• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.1037-1040
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• 2019

For the past 50 years, graphite has been widely used as a moderator, reflector and fuel matrix in different kinds of gas-cooled reactors. Resulting in approximately 250,000 metric tons of irradiated graphite waste. One of the most significant long-lived radioisotope from graphite reactors is carbon-14 ($^{14}C$) with a half-life of 5730 years, this makes it a huge concern for deep geologic disposal of nuclear graphite (NG). Considering the lifecycle of NG a number of waste management options have been developed, mainly focused on the achievement the radiological requirements for disposal. The existing approaches for recycling depend on the cost to be economically viable. In this new study, an affordable process to remove $^{14}C$ has been proposed using samples taken from the Nuclear Power Plant in Latina (Italy) which have been used to investigate the capability of organic and inorganic solvents in removing $^{14}C$ from exfoliated nuclear graphite, with the aim to design a practicable approach to obtain graphite for recycling or/and safety disposed as L& LLW.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권4호
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• pp.797-801
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• 2020

Most of irradiated graphite that should be disposed comes from moderators and reflectors of nuclear power plants. The quantity of irradiated graphite could be higher in the future if high-temperature reactors (HTRs) will be deployed. In this case noteworthy quantities of fuel pebbles containing semi-graphitic carbonaceous material should be added to the already existing 250,000 tons of irradiated graphite. Industry graphite is largely used in industrial applications for its high thermal and electrical conductivity and thermal and chemical resistance, making it a valuable material. Irradiated graphite constitutes a waste management challenge owing to the presence of long-lived radionuclides, such as ¹⁴C and ³⁶Cl. In the ENEA Nuclear Material Characterization Laboratory it has been successfully designed a procedure based on the exfoliation process organic solvent assisted, with the purpose of investigate the possibility of achieving graphite significantly less toxic that could be recycled for other purpose [1]. The objective of this paper is to evaluate the possibility of the scalability from laboratory to industrial dimensions of the exfoliation process and provide the prototype of a chemical plant for the treatment of irradiated graphite.

• 한국폐기물자원순환학회지
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• 제35권8호
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• pp.683-691
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• 2018

The plastic strategy adopted by the EU in January 2018 was established to implement circular economic policies and the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) of the United Nations. The strategy includes the vision and implementation measures to achieve, which are primarily measures to improve recycling and increase demand for recycled plastics. The representative measures include the design that considers recycling possibilities, reinforcement of demand for recycled plastics, suppression of occurrence, and response to micro-plastics. The policies to implement these measures include legislative restrictions and economic measures (EPR, GPP). It is especially desirable that the policies are applied differently depending on the plastic product. The Korean government has established comprehensive measures for all stages from production to recycling, but those measures are not comprehensive compared to the EU's strategy. The reason is that the refusal of waste collection makes the Korean government establish the approach from the aspect of waste management instead of the implementation of a circular economy or SDGs like the EU. The countermeasures are aimed at achieving a 50% reduction in waste generation amount and a 70% recycling rate. It is considered that the possibility of achieving the goal will increase by examining the measures and policy means in the EU's plastics strategy.

• Advances in environmental research
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• 제5권4호
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• pp.237-249
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• 2016

The management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is essential for every community; and, it is currently a major challenge in Nigeria. This paper provides an overview of the current MSW management trends in Nigeria and proposes new sustainable MSW management systems. Across Nigerian cities, MSW management is characterized by inefficient collection and transportation to disposal sites. Collection services do not reach some unplanned areas and slums due to poor street network. Even some planned areas are not reached by collection services. The informal sector contributes to waste collection, resource recovery and recycling; however, their activities are not recognized by the governments. Markets exist for recovered materials but more efforts need to be geared towards intensive recovery of materials and expansion of these markets. Despite the high proportion of putrescible matter in MSW, the only form of treatment commonly used currently is open burning for volume reduction. The high organic fraction presents a great opportunity for composting and anaerobic digestion. Ultimate disposal is currently done in open dumpsites. This needs to be upgraded to engineered landfills that are properly sited and adequately operated by well trained personnel. There is an emerging waste stream of concern, electronic-waste (e-waste), that requires urgent sustainable management as e-waste are currently co-disposed with other waste streams or burnt in the open posing detrimental health impacts.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제1권1호
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• pp.1-10
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• 2003

1992년 리우 환경개발회의에서 채택된 Agenda 21에서 방사성폐기물의 안전관리를 위한 정책방향이 결정된 후, 국제연합은 방사성폐기물 안전관리를 지속 가능한 발전의 범위에 포함하여 국제원자력기구의 주관 하에 관련 지표의 개발 및 적용을 추진하고 있다. 2002년 국제원자력기구는 방사성폐기물관리에 관한 지속가능 발전지표를 확정하고 현재 운영중인 방사성폐기물 데이터베이스 시스템인 NEWMDB와 연계하여 회원국의 방사성폐기물관리 체계 및 현황을 정량적인 지표로 평가할 예정이다. 본 논문에서는 방사성폐기물에 관한 지속가능 발전지표의 도입근거와 적용상의 한계점을 분석하고, 국제원자력기구가 제시한 지표의 평가방법과 표준화된 절차를 도식화하였다. 도출된 평가절차에 따라 우리나라를 포함한 주요 국가의 방사성폐기물관리 체계 및 현황자료를 이용하여 각 국의 방사성폐기물관리에 관한 지속가능 발전지표를 평가하고 그 결과를 비교 분석하였다. 또한 지표의 향상을 통해 국내 방사성폐기물관리의 지속 가능성을 제고할 수 있는 방안을 도출하였다.

• 한국환경교육학회지:환경교육
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2005

In the sustainable waste management, the necessity of environmental education which improves acquisition of the knowledge, attitudes and values for the environment is being emphasized to help students make environmentally desirable decision and promote responsible environmental behavior. However, the environmental education in high schools, as a whole, would be susceptible to many problems caused by tile educational administration focusing only on the college entrance examination. Therefore, this study modifies and applies a program using four teaching/learning methods (Investigation study, Internet-based learning, Field work, Issue analysis study) which deals with the sustainable waste management as the learning subject for the environmental education, and tries to find its effects on the students' environmental sensitivity and environmental conservation behavior in high schools. The main results of this study are summarized as fellows. First, the waste management program had little influence on the environmental sensitivity of experimental groups, while it had positive effect on their improvement of the environmental conservation behavior. Second, there were little meaningful effect on general environmental conservation behavior, but there were some significant results to environmental conservation behavior related to the sustainable waste management. In addition, positive results were found in ecomanagement and consumerism, whereas there were no meaningful results about in persuasion and legal action, which were sub-domains of the waste management program. Among the waste management programs, the school waste investigation study had the most positive effect on the students' recognition and solution of environmental problems as well as improvement of environmental conservation behavior. The easiest one of the four teaching/learning methods was the Internet-based learning, while the most difficult one of them was the issue analysis study. Consequently, in order to achieve the goals of the environmental education in the academic field, there has to be selected the most suitable one of the teaching/learning methods and to be applied to the class, according to the detailed objectives and loaming contents for the environmental education.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.108-114
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• 2016

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sustainable practices in foodservice organizations including commercial and noncommercial ones are critical to ensure the protection of the environment for the future. With the rapid growth of the foodservice industry, wiser usage of input sources such as food, utilities, and single use packaging should be reconsidered for future generations. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the customer's perceptions on sustainable practices and to identify the relationship among sustainable practices, social contribution and purchase intention. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The study was conducted using content analyses by reviewing articles on sustainable food service practices published domestically and abroad. Thereafter, data were collected with a face-to-face survey using a questionnaire and analyzed with factor analyses and multiple regressions. RESULTS: Sustainable practices classified with factor analysis consisted of 6 dimensions of green food material procurement, sustainable food preparation, green packaging, preservation of energy, waste management, and public relations on green activity, with a total of 25 green activities in foodservice operations. Consumers were not very familiar with the green activities implemented in the foodservice unit, with the lowest awareness of "green food material procurement (2.46 out of 5 points)", and the highest awareness of "green packaging (3.74)" and "waste management (3.28). The factors influencing the perception of social contribution by foodservice organizations among 6 sustainable practice dimensions were found to be public relations on green activity (${\beta}=0.154$), waste management (${\beta}=0.204$) and sustainable food preparation (${\beta}=0.183$). Green packaging (${\beta}=0.107$) and the social contribution of the foodservice organization (${\beta}=0.761$) had strong relationships with the image of the organization. The purchase intentions of customers was affected only by the foodservice image (${\beta}=0.775$). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that sustainable practices by foodservice organization present a good image to customers and increase the awareness of valuable contributions that benefit the customer as well as the community.

• Nutrition Research and Practice
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• 제17권5호
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• pp.1019-1027
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• 2023

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Sustainability has become one of the top priorities in the foodservice industry. With an increase in consumer interest in sustainability and educational opportunities in higher education, it is important to know what sustainable practices are implemented in campus dining and how sustainable practices affect consumers' responses. This study aims to identify the key sustainable practices in the campus dining context, and investigate the relationship by applying the stimulus-organism-response framework to determine whether the key sustainable practices influence consumers' perception and behavioral intentions. SUBJECTS/METHODS: The self-administered online survey was distributed to college students in 8 dining halls at a large southeastern university in the United States from September 20-October 10, 2019. A total of 382 valid questionnaires were collected, and factor analysis and multiple regressions were utilized to test the research model. RESULTS: This study identified 4 dimensions of campus sustainability with a total of sustainable practices: sustainable food, waste management, energy/water conservation, and recycling/reuse. Three dimensions of sustainable campus practices (i.e., sustainable food, waste management, recycling/reuse) played a significant role in consumers forming a perceived value while energy/water conservation did not significantly influence the consumers' perceived value toward the campus dining. Waste management was identified as the most important practice to enhance consumers' perceived value (β = 0.330). Using sustainable food and recycling/reuse were ranked second and third, respectively (β = 0.262, β = 0.154). The findings confirmed the significant positive relationship between perceived value and revisit intentions. CONCLUSIONS: The findings support the inclusion of dining sustainability as a critical component in explaining college students' perceived value and revisit intention toward campus dining. Furthermore, this study provides practical implications for university administrators and foodservice operators to consider the key sustainable practices to meet the consumers' value and revisit intentions.

• Advances in environmental research
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.41-49
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• 2023

In developing countries, solid waste is typically disposed of inappropriately, which has a negative impact on the environment and healthcare. One of the most serious environmental issues is the management of municipal solid waste because of the huge increase in waste generation brought on by industrialization, economic development, urbanization, and the exponential growth of Gurugram City's population. Municipal Corporation Gurugram (MCG) handles solid waste collection, transportation, and disposal. The city generates over 1100 tons of solid waste per day. In consideration of this, the current study employed the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats framework called SWOT analysis to critically examine the city's current methods for the management of municipal solid waste to provide more effective policy solutions. For conducting the analysis, the questionnaires and other interviews were conducted to gather information from households and officials in the city, and the observation made during field visits were recorded. The analysis shows that the waste management issue is getting worse for a variety of causes, including a lack of regulatory enforcement, insufficient technical and financial resources, insufficient people's participation, inadequate execution of policies, a lack of political priorities, and poor coordination between authorities.

• 한국건설관리학회논문집
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• 제7권3호
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• pp.159-168
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• 2006

국내외적으로 환경에 대한 관심과 규제가 강화되고 있는 가운데 건설산업 차원에서도 이에 대응하기 위해 친환경적인 건축 생산시스템을 구축할 필요성이 있다. 친환경적인 건축생산시스템의 일환으로 건설시공단계에서 발생하는 폐기물을 최소화하고 재활용률을 최대화할 수 있다면 친환경적인 건설생산시스템 구축에 기여할 수 있을 뿐만 아니라 경제적인 효과도 얻을 수 있을 것이다. 본 연구는 이러한 효과적인 폐기물 관리시스템 구축을 위한 선행 작업으로써 20층 이상 고층 공동주택단지에서 발생하는 폐기물의 발생시점부터 처리시점까지의 폐기물 발생패턴을 파악하고, 이를 기반으로 시공단계에서 건설폐기물 발생을 유발하는 주요 요인을 도출하였다. 사례조사를 통해 폐기물 발생패턴으로서 폐기물 종류, 발생량, 발생위치, 관리주체, 발생원인, 재활용폐기물, 집적형태, 반출방식을 조사하였고, 이들 항목 중 폐기물 발생에 가장 큰 영향을 미치는 주요폐기물 발생 유발요인을 제시하였다.