• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.375-376
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• 2018

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.05a
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• pp.389-390
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• 2018

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2017.10a
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• pp.329-330
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• 2017

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2628-2641
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• 2023

Nuclear safety is the lifeline for the development and application of nuclear energy. In severe accidents of pressurized water reactor (PWR), aerosols, as the main carrier of fission products, are suspended in the containment vessel, posing a potential threat of radioactive contamination caused by leakage into the environment. The gas-phase aerosols suspended in the containment will settle onto the wall or sump water through the natural deposition mechanism, thereby reducing atmospheric radioactivity. Aiming at the low accuracy of the aerosol model in the ISAA code, this paper improves the natural deposition model of aerosol in the containment. The aerosol dynamic shape factor was introduced to correct the natural deposition rate of non-spherical aerosols. Moreover, the gravity, Brownian diffusion, thermophoresis and diffusiophoresis deposition models were improved. In addition, ABCOVE, AHMED and LACE experiments were selected to validate and evaluate the improved ISAA code. According to the calculation results, the improved model can more accurately simulate the peak aerosol mass and respond to the influence of the containment pressure and temperature on the natural deposition rate of aerosols. At the same time, it can significantly improve the calculation accuracy of the residual mass of aerosols in the containment. The performance of improved ISAA can meet the requirements for analyzing the natural deposition behavior of aerosol in containment of advanced PWRs in severe accident. In the future, further optimization will be made to address the problems found in the current aerosol model.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.7
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• pp.1088-1098
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• 2018

Kori unit #1, which is the first commercial nuclear power plant in Korea, was permanently shutdown in June 2017, and it is about to be decommissioned. Currently in Korea, researches on the decommissioning technology are actively conducted, but there are few researches on workers internal exposure to radioactive aerosol that is generated in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants. As a result, the over-exposure of decommissioning workers is feared, and the optimal working time needs to be revised in consideration of radioactive aerosol. This study investigated the annual exposure limits of various countries, which can be used as an indicator in evaluating workers' internal exposure to radioactive aerosol during pipe cutting in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants, and the growth and dynamics of aerosol. Also, to evaluate it, the authors compared/analyzed the cases of aerosol generated when activated pipes are cut in the process of nuclear power plants and the codes for evaluating internal exposure. The evaluation codes and analyzed data conform to ALARA, and they are believed to be used as an important indicator in deriving an optimal working time that does not excess the annual exposure limit.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.3
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• pp.216-221
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• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.692-699
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• 2017

The determination of the shape and rising velocity of gas bubbles in a liquid pool is of great importance in analyzing the radioactive aerosol emissions from nuclear power plant accidents in terms of the fission product release rate and the pool scrubbing efficiency of radioactive aerosols. This article suggests a simple parameterization for the gas bubble rising velocity as a function of the volume-equivalent bubble diameter; this parameterization does not require prior knowledge of bubble shape. This is more convenient than previously suggested parameterizations because it is given as a single explicit formula. It is also shown that a bubble shape diagram, which is very similar to the Grace's diagram, can be easily generated using the parameterization suggested in this article. Furthermore, the boundaries among the three bubble shape regimes in the $E_o-R_e$ plane and the condition for the bypass of the spheroidal regime can be delineated directly from the parameterization formula. Therefore, the parameterization suggested in this article appears to be useful not only in easily determining the bubble rising velocity (e.g., in postulated severe accident analysis codes) but also in understanding the trend of bubble shape change due to bubble growth.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4204-4212
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• 2023

Background: Storage reservoirs of radioactive waste could be the source of atmospheric pollution due to the efflux of aqueous aerosol from their water areas. The main mechanism of formation of aqueous aerosols is the collapse of gas bubbles at the water surface. In this paper, we discuss the potential influence of biological factors on gas ebullition in the water areas of the radioactively contaminated industrial reservoirs R-9 (Lake Karachay) and R-4 (Metlinsky pond) of the Mayak PA. The emission of the released non-dissolved gases captured with gas traps in reservoir R-9 was (88-290) ml/m² per day (2015) and in reservoir R-4 (270-460) ml/m² per day (2016). The analysis of gas composition in reservoir R-4 (60% methane, 35% nitrogen, 2.4% oxygen, 1.5% carbon dioxide) confirms their biological origin. It is associated with the processes of organic matter destruction in bottom sediments. The major source of organic matter in bottom sediments is the dying phytoplankton developing in these reservoirs. Conclusion: The obtained results form the basis to set a task to quantify the relationship between the phytoplankton development, gases ebullition and radioactive atmosphere contamination.

• Particle and aerosol research
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.137-154
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• 2014

Prediction of the behavior of radioactive aerosol particles in a containment is of importance for the assessment of the consequences of nuclear power plant severe accidents because most radioactive air pollutants are emitted as aerosol particles upon severe accident. The performance of engineering safety features (ESFs) is also influenced by the characteristics of the aerosol particles. In this article, the characteristics of aerosol particles in reactor containments reported by previous studies were reviewed. The results of the experiments for postulated accidents in test reactors, for aerosol behavior analysis using artificial test aerosols, and for ESF performance evaluation were summarized. The summary of this article will be of use in designing and performance-evaluating ESFs.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1498-1507
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• 2003

A SMPS(scanning mobility particle sizer) system measures the number size distribution of particles using electrical mobility detection technique. An aerosol charge neutralizer, which is a component of the SMPS, is a bipolar charger using a radioactive source to apply an equilibrium charge distribution to aerosols of unknown charge distribution. However, the performance of aerosol charge neutralizers is not well known, especially for highly charged particles. In this study, the effect of the particle charging characteristics of two aerosol charge neutralizers on the measurement using a SMPS system was experimentally investigated for highly charged polydisperse particles. One has radioactive source of $^{85}$ Kr (beta source, 2 mCi) and the other has $^{210}$ Po (alpha source, 0.5 mCi). The air flow rate passing through each aerosol charge neutralizer was changed from 0.3 to 3.0 L/min. The results show that the non-equilibrium character in particle charge distribution appears as the air flow rate increases although the particle number concentration is relatively low in the range of 1.5∼2x10$^{6}$ particles/㎤. The low neutralizing efficiency of the $^{85}$ Kr aerosol charge neutralizer for highly charged particles can cause to bring an artifact in the measurement using a SMPS system. However, the performance of the $^{210}$ Po aerosol charge neutralizer is insensitive to the air flow rate.