• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.154-159
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• 2018

Background: To prevent small leakage accidents, a real-time and direct detection system for small leaks with a detection limit below that of existing systems, e.g. $0.5gpm{\cdot}hr^{-1}$, is required. In this study, a small-size beta detector, which can be installed inside the reactor containment (CT) building and detect small leaks directly, was suggested and its feasibility was evaluated using MCNPX simulation. Materials and Methods: A target nuclide was selected through analysis of radiation from radionuclides in the reactor coolant system (RCS) and the spectrum was obtained via a silicon detector simulated in MCNPX. A window was designed to reduce the background signal caused by other nuclides. The sensitivity of the detector was also estimated, and its shielding designed for installation inside the reactor CT. Results and Discussion: The beta and gamma spectrum of the silicon detector showed a negligible gamma signal but it also contained an undesired peak at 0.22 MeV due to other nuclides, not the $^{16}N$ target nuclide. Window to remove the peak was derived as 0.4 mm for beryllium. The sensitivity of silicon beta detector with a beryllium window of 1.7 mm thickness was derived as $5.172{\times}10^{-6}{\mu}Ci{\cdot}cc^{-1}$. In addition, the specification of the shielding was evaluated through simulations, and the results showed that the integrity of the silicon detector can be maintained with lead shielding of 3 cm (<15 kg). This is a very small amount compared to the specifications of the lead shielding (600 kg) required for installation of $^{16}N$ gamma detector in inside reactor CT, it was determined that beta detector would have a distinct advantage in terms of miniaturization. Conclusion: The feasibility of the beta detector was evaluated for installation inside the reactor CT to detect small leaks below $0.5gpm{\cdot}hr^{-1}$. In future, the design will be optimized on specific data.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05b
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• pp.2044-2049
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• 2007

In order to predict the thermal radiation induced from alumina particle cloud in the plume of solid propellant motor, view factor method is applied to space shuttle SRB and the result is compared with that of monte carlo method. For this purpose, radiative characteristics, such as particle cloud temperature distribution, effective emissivity or emissive power of particle cloud are studied. In the case of effective emissivity, inverse wavelength method is applied and plume reduction characteristic length is used for emissive power distribution. As a result, thermal radiation using view factor method gives more conservative results than that using monte carlo method. So it can be used for preliminary design of thermal protection system.

• The Journal of Korea Institute of Information, Electronics, and Communication Technology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.793-799
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• 2018

The CCD camera is easily deteriorated by radiation, and an integrated camera using an image pickup tube is used in a high radiation area. We implemented a radiation camera system which is divided into a camera head using radiation-resistant electronic components and a remote control using weak radiation-resistant electronic components such as TR, IC, etc. According to the experimental results, the first damage of the electronic parts was IC for horizontal and vertical sync generation, and it was confirmed that if the radiation of $2{\times}10^5{\sim}10^6rad$ is accumulated, the normal function is lost. In addition, the signal transmission cable for remoteization has added an input/output buffer circuit and reduced the closed loop area of the shield and the cable to eliminate signal loss correction and noise. Therefore, it is expected that the maintenance cost will be greatly reduced and practical because only the camera head part can be used instead of replacing the entire system.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.149-153
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• 2006

An ionization chamber is still widely used in many fields by virtue of its' simple operational characteristics and the possibility of its' various shapes. A parallel type of an ionization chamber for a steel sheet thickness measurement was designed and fabricated. High pure xenon gas, which was pressurized up to 6 atm, was chosen as a filling gas to increase the current response and sensitivity for a radiation. A high pressure gas system was also constructed. The active volume and the incident window size of the fabricated ionization chamber were $30\;cm^3\;and\;12\;cm^2$, respectively. Preliminary tests with a 25 mCi $^{241}Am$ gamma-ray source and evaluation tests in a standard X-ray field were performed. The optimal operation voltage was set from the results of the collection efficiency calculation by using an experimental two-voltage method. Linearity for a variation of the steel sheet thickness, which is the most important factor for an application during a steel sheet thickness measurement, was 0.989 in this study.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.159-167
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• 2014

In Korea, July 2012, the law as called 'Act on Safety Control of Radioactive Rays Around Living Environment' was implemented to control the consumer product containing Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM), but, there are no appropriate database and effective dose calculation system. The aim of this study was to develop evaluation technique of the exposure dose with the use of the consumer products containing NORM and to understand the characteristics of the exposed dose according to the radiation type and energy. For the evaluate of exposure dose, the ICRP reference phantom was simulated by the MCNPX code based on Monte Carlo method, and the minimum, medium, maximum energy of alphas, betas, gammas from the representative NORM of Uranium decay series were used as the source term in the simulation. The annual effective doses were calculated by the exposure scenario of the consumer product usage time and position. Short range of the alpha and beta rays are mostly delivered the dose to the skin. On the other hand, the gamma rays mostly delivered the similar dose to all of the organs. The results of the annual effective dose with $1Bq{\cdot}g^{-1}$ radioactive stone-bed and 10% radioactive concentration were employed with the usage time of 7 hours 50 minute per day, the maximum annual effective dose of alphas, betas, gammas were calculated 0.0222, 0.0836, $0.0101mSv{\cdot}y^{-1}$, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Oriental Medicine
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2010

Objective : The purpose of this study was to provide the information about Bojungikki-tang by domestic papers and theses. Method : Domestic papers related to Bojungikki-tang were reviewed and analyzed. These papers were classified by year, research method, experimental method, and subject. Result : The following results were obtained in this study. 1. The study of Bojungikki-tang started from 1984 and continued steadily. 2. The domestic papers about Bojungikki-tang were 47 volumes. Among them, there were 26 volumes since 2000. 3. Classified by research method from the year 2000, 20 experimental studies, 4 clinical experiments, and 2 documentary researches. 4. Classified by experimental method from the year 2000, 10 studies used mouse in vivo experiment and 4 studies used rat in vivo experiment and 6 studies used each cell in vitro experiment. 5. Classified by subject from the year 2000, papers related to immune enhancing effect, nerve and mental system, radiation protection effect, anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, remedy of diabetes, skin protection and so on. Conclusion : Many papers of experimental studies, clinical experiments and documentary researches related Bojungikki-tang are included in domestic journals. Bojungikki-tang is being researched variously in immune enhancing effect, nerve and mental system, radiation protection effect, anti-allergy, anti-inflammatory, anti-cancer, remedy of diabetes, skin protection and so on. However, more clinical studies on Bojungikki-tang are needed.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.107-111
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• 2017

Objectives: Radiation is one of the most important sources of free radical (such as reactive oxygen species) production, which plays an essential role in the etiology of over hundred diseases. The aim of the study was to investigate some immune parameters and hematological indices in healthy workers of the Radiology Department, University Hospital of Mashhad, Iran. Methods: The study was performed on 50 healthy workers: 30 radiology staff as the case group and 20 laboratory workers as the control group. The radiation dose received by the radiology staff participating in the study was less than the annual maximum permissible level, 50 millisievert. Hematological parameters, lymphocyte proliferation and cytokine production were studied in both groups. Results: Among healthy radiology workers, the hematological indices did not differ statistically; however, their proliferation indices and $IFN-{\gamma}$ levels showed significant increases in parallel with decreases in the IL-4 levels as compared to controls. The immune system of workers exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation was found to be shifted from a Type 2 to a Type 1 response to promote cellular immunity. Conclusion: Based on our data, exposure to low-dose ionizing radiation may decrease the prevalence, frequency, and recurrence of various cancers and infectious diseases because of an increase in Th1-cell-based response, thus leading to more protection of the human body against tumor cells and foreign agents and possibly increased longevity. However, due to high rate of fluoroscopy use for interventional radiology, we suggest continuing research projects on radiation protection and hazards to prevent irreversible damage. As a recommendation, in future studies, radiology staff with a weakened immunity due to high radiation exposure should be considered as good choices to be treated using acupuncture techniques because acupuncture has been demonstrated to enhance the function and the number of immune cells.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.117-129
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• 2020

Background: Radiation portal monitors (RPMs) involving plastic scintillators installed at the border inspection sites can detect illicit trafficking of radioactive sources in cargo containers within seconds. However, RPMs may generate false alarms because of the naturally occurring radioactive materials. To manage these false alarms, we previously suggested an energy-weighted algorithm that emphasizes the Compton-edge area as an outstanding peak. This study intends to evaluate the identification of radioactive sources using an improved energy-weighted algorithm. Materials and Methods: The algorithm was modified by increasing the energy weighting factor, and different peak combinations of the energy-weighted spectra were tested for source identification. A commercialized RPM system was used to measure the energy-weighted spectra. The RPM comprised two large plastic scintillators with dimensions of 174 × 29 × 7 ㎤ facing each other at a distance of 4.6 m. In addition, the in-house-fabricated signal processing boards were connected to collect the signal converted into a spectrum. Further, the spectra from eight radioactive sources, including special nuclear materials (SNMs), which were set in motion using a linear motion system (LMS) and a cargo truck, were estimated to identify the source identification rate. Results and Discussion: Each energy-weighted spectrum exhibited a specific peak location, although high statistical fluctuation errors could be observed in the spectrum with the increasing source speed. In particular, ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co in motion were identified completely (100%) at speeds of 5 and 10 km/hr. Further, SNMs, which trigger the RPM alarm, were identified approximately 80% of the time at both the aforementioned speeds. Conclusion: Using the modified energy-weighted algorithm, several characteristics of the energy weighted spectra could be observed when the used sources were in motion and when the geometric efficiency was low. In particular, the discrimination between ⁶⁰Co and ⁴⁰K, which triggers false alarms at the primary inspection sites, can be improved using the proposed algorithm.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.65-69
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• 1986

An asymmetry in dose profile of a $^{60}Co$ teletherapy unit was found by means of water-phantom measurement. The reason of that trouble was confirmed to be the abnormal 'ON' position of the source, which is resulted from the high friction between contiguous surfaces of the spring for driving the source to 'OFF' position. Lubrication in the spring improved the mobility a little, but was not a radical repair. The radical repair was to replace the old spring by new one. Periodic maintenance for source driving system and periodic measurement of field symmetry are required for prevention of abnormal 'ON' position of $^{60}Co$ source.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.53-72
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• 1991

An integrated model is developed in this paper for the performance assessment of high level radioactive waste repository. This integrated model consists of two simple mathematical models. One is a multiple-barrier failure model of the repository system based on constant failure rates which provides source terms to biosphere. The other is a biosphere model which has multiple pathways for radionuclides to reach to human. For the parametric uncertainty and sensitivity analysis for the risk assessment of high level radioactive waste repository, Latin hypercube sampling and rank correlation techniques are applied to this model. The former is cost-effective for large computer programs because it gives smaller error in estimating output distribution even with smaller number of runs compared to crude Monte Carlo technique. The latter is good for generating dependence structure among samples of input parameters. It is also used to find out the most sensitive, or important, parameter groups among given input parameters. The methodology of the mathematical modelling with statistical analysis will provide useful insights to the decision-making of radioactive waste repository selection and future researches related to uncertain and sensitive input parameters.