specific acts causing environmental damages beyond national borders, when such acts have economic and social importance. That is to say that there is a tendency to resolve such issues in a way to promote the balance between the mutual interests by allowing such actions to continue. A solution to China's Three Gorges Dam dilemma based on a soft law approach is more credible than relying on a good faith approach of national responsibilities and international legal proceedings since the construction and operation of the dam falls within the category of exercising national sovereign rights. If a large scale construction project such as the Three Gorges Dam or operation of a nuclear power plant causes or may cause environmental damage beyond the border of a nation engaged in such an undertaking, countries affected by this undertaking should jointly monitor the environmental effects in a spirit of cooperation rather than trying to stop the construction and should seek cooperative solutions of mutual understanding to establish measures to prevent further damages. If China's Three Gorges Dam construction and operation cause or contain the possibility of causing serious damages to marine environment, China cannot set aside its national responsibility to meet international obligations if China is aware of or knows about the damage that has occurred or may occur but fail to prevent, minimize, reverse or eliminate additional chances of such damages, or fails to put in place measures in order to prevent the recurrence of such damages. However, Korea must be able to prove a causal relationship between the relevant actions and resulting damages if it is to raise objections to the construction or request certain damage-prevention actions against crucial adverse effects on the marine environment out of respect for China's right to develop resources and acts of use thereof. Therefore, it is essential to cumulate continuous monitoring and evaluations information pertaining to marine environmental changes and impacts or responses of affected waters as well as acquisition of scientific baseline data with observed changes in such baseline. As China has adopted a somewhat nonchalant attitude toward taking adequate actions to protect against marine pollution risks or adverse effects caused by the construction and operation of China's Three Gorges Dam, there is a need to persuade China to adopt a more active stance and become involved in the monitoring and co-investigation of the Yellow Sea in order to protect the marine environment. Moreover, there is a need to build a regular environmental monitoring system that includes the evaluation of environmental effects beyond borders. The Espoo Convention can serve as a mechanism to ease potential conflicts of national interest in the Northeast Asian waters where political and historical sensitivities are acute. Especially, the recent diplomatic policy advanced by Korea and China can be implemented as an important example of gentle cooperation as the policy tool of choice is based on regional cooperation or cooperation between different regions.

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.248-256
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• 2021

A total of 120 samples corresponding to 12 categories of dried processed fishery products distributed in Gyeonggi-do were examined for radioactivity contamination (¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs, ¹³⁷Cs) and heavy metals (lead, cadmium, arsenic, and mercury). One natural radioactive material, ⁴⁰K, was detected in all products, while the artificial radioactive materials ¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs were not detected at above MDA (minimum detectable activity) values. The detection ranges of heavy metals converted by biological basis were found as follows: Pb (N.D.-0.332 mg/kg), Cd (N.D.-2.941 mg/kg), As (0.371-15.007 mg/kg), Hg (0.0005-0.0621 mg/kg). Heavy metals were detected within standard levels when there was an acceptable standard, but the arsenic content was high in most products, although none of the products had a permitted level of arsenic. In the case of dried processed fishery products, there are products that are consumed by restoring moisture to its original state, but there are also many products that are consumed directly in the dry state, so it will be necessary to set permitted levels for heavy metals considering this situation in the future. In addition, Japan has decided to release contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear power plant into the ocean, so there is high public concern about radioactivity contamination of food, including fishery products. Therefore, continuous monitoring of various food items will be necessary to ease consumers' anxiety.