• 한국융합학회논문지
• /
• 제12권4호
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2021

의료기관의 방사선 차폐체의 차폐물질이 친환경소재로 변화되면서 기존 납의 일반된 차폐특성보다 차폐물질의 특성에 따른 방사선 방어가 중요한 요소로 대두되고 있다. 납과 유사한 차폐물질로 대표적인 텡스텐과 황산바륨은 친환경 소재로 시트나, 섬유 형태로 제작되어 사용되고 있다. 이테르븀은 치과 방사선영역에서 불투과성 물질로 불소화합물로 사용되었으며, 에너지대별 차폐특성과 기존 친환경소재의 차폐특성과 비교하여 x-선 차폐영역에서 차폐성능을 평가하고자 한다. 동일한 공정과 조건하에 세 종류의 차폐시트를 제작하여 실험하였으며, 의료방사선 영역에서 텅스텐과 약 5 % 차폐성능 차이가 나타났으며, 황산바륨보다 우수한 차폐성능을 보였다. 차폐시트의 단면 구조에서는 인자의 배열이 일정하지 못하는 큰 단점을 보였다. 따라서 산화이테르븀은 의료방사선 차폐물질로 충분한 가능성을 보였으며, 입자배열 구조와 입자크기 조절로 차폐성능을 향상시킬 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제43권3호
• /
• pp.124-129
• /
• 2018

Background: Effluent Concentration Limits (ECLs) were re-evaluated via direct calculation using dose coefficients based on radiation protection quantity introduced in Korea and the intrinsic breathing rates of Korean residents. Materials and Methods: The re-evaluated ECLs were compared with the domestic standards given in the Notice of the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC), as well as with ECLs specified in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR). Results and Discussion: The relative ratios of the re-evaluated ECLs to the currently applied domestic standards differed depending on the radionuclide type, but it was clearly shown that, for tritium ($^3H$) and radiocarbon ($^{14}C$), which significantly affect radiological dose to the public during the normal operation of nuclear power plants, the re-evaluated ECLs were higher than the domestic standards. This implies that Korean standards are relatively conservative. Conclusion: The re-evaluated results for each age group showed that $^{131}I$ (radioiodine), one of the significant radionuclides, had the lowest values, but nonetheless, the domestic standards for radioiodine were lower than the ECLs given in the CFR and the re-evaluated ECLs via a method given in the CFR.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제56권2호
• /
• pp.666-672
• /
• 2024

In the present work, a new brick series based on the Vietnamese white clay minerals from the Bat Trang was fabricated to be applied in the radiation protection applications during the decommissioning of the nuclear power reactors. The bricks were constructed under various pressure rates varied from 7.61 MPa to 114.22 MPa. The influence of pressure rate on the physical and γ-ray shielding properties were investigated in the study. The experimental measurement for the material's density using the MH-300A density meter showed an enhancement in the prepared bricks' density by 22.5 % with increasing the applied pressure rate while the bricks' porosity reduced by 31.2 % when the pressure rate increased from 7.61 MPa to 114.22 MPa. The increase in the fabricated bricks density and the reduction in their porosities enhances the bricks' linear attenuation coefficients as measured by the NaI (Tl) detector along the energy range extended from 0.662 MeV to 1.332 MeV. The linear attenuation coefficient increased by 13.8 %, 17.6 %, 17.0 %, and 17.1 % at gamma ray energies of 0.662 MeV, 1.173 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.332 MeV, respectively. The enhancement in the linear attenuation coefficient increases the bricks' radiation protection efficiency by 10.22 %, 14.48 %, 14.09 %, and 14.26 % at gamma ray energies of 0.662 MeV, 1.173 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.332 MeV, respectively.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제48권1호
• /
• pp.52-57
• /
• 2023

Background: Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) operates several nuclear research facilities licensed by Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC). The emergency preparedness requirements, GSR Part 7, by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) request protection strategy based on the hazard assessment that is not applied in Korea. Materials and Methods: In developing the protection strategy, it is important to consider an accident scenario and its consequence. KAERI has tried the hazard assessment based on a hypothesis accident scenario for the major nuclear facilities. During the assessment, the safety analysis report of the related facilities was reviewed, the simulation using MELCOR, MACCS2 code was implemented based on a considered accident scenario of each facility, and the international guidance was considered. Results and Discussion: The results of the optimized protective actions were 300 m evacuation and 800 m sheltering for the High-Flux Advanced Neutron Application Reactor (HANARO), the evacuation to radius 50 m, the sheltering 400 m for post-irradiation examination facility (PIEF), 100 m evacuation or sheltering for HANARO fuel fabrication plant (HFFP) facility. Conclusion: The results of the optimized protective actions and its distances for the KAERI facilities for the maximum postulated accidents were considered in establishing the emergency plan and procedures and implementing an emergency exercise for the KAERI facilities.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제46권4호
• /
• pp.170-177
• /
• 2021

Background: The International Commission on Radiological Protection is preparing to provide reference dose coefficients for environmental radioiodine intake based on newly developed age-specific biokinetic models. However, the biokinetics of iodine has been reported to be strongly dependent on the dietary intake of stable iodine; for example, the thyroidal uptake of iodine may be substantially lower in iodine-rich regions than in iodine-deficient regions. Therefore, this study attempted to establish a system of age-specific thyroid dose estimation for South Koreans, whose daily iodine intakes are significantly higher than that of the world population. Materials and Methods: Korean age-specific biokinetic parameters and thyroid masses were derived based on the previously developed Korean adult model and the Korean anatomical reference data for adults, respectively. This study complied with the principles used in the development of age-specific biokinetic models for world population and used the ratios of baseline values for each age group relative to the value for adults to derive age-specific values. Results and Discussion: Biokinetic model predictions based on the Korean age-specific parameters showed significant differences in iodine behaviors in the body compared to those predicted using the model for the world population. In particular, the Korean age-specific thyroid dose coefficients for ¹²⁹I and ¹³¹I were considerably lower than those calculated for the world population (25%-76% of the values for the world population). Conclusion: These differences stress the need for Korean-specific internal dose assessments for infants and children, which can be achieved by using the data calculated in this study.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제49권1호
• /
• pp.50-64
• /
• 2024

Background: The reference dose coefficients (DCs) of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) have been widely used to estimate organ doses of individuals for risk assessments. This approach has been well accepted because individual anatomy data are usually unavailable, although dosimetric uncertainty exists due to the anatomical difference between the reference phantoms and the individuals. We attempted to quantify the individual variation of organ doses for photon external exposures by calculating and comparing organ DCs for 30 individuals against the ICRP reference DCs. Materials and Methods: We acquired computed tomography images from 30 patients in which eight organs (brain, breasts, liver, lungs, skeleton, skin, stomach, and urinary bladder) were segmented using the ImageJ software to create voxel phantoms. The phantoms were implemented into the Monte Carlo N-Particle 6 (MCNP6) code and then irradiated by broad parallel photon beams (10 keV to 10 MeV) at four directions (antero-posterior, postero-anterior, left-lateral, right-lateral) to calculate organ DCs. Results and Discussion: There was significant variation in organ doses due to the difference in anatomy among the individuals, especially in the kilovoltage region (e.g., <100 keV). For example, the red bone marrow doses at 0.01 MeV varied from 3 to 7 orders of the magnitude depending on the irradiation geometry. In contrast, in the megavoltage region (1-10 MeV), the individual variation of the organ doses was found to be negligibly small (differences <10%). It was also interesting to observe that the organ doses of the ICRP reference phantoms showed good agreement with the mean values of the organ doses among the patients in many cases. Conclusion: The results of this study would be informative to improve insights in individual-specific dosimetry. It should be extended to further studies in terms of many different aspects (e.g., other particles such as neutrons, other exposures such as internal exposures, and a larger number of individuals/patients) in the future.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
• /
• 제14권3호
• /
• pp.295-301
• /
• 2020

유방암의 조기 검진를 위해 시행되는 유방 X선 검사 시 노출되는 방사선 피폭은 과거 발암의 원인으로도 제기되었으며, 검사 시 발생되는 산란선은 주변 장기에 불필요한 방사선 피폭을 유발할 수 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 몬테카를로 방법을 통해 일반적인 유방 X선 검사 시 노출되는 인체 장기 선량을 평가하고, 산란선에 의한 방사선 방호를 위한 3D 프린팅 재료 사용 시 장기별 선량감소효과에 대해 산정하였다. 장기별 선량평가 결과, 유방 상하방향 검사 시 검사 반대측 유방은 검사측 유방의 약 22.0%, 눈의 경우 약 58.6%으로 산란선에 의해 높은 영향을 보였다. 이를 방호하기 위한 3D 프린팅 차폐기구 사용 시 검사 반대측 유방의 경우, 1 mm 이상의 두께에서 유효한 선량감소효과를 나타내었다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제42권2호
• /
• pp.91-97
• /
• 2017

Background: A gamma energy identifying algorithm using spectral decomposition combined with smoothing method was suggested to confirm the existence of the artificial radio isotopes. The algorithm is composed by original pattern recognition method and smoothing method to enhance the performance to identify gamma energy of radiation sensors that have low energy resolution. Materials and Methods: The gamma energy identifying algorithm for the compact radiation sensor is a three-step of refinement process. Firstly, the magnitude set is calculated by the original spectral decomposition. Secondly, the magnitude of modeling error in the magnitude set is reduced by the smoothing method. Thirdly, the expected gamma energy is finally decided based on the enhanced magnitude set as a result of the spectral decomposition with the smoothing method. The algorithm was optimized for the designed radiation sensor composed of a CsI (Tl) scintillator and a silicon pin diode. Results and Discussion: The two performance parameters used to estimate the algorithm are the accuracy of expected gamma energy and the number of repeated calculations. The original gamma energy was accurately identified with the single energy of gamma radiation by adapting this modeling error reduction method. Also the average error decreased by half with the multi energies of gamma radiation in comparison to the original spectral decomposition. In addition, the number of repeated calculations also decreased by half even in low fluence conditions under $10^4$ ($/0.09cm^2$ of the scintillator surface). Conclusion: Through the development of this algorithm, we have confirmed the possibility of developing a product that can identify artificial radionuclides nearby using inexpensive radiation sensors that are easy to use by the public. Therefore, it can contribute to reduce the anxiety of the public exposure by determining the presence of artificial radionuclides in the vicinity.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제40권1호
• /
• pp.36-45
• /
• 2015

by providing objective information regarding medical radiation for elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea, who are expected to have a high ripple effect in education, and by analyzing behavioral changes in the selection of medical radiation, this study aimed to deduce the basis for educational intervention. The tools used in the study were a questionnaire, including questions about perception, knowledge, attitude, and behavior toward medical radiation; video and Power-point materials for the lesson; simulated radiation diagnosis selection form; and radiation treatment selection form to find out about behavior. A post-test demonstrated that the objective knowledge about medical radiation of all the students turned out to be significantly higher (p<0.000) after the lesson compared to before the lesson. However, there were no statistically significant behavioral changes. Rather, for high school students, the behavior of selecting medical radiography and treatment was significantly lower (p<0.000) after the lesson. For the more impressionable children in the lower grades, the lesson must not only provide an opportunity to understand and pay attention to diverse viewpoints, but also encourage them to make ethical decisions based on value. Since it can be predicted that attitude or behavioral changes through education or publicity can be expected from adults older than high school students, issues regarding dangers like radiation exposure must be treated as an issue of value judgment predicated on multifaceted considerations.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• 제41권3호
• /
• pp.216-221
• /
• 2016

Background: Very fine radiation-induced aerosol particles are produced in intense radiation fields, such as high-intensity accelerator rooms and containment vessels such as those in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (FDNPP). Size measurement of the aerosol particles is very important for understanding the behavior of radioactive aerosols released in the FDNPP accident and radiation safety in high-energy accelerators. Materials and Methods: A combined technique using wire screens and imaging plates was developed for size measurement of fine radioactive aerosol particles smaller than 100 nm in diameter. This technique was applied to the radiation field of a proton accelerator room, in which radioactive atoms produced in air during machine operation are incorporated into radiation-induced aerosol particles. The size of $^{11}C$-bearing aerosol particles was analyzed using the wire screen technique in distinction from other positron emitters in combination with a radioactive decay analysis. Results and Discussion: The size distribution for $^{11}C$-bearing aerosol particles was found to be ca. $70{\mu}m$ in geometric mean diameter. The size was similar to that for $^7Be$-bearing particles obtained by a Ge detector measurement, and was slightly larger than the number-based size distribution measured with a scanning mobility particle sizer. Conclusion: The particle size measuring method using wire screens and imaging plates was successfully applied to the fine aerosol particles produced in an intense radiation field of a proton accelerator. This technique is applicable to size measurement of radioactive aerosol particles produced in the intense radiation fields of radiation facilities.