Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT) (방사성폐기물학회지)

Korean Radioactive Waste Society (한국방사성폐기물학회)
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Factors Affecting the Minimum Detectable Activity of Radioactive Noble Gases

방사성 노블가스 측정을 위한 최소검출방사능 산출의 조절인자

  • Received : 2018.03.19
  • Accepted : 2018.08.08
  • Published : 2018.09.30
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Abstract

Anthropogenic radioactive noble gases formed by nuclear fission are significant indicators used to monitor the nuclear activity of neighboring countries. In particular, radioactive xenon, owing to its abundant generation and short half-life, can be used to detect nuclear testing, and radioactive krypton has been used as a tracer to monitor the reprocessing of nuclear fuels. Released radioactive noble gases are in the atmosphere at infinitesimal amounts due to their dilution in the air and their short half-life decay. Therefore, to obtain reliable and significant data when performing measurement of noble gases in the atmosphere, the minimum detectable activity (MDA) for noble gases should be defined as low as possible. In this study, the MDA values for radioactive xenon and krypton were theoretically obtained based on the BfS-IAR system by collecting both noble gases simultaneously. In addition, various MDA methods, confidence level and analysis conditions were suggested to reduce and optimize MDA with an assessment of the factors affecting MDA. The current investigation indicated that maximizing the pretreatment efficiency and performance maintenance of the counter were the most important aspects for Xe. In the case of Kr, since sample activities are much higher than those of Xe, it is possible to change the target MDA or to simplification of the analysis system.

핵분열로 인해 생성되는 방사성 노블가스는 주변국의 핵활동을 감시할 수 있는 중요한 지표 핵종이다. 특히 제논은 생성량이 많고 반감기가 짧아 핵실험 탐지에 적합하며 크립톤은 핵연료 재처리 탐지의 추적자로 활용되고 있다. 방출된 방사성 노블가스는 막대한 대기에 희석되어 농도가 감소하고 일부는 시간에 따라 방사능이 감쇠하기 때문에 대기 중에는 매우 극미량으로 존재하게 된다. 따라서 측정을 통해 의미 있는 데이터를 얻기 위해서는 가능한 낮은 수준의 MDA를 설정하는 것이 중요하다. 본 연구에서는 방사성 제논과 크립톤을 동시 포집 할 수 있는 장비인 BfS-IAR시스템을 활용하여 이론을 통해 MDA를 산출하였다. 또한 MDA 산출방식의 변화, 신뢰수준의 정도는 물론 계측 조건의 변화에 따른 영향을 확인하고 MDA를 저감하기 위한 방안들을 모색하였다. 그 결과 배경농도가 극미량인 제논의 경우 전처리과정의 효율화와 안정적인 계측 성능유지가 가장 중요한 요소로 판단되었으며, 크립톤의 경우 제논과 달리 시료의 방사능이 높기 때문에 MDA 재설정을 통한 분석조건이나 시스템 최적화를 통해 효율적인 분석을 수행할 수 있을 것으로 판단된다.

Keywords

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