• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.453-470
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• 2013

In this paper, we consider a Bayesian analysis of the dose-effect relationship of cadmium to evaluate a benchmark dose(BMD). For this purpose, two dose-response curves commonly used in the toxicity study are fitted based on Bayesian methods to the data collected from the scientific literature on cadmium toxicity. Specifically, Bayesian meta-analysis and hierarchical modeling build an overall dose-effect relationship that use a piecewise linear model and Hill model, where the inter-study heterogeneity and inter-individual variability of dose and effect such as gender, age and ethnicity are accounted. Estimation of the unknown parameters is made by using a Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm based user-friendly software WinBUGS. Benchmark dose estimates are evaluated for various cut-offs and compared with different tested subpopulations with with gender, age and ethnicity based on these two Bayesian hierarchical models.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.424-435
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• 2016

Background: The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommendations and the Federal Guidance Report (FGR) published by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have been widely applied worldwide in the fields of radiation protection and dose assessment. The dose conversion coefficients of the ICRP and FGR are widely used for assessing exposure doses. However, before the coefficients are used, the user must thoroughly understand the derivation process of the coefficients to ensure that they are used appropriately in the evaluation. Materials and Methods: The ICRP provides recommendations to regulatory and advisory agencies, mainly in the form of guidance on the fundamental principles on which appropriate radiological protection can be based. The FGR provides federal and state agencies with technical information to assist their implementation of radiation protection programs for the U.S. population. The system of radiation dose assessment and dose conversion coefficients in the ICRP and FGR is reviewed in this study. Results and Discussion: A thorough understanding of their background is essential for the proper use of dose conversion coefficients. The FGR dose assessment system was strongly influenced by the ICRP and the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP), and is hence consistent with those recommendations. Moreover, the ICRP and FGR both used the scientific data reported by Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation (BEIR) and United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) as their primary source of information. The difference between the ICRP and FGR lies in the fact that the ICRP utilized information regarding a population of diverse races, whereas the FGR utilized data on the American population, as its goal was to provide guidelines for radiological protection in the US. Conclusion: The contents of this study are expected to be utilized as basic research material in the areas of radiation protection and dose assessment.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.561-566
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• 2018

Field-in-Field Technique is applied to the radiation therapy of breast cancer patients, and it is possible to compensate the difference in breast thickness and deliver uniform dose in the breast. However, there are several fields in the treatment field that result in a more complex dose delivery than a single field dose delivery. If the patient's respiration is irregular during the delivery of the dose by several fields and the change of respiration occurs, the dose distribution in the breast changes. Therefore, based on the computed tomography images of breast cancer patients, a human model was created by using a 3D printer (Builder Extreme 1000) to describe the volume in the same manner. A computerized tomography (CT) of the human body model was performed and a treatment plan of 260 cGy / fx was established using a 6-MV field-in-field technique using a computerized treatment planning system (Eclipse 13.6, Varian, USA). The distribution of the dose in the breast according to the change of the respiration was measured using a moving phantom at 0.1 cm, 0.3 cm, 0.5 cm amplitude, using a MOSOXIDE Silicon Field Effect Transistor (MOSFET, Best Medical, Canada) Were measured and compared. The distribution of dose in the breast according to the change of respiration showed similar value within ${\pm}2%$ in the movement up to 0.3 cm compared to the treatment plan. In this experiment, we found that the dose distribution in the breast due to the change of respiration when the change of respiration was increased was not much different from the treatment plan.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.265-272
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dose-volume indices and radiobiological indices according to the change in dose calculation grid size during the planning of nasopharyngeal cancer VMAT treatment. After performing the VMAT treatment plan using the 3.0 mm dose calculation grid size, dose calculation from 1.0 mm to 5.0 mm was performed repeatedly to obtain a dose volume histogram. The dose volume index and radiobiological index were evaluated using the obtained dose volume histogram. The smaller the dose calculation grid size, the smaller the mean dose for CTV and the larger the mean dose for PTV. For OAR of spinal cord, brain stem, lens and parotid gland, the mean dose did not show a significant difference according to the change in dose calculation grid size. The smaller the grid size, the higher the conformity of the dose distribution as the CI of the PTV increases. The CI and HI showed the best results at 3.0 mm. The smaller the dose calculation grid size, the higher the TCP of the PTV. The smaller the dose calculation grid size, the lower the NTCP of lens and parotid. As a result, when performing the nasopharynx cancer VMAT plan, it was found that the dose calculation grid size should be determined in consideration of dose volume index, radiobiological index, and dose calculation time. According to the results of various experiments, it was determined that it is desirable to apply a grid size of 2.0 - 3.0 mm.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2013

The skyshine effect is an essential and important phenomenon in the shielding design of the high energy accelerator. In this study, a new estimation method of neutron skyshine was proposed and was verified by comparison with existing methods. The effective dose of secondary neutrons and photons at the locations that was far away from high-energy electron accelerator was calculated using FLUKA and PHITS Monte Carlo code. The transport paths of secondary radiations to reach a long distance were classified as skyshine, direct, groundshine and multiple-shine. The contribution of each classified component to the total effective dose was evaluated. The neutrons produced from the thick copper target irradiated by 10 GeV electron beam was applied as a source term of this transport. In order to evaluate a groundshine effect, the composition of soil on the PAL-XFEL site was considered. At a relatively short distance less than 50 m from the accelerator tunnel, the direct and groundshine components mostly contributed to the total effective dose. The skyshine component was important at a long distance. The evaluated dose of neutron skyshine agreed better with the results using Rindi's formula, which was based on the experimental results at high energy electron accelerator. That also agreed with the estimated dose using the simple evaluation code, SHINE3, within about 20%. The total effective dose, including all components, was 10 times larger than the estimated doses using other methods for this comparison. The influence of multiple-shine path in this evaluation of the estimation method was investigated to be bigger than one of pure skyshine path.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.547-556
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• 2014

Korea expects a shortage in storage capacity for spent fuels at reactor sites. Therefore, a need for more metal and/or concrete casks for storage systems is anticipated for either the reactor site or away from the reactor for interim storage. For the purpose of interim storage and transportation, a dual purpose metal cask that can load 21 spent fuel assemblies is being developed by Korea Radioactive Waste Management Corporation (KRMC) in Korea. At first the gamma and neutron flux for the design basis fuel were determined assuming in-core environment (the temperature, pressure, etc. of the moderator, boron, cladding, $UO_2$ pellets) in which the design basis fuel is loaded, as input data. The evaluation simulated burnup up to 45,000 MWD/MTU and decay during ten years of cooling using the SAS2H/OGIGEN-S module of the SCALE5.1 system. The results from the source term evaluation were used as input data for the final shielding evaluation utilizing the MCNP Code, which yielded the effective dose rate. The design of the cask is based on the safety requirements for normal storage conditions under 10 CFR Part 72. A radiation shielding analysis of the metal storage cask optimized for loading 21 design basis fuels was performed for two cases; one for a single cask and the other for a $2{\times}10$ cask array. For the single cask, dose rates at the external surface of the metal cask, 1m and 2m away from the cask surface, were evaluated. For the $2{\times}10$ cask array, dose rates at the center point of the array and at the center of the casks' height were evaluated. The results of the shielding analysis for the single cask show that dose rates were considerably higher at the lower side (from the bottom of the cask to the bottom of the neutron shielding) of the cask, at over 2mSv/hr at the external surface of the cask. However, this is not considered to be a significant issue since additional shielding will be installed at the storage facility. The shielding analysis results for the $2{\times}10$ cask array showed exponential decrease with distance off the sources. The controlled area boundary was calculated to be approximately 280m from the array, with a dose rate of 25mrem/yr. Actual dose rates within the controlled area boundary will be lower than 25mrem/yr, due to the decay of radioactivity of spent fuel in storage.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.175-183
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• 2012

Objectives: This study developed a harmonized method for risk assessment based on the Hazard & Risk Evaluation of Chemicals (HREC) according to the Industrial Safety and Health Act (ISHA). Methods: Three preliminary studies, performed during 2010 and 2011 by the Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute and three academic research groups, were compared. The differences in risk assessment, especially in the dose-response assessment method, were analyzed. A new harmonized method for dose-response assessment was suggested and its applicability for the HREC was examined. Results: Considering the various steps of each dose-response assessment, the equivalent steps in quantitative correction, uncertainty factor 2 (UF2) for intra-species uncertainty, and UF3 for the experimental period in the uncertainty correction were relatively high. Using our new method, the total correction values (quantitative correction plus uncertainty correction) ranged from 72~15,789 to 30~60, and the ratio of the threshold limit value (TLV) to the reference concentration decreased from 12.8~1900 to 5.4~11.8. Furthermore, when we performed risk characterization by our new method, hazard quotient (HQ) values for chloroethylene, epichlorohydrin, and barium sulfate became 3.0, 14.1, and 1.13 respectively, whereas three previous studies reported HQ values of 7.1, 4580, and 87.3 considering reasonable maximum exposure (RME) conditions. HQs of the three chemicals were calculated to be 0.6, 2.4, and 0.1 respectively, when compared to their TLVs. Conclusions: Our new method could be applicable for the HREC because the total correction values and the ratio of TLVs were within reasonable ranges. It is also recommended that additional risk management measures be applied for epichlorohydrin, for which the HQ values were greater than 1 when compared with both reference values and the TLV. Our proposed method could be used to harmonize dose-response assessment methods for the implementation of risk assessment based on the HREC according to ISHA.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.83-92
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• 2023

When assessing the risk of radioactive wastes transportation on land, computer codes such as RADTRAN and RISKIND are used as deterministic methods. Transportation risk assessment using the deterministic method requires a relatively short assessment time. On the other hand, transportation risk assessment using the probabilistic method requires a relatively long assessment time, but produces more reliable results. Therefore, a study is needed to evaluate the exposure dose using a deterministic method that can be evaluated relatively quickly, and to compare and analyze the exposure dose result using a probabilistic method. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the exposure dose during transportation of radioactive wastes using deterministic and probabilistic methods, and to compare and analyze them. For this purpose, the main exposure factors were selected and various exposure situations were set. The distance between the radioactive waste and the receptor, the size of the package, and the speed of vehicle were selected as the main exposure factors. The exposure situation was largely divided into when the radioactive wastes were stationary and when they were passing. And the dose (rate) model of the deterministic overland transportation risk assessment computer code was analyzed. Finally, the deterministic method of the RADTRAN computer code and the RISKIND computer code and the probabilistic method of the MCNP 6 computer code were used to evaluate the exposure dose in various exposure situations during transportation of radioactive wastes. Then we compared and analyzed them. As a result of the evaluation, the tendency of the exposure dose (rate) was similar when the radioactive wastes were stationary and passing. For the same situation, the evaluation results of the RADTRAN computer code were generally more conservative than the results of the RISKIND computer code and the MCNP 6 computer code. The evaluation results of the RISKIND computer code and the MCNP 6 computer code were relatively similar. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for establishing the radioactive wastes transportation risk assessment system in Korea in the future.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.261-267
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• 2021

As the number of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) patients increases in a global pandemic situation, the usefulness of mobile computed tomography (CT) is gaining attention. Currently, mobile CT follows the basic safety and essential performance evaluation criteria of whole-body or limited-view X-ray CT in order to obtain device approval and evaluation in the Republic of Korea. Unlike stationary CT, mobile CT is not operated in shielded areas but rather areas such as intensive care units, operating rooms, or isolation rooms. Therefore, it requires a different basic safety and essential performance evaluation standard than stationary CT. In this study, four derived basic safety evaluation criteria related to electrical, mechanical, and radiation safety were included (dose indication test, protection against stray radiation, safety measures against excessive X-rays, half-value layer measurement); and seven essential performance evaluation criteria were included (tube voltage accuracy, mAs accuracy, radiation dose reproducibility, CT number of water, noise, uniformity, and spatial resolution); total eleven basic safety and essential performance evaluation criteria were selected. This study aims to establish appropriate basic safety and essential performance evaluation criteria for simultaneously obtaining images with diagnostic value and reducing the exposure of nearby patients, medical staff, and radiologic technologists during the use of mobile CT.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2022

In this study, we proposed an image quality control for an automatic exposure control (AEC) of digital radiographic imaging system and tried to analyze the performance of the AEC by various manufacturer. The subjects of the experiment were analyzed for the AEC image quality evaluation using digital radiation generators from four manufacturer such as PHILIPS, GE Healthcare, SAMSUNG Healthcare, DK Medical Solution. We used as materials for the implementation of the image quality evaluation by coins (500 won, KOMSCO, Korea). This study evaluated the performance evaluation of the AEC as image quality and exposure dose (Milliampere-seconds; mAs). The image quality evaluation was tried visual assessment by two radiologic technologists and contrast to noise (CNR) by ImageJ. The exposure dose investigated mAs on digital radiation generators. The radiographic coin images acquired 360 images based on change in the control factors of the AEC, which were kVp, the consistency of field configuration and dominant zone, sensitivity and density. As a result, there was a significant difference in the AEC performance between manufacturer. The CNR by the AEC for each manufacturer showed a difference of up to about 1.9 times. The exposed tube current by the AEC for each manufacturer showed a difference of up to about 5.8 times. It is expected that our proposed evaluation method using coins could be applied as the AEC performance evaluation method in the future.