• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.121-128
• /
• 2009

During the maintenance period at Korean nuclear power plants, internal exposure of radiation workers occurred by the inhalation of $^{131}I$ released to the reactor building when primary system was opened. The internal radioactivity of radiation workers contaminated by $^{131}I$ was immediately measured using a whole body counter and the whole body counting was performed again after a few days. In this study, the intake estimated from the record history of entrance to radiation control areas and the measurement results of air sampling for $^{131}I$ in those areas, were compared with that from the results of whole body counting. As a result, it was concluded that the intake estimation using whole body counting and air sampling showed similar results.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.19 no.5
• /
• pp.421-426
• /
• 2015

The increased potential for vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) growth is a key abnormality in the development of atherosclerosis and post-angioplasty restenosis. Abnormally high activity of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) is believed to play a central role in the etiology of these pathophysiological situations. Here, we investigated the anti-proliferative effects and possible mechanism(s) of murrayafoline A, a carbazole alkaloid isolated from Glycosmis stenocarpa Guillamin (Rutaceae), on PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs. Murrayafoline A inhibited the PDGF-BB-stimulated proliferation of VSMCs in a concentration-dependent manner, as measured using a non-radioactive colorimetric WST-1 assay and direct cell counting. Furthermore, murrayafoline A suppressed the PDGF-BB-stimulated progression through $G_0/G_1$ to S phase of the cell cycle, as measured by [$^3H$]-thymidine incorporation assay and cell cycle progression analysis. This anti-proliferative action of murrayafoline A, arresting cell cycle progression at $G_0/G_1$ phase in PDGF-BB-stimulated VSMCs, was mediated via down-regulation of the expression of cyclin D1, cyclin E, cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)2, CDK4, and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), and the phosphorylation of retinoblastoma protein (pRb). These results indicate that murrayafoline A may be useful in preventing the progression of vascular complications such as restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty and atherosclerosis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.41 no.3
• /
• pp.237-244
• /
• 2016

Background: Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is developing a fission product transport module for predicting the behavior of radioactive materials in the primary cooling system of a nuclear power plant as a separate module, which will be connected to a severe accident analysis code, Core Meltdown Progression Accident Simulation Software (COMPASS). Materials and Methods: This fission product transport (COMPASS-FP) module consists of a fission product release model, an aerosol generation model, and an aerosol transport model. In the fission product release model there are three submodels based on empirical correlations, and they are used to simulate the fission product gases release from the reactor core. In the aerosol generation model, the mass conservation law and Raoult's law are applied to the mixture of vapors and droplets of the fission products in a specified control volume to find the generation of the aerosol droplet. In the aerosol transport model, empirical correlations available from the open literature are used to simulate the aerosol removal processes owing to the gravitational settling, inertia impaction, diffusiophoresis, and thermophoresis. Results and Discussion: The COMPASS-FP module was validated against Aerosol Behavior Code Validation and Evaluation (ABCOVE-5) test performed by Hanford Engineering Development Laboratory for comparing the prediction and test data. The comparison results assuming a non-spherical aerosol shape for the suspended aerosol mass concentration showed a good agreement with an error range of about ${\pm}6%$. Conclusion: It was found that the COMPASS-FP module produced the reasonable results of the fission product gases release, the aerosol generation, and the gravitational settling in the aerosol removal processes for ABCOVE-5. However, more validation for other aerosol removal models needs to be performed.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.418-423
• /
• 2016

Background: This work was to get information about $^{90}Sr$ contamination of the environment by using soil and moss from selected areas in Jeju Island, Korea. Materials and Methods: The activities of $^{90}Sr$ in soil and moss samples were investigated at nine locations of Jeju island, Korea. The soil samples have been collected at 4 sites of Jeju island during June to August of 2013, analyzed for vertical distribution of $^{90}Sr$ activities. The moss samples have been collected at 5 sites of Jeju island during November of 2011 to June of 2012, and analyzed for radioactive $^{90}Sr$. Results and Discussion: The $^{90}Sr$ vertical concentrations in the investigated soil samples were 2.77 to $18.24Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ in eastern part, 1.69 to $18.27Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ in northern part, 3.76 to $13.46Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ in the western part and 1.09 to $8.70Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ in the southern part of the Mt. Halla in Jeju island, respectively. Activities of $^{90}Sr$ show the highest value at the surface soil and decrease with depth. The activity concentration measured was in the range of 79.6 to $363Bq{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ -dry moss. Conclusion: This material is expected to be basis reference for survey of environmental radioactivity in Jeju Island.

• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
• /
• v.45 no.6
• /
• pp.627-632
• /
• 2007

A fundamental study on the melt decontamination of metal wastes generated by dismantling the nuclear facility, the melting of metal wastes such as stainless steel and carbon steel have been carried out to investigate the distribution phenomena of the radioisotopes such as $^{60}Co$ and $^{137}Cs$ into the ingot, slag and dust phases by using the various slag types, slag concentration and basicity in an arc furnace. The $^{60}Co$ remained homogeneously in the ingot phase above 90 % and it was barely present in the slag below 10 %. The effect of the slag composition on the distribution for Co-60 was not considerable, but a basic slag former with high fluidity showed effective. $^{137}Cs$ was completely eliminated from the melt of the stainless steel as well as the carbon steel and distributed to the slag and the dust phase.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.59-65
• /
• 2018

Radon gas is a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that occurs when uranium, a natural radioactive material in rocks and soils, collapses. 85% of the annual radiation exposure of the human body is due to natural radiation, of which 50% is radon. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) survey, 62 out of 1,000 smokers and 7 out of 1,000 nonsmokers are exposed to lung cancer when exposed to radon gas for a long time. In order to reduce the risk of radon gas, activate carbon was used to fabricate matrix, and the pore properties and radon reduction properties were investigated. When the activate carbon was used, the radon gas concentration was drastically reduced and the graph was changed as the measurement period became longer. The pore distribution and microporous properties, which are one of the material properties of activate carbon, can be grasped.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.39 no.2
• /
• pp.66-73
• /
• 2017

This study was to evaluate the influential parameters such as intial Cs concentration, reaction temperature, contact time and pH variation of solution on Cs adsorption. Using the experimental data, adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamic properties were analyzed. The Cs ion adsorption of the zeolite X was effective in the range from pH 5 to 10 and reached equilibrium after 60 minutes. The adsorption kinetics and isotherms of Cs ion with the zeolite X was described well by the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm model. The maximum adsorption capacities of Cs ion calculated from Langmuir isotherm model at 293~333 K were from 303.03 mg/g to 333.33 mg/g. It was found that thermodynamic property of Cs ion absorption on the zeolite X was spontaneous and endothermic reaction. The experimental data were fitted a second-order polynomial equation by the multiple regression analysis. The values of the dependent variable calculated by this best fitted model equation were in very good agreement with the experimentally obtained values.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.167-172
• /
• 2010

CANDU spent fuel is to be disposed of at repository finally rather than recycled because of its low fissile nuclide concentration. But the difficult situation of finding a repository site can not help introducing a interim storage in the short term. It is required to find an optimum timing of geological disposal of CANDU spent fuels related to the interim storage operation period. The major factors for determining the disposal starting time are considered as safety, economics, and public acceptance. Safety factor is compared in terms of the decay heat and non-proliferation. Economics factor is compared from the point of the operation cost, and public acceptance factor is reviewed from the point of retrievability and inter-generation ethics. This paper recommended the best solution for the disposal starting time by analyzing the above factors. It is concluded that the optimum timing for the CANDU spent fuel disposal is around 2041 and that the sooner disposal time, the better from the point of technical and safety aspects.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.73-100
• /
• 2008

For the purpose of evaluating dose rate to individual due to long-term release of nuclides from the HLW repository, a biosphere assessment model and the implemented code, ACBIO, based on BIOMASS methodology have been developed by utilizing AMBER, a general compartment modeling tool. To show its practicability and usability as well as to see the sensitivity of compartment scheme or parametric variation to concentration and activity in compartments as well as annual flux between compartments at their peak values, some calculations are made and investigated: For each case when changing the structure of compartments and GBIs as well as varying selected input Kd values, all of which seem very important among others, dose rate per nuclide release rate is separately calculated and analyzed. From the maximum dose rates (Bq/y), flux-to-dose conversion factors (Sv/Bq) for each nuclide were derived, which are to be used for converting the nuclide release rate appearing from the geosphere through various GBIs to dose rate (Sv/y) for individual in critical group. It has been also observed that compartment scheme, identification of possible exposure group and GBIs could be all highly sensitive to the final consequences in biosphere modeling.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.123-132
• /
• 2014

After the nuclear accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants (FDNPPs) on 11 March 2011, a large amount of radioactive materials has been released into the atmosphere and the ocean. A compartment model is used to evaluate the circulation characteristics and the spatiotemporal concentration distributions of radionuclides in the ocean. In the comparison with observed concentrations of $^{137}Cs$ in seawater, calculated concentrations by the compartment model were well agreed with them. On the basis of these results, we performed evaluation of the effective dose and the cancer risk. In the early stage of the accident, the effective doses from ingestion of the seafood near the Fukushima region were much higher than 1 mSv which is the value of the annual effective dose limit to individual recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). However, the effective doses by ingestion of the seafood decreased below 1 mSv as distance from the FDNPPs increased and time passed. In addition, it was estimated that the cancer risks by intake of the contaminated marine products were less than natural occurrence probability of cancer. Consequently, it was inferred that the health risk due to the $^{137}Cs$ was low after since mid-term period of the accident.