• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.397-410
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• 2018

When considering the long-term safety assessment of spent-nuclear fuel management, americium is one of the most radio-toxic actinides. Although spectroscopic methods are widely used for the study of actinide chemistry, application of those methods to americium chemistry has been limited. Herein, we purified $^{241}Am$ to obtain a highly pure stock solution required for spectroscopic studies. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of purified $^{241}Am$ were carried out using liquid scintillation counting, and gamma and alpha radiation spectrometry. Highly sensitive absorption spectrometry coupled with a liquid waveguide capillary cell and time-resolved laser fluorescence spectroscopy were employed for the study of Am(III) hydrolysis and oxalate (Ox) complexation. $Am^{3+}$ ions under acidic conditions exhibit maximum absorbance at 503 nm, with a molar absorption coefficient of $424{\pm}8cm^{-1}{\cdot}M^{-1}$. $Am(OH)_3(s)$ colloidal particles formed under near neutral pH conditions were identified by monitoring the absorbance at around 506-507 nm. The formation of ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ was detected by red-shifts of the absorption and luminescence spectra of 4 and 5 nm, respectively. In addition, considerable enhancements of the luminescence intensities were observed. The luminescence lifetime of ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ increased from 23 to 56 ns, which indicates that approximately six water molecules are replaced by carboxylate ligands in the inner-sphere of the Am(III). These results suggest that ${Am(Ox)_3}^{3-}$ is formed through the bidentate coordination of the oxalate ligands.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.39 no.1
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• pp.54-60
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• 2014

IAEA has employed various types of radiation detectors - HPGe, NaI, CZT - for accountancy of nuclear material. Among them, HPGe has been mainly used in verification activities required for high accuracy. Due to its essential cooling component(a liquid-nitrogen cooling or a mechanical cooling system), it is large and heavy and needs long cooling time before use. New hand-held portable HPGe has been developed to address such problems. This paper deals with results of performance evaluation test of the new hand-held portable HPGe prototype which was used during IAEA's inspection activities. Radioactive spectra obtained with the new portable HPGe showed different characteristics depending on types and enrichments of nuclear materials inspected. Also, Gamma-rays from daughter radioisotopes in the decay series of $^{235}U$ and $^{238}U$ and characteristic x-rays from uranium were able to be remarkably separated from other peaks in the spectra. A relative error of enrichment measured by the new portable HPGe was in the range of 9 to 27%. The enrichment measurement results didn't meet partially requirement of IAEA because of a small size of a radiation sensing material. This problem might be solved through a further study. This paper discusses how to determine enrichment of nuclear material as well as how to apply the new hand-held portable HPGe to safeguard inspection. There have been few papers to deal with IAEA inspection activity in Korea to verify accountancy of nuclear material in national nuclear facilities. This paper would contribute to analyzing results of safeguards inspection. Also, it is expected that things discussed about further improvement of a radiation detector would make contribution to development of a radiation detector in the related field.

• Journal of the Korean Crystal Growth and Crystal Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.229-236
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• 2014

A stoichiometric mixture of evaporating materials for $MnAl_2S_4$ single crystal thin films was prepared from horizontal electric furnace. To obtain the single crystal thin films, $MnAl_2S_4$ mixed crystal was deposited on thoroughly etched semi-insulating GaAs(100) substrate by the Hot Wall Epitaxy (HWE) system. The source and substrate temperatures were $630^{\circ}C$ and $410^{\circ}C$, respectively. The crystalline structure of the single crystal thin films was investigated by the photoluminescence and double crystal X-ray diffraction (DCXD). The temperature dependence of the energy band gap of the $MnAl_2S_4$ obtained from the absorption spectra was well described by the Varshni's relation, $E_g(T)=3.7920eV-5.2729{\times}10^{-4}eV/K)T^2/(T+786 K)$. In order to explore the applicability as a photoconductive cell, we measured the sensitivity (${\gamma}$), the ratio of photocurrent to dark current (pc/dc), maximum allowable power dissipation (MAPD) and response time. The results indicated that the photoconductive characteristic were the best for the samples annealed in S vapour compare with in Mn, Al, air and vacuum vapour. Then we obtained the sensitivity of 0.93, the value of pc/dc of $1.10{\times}10^7$, the MAPD of 316 mW, and the rise and decay time of 14.8 ms and 12.1 ms, respectively.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.100-107
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• 2003

Objectives: Periodic leg movements in sleep (PLMS) might be subdivided based upon whether or not they are associated with visible EEG microarousals (MA). MA is considered to be responsible for nonrestorative sleep and daytime fatigue. The American Sleep Disorders Association's (ASDA) scoring rules for MA based on visual analysis of the EEG changes suggest that MA should last more than 3 seconds. However, it has been suggested that visual analysis may not detect some changes in EEG activity. This study is aimed at measuring changes in EEG spectra during PLMS without MA in order to better understand the arousing response of PLMS. Methods: Ten drug-free patients (three men and seven women) diagnosed with PLMS by polysomnography were studied. Spectral analysis of the EEG was performed in each patient on 30 episodes of PLMS without MA, chosen randomly across the night in stage 2 non-REM sleep. We applied stricter criteria for MA compared to ASDA, by defining it as a return to alpha and theta frequency lasting at least 1 second. Results: The mean PLMS index was $16.7{\pm}10.0$. The mean PLMS duration was $1.3{\pm}0.7$ seconds. Comparison of 4-second EEG activity both before and after the onset of PLMS without MA using independent t-test showed that the movements were associated with significant increase of relative activity in the delta band (p=0.000) and significant decrease of activity in the alpha (p=0.01) and sigma (p=0.000) bands. No significant decrease in the theta (p=0.05), beta (p=0.129), or gamma (p=0.062) bands was found. Conclusion: PLMS without MA was found to be associated with EEG change characterized by increase in the delta frequency band. This finding seems to be compatible with the hypothesis of an integrative hierarchy of arousal responses of Sforza's. Considering that the subjects had lower PLMS index and shorter PLMS duration than those of the previous study, it is suggested that an even less severe form of PLMS without MA could induce neurophysiologic change, which may potentially be of clinical significance.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.194-201
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• 2015

We have investigated the EPR signal properties in 12 components of two mobile phones (LCD, OLED) using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrometer in this study.EPR measurements were performed at normal atmospheric conditions using Bruker EXEXSYS-II E500 spectrometer with X-band bridge, and samples were irradiated by $^{137}Cs$ gamma-ray source. To identify the presence of radiation-induced signal (RIS), the EPR spectra of each sample were measured unirradiated and irradiated at 50 Gy. Then, dose-response curve and signal intensity variating by time after irradiation were measured. As a result, the signal intensity increased after irradiation in all samples except the USIM plastic and IC chip. Among the samples, cover glass(CG), lens, light guide plate(LGP) and diffusion sheet have shown fine linearity ($R^2$ > 0.99). Especially, the LGP had ideal characteristics for dosimetry because there were no signal in 0 Gy and high rate of increase in RIS. However, this sample showed weakness in fading. Signal intensity of LGP and Diffusion Sheet decreased by 50% within 72 hours after irradiation, while signals of Cover Glass and Lens were stably preserved during the short period of time. In order to apply rapidly EPR dosimetry using mobile phone components in large-scale radiation accidents, further studies on signal differences for same components of the different mobile phone, fading, pretreatment of samples and processing of background signal are needed. However, it will be possible to do dosimetry by dose-additive method or comparative method using unirradiated same product in small-scale accident.