Journal of Radiation Industry (방사선산업학회지)

Korean Society of Radiation Industry (한국방사선산업학회)
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Assessment of External Radiation Dose for Workers in Domestic Water Treatment Facility According to the Working Type

국내 수처리시설 종사자 작업유형에 따른 외부피폭방사선량 평가

  • Seong Hun Jeon (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Seong Yeon Lee (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Hyeok Jae Kim (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Min Seong Kim (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University) ;
  • Kwang Pyo Kim (Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University)
  • 전성훈 (경희대학교 원자력공학과) ;
  • 이성연 (경희대학교 원자력공학과) ;
  • 김혁재 (경희대학교 원자력공학과) ;
  • 김민성 (경희대학교 원자력공학과) ;
  • 김광표 (경희대학교 원자력공학과)
  • Received : 2023.05.17
  • Accepted : 2023.06.12
  • Published : 2023.06.30
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Abstract

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposes 11 industries that handle Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) that are considered to need management. A water treatment facility is one of the above industries that takes in groundwater and produces drinking water through a water treatment process. Groundwater can accumulate natural radionuclides such as uranium and thorium in raw water by contacting rocks or soil containing natural radionuclides. Therefore, there is a possibility that workers in water treatment facilities will be exposed due to the accumulation of natural radionuclides in the water treatment process. The goal of this study is to evaluate the external radiation dose according to the working type of workers in water treatment facilities. In order to achieve the above goal, the study was conducted by dividing it into 1) analysis of the exposure environment, 2) measurement of the external radiation dose rate 3) evaluation of the external radiation dose. In the stage of analyzing the exposure environment, major processes that are expected to occur significantly were derived. In the measurement stage of the external radiation dose rate, a map of the external radiation dose rate was prepared by measuring the spatial radiation dose rate in major processes. Through this, detailed measurement points were selected considering the movement of workers. In the external radiation dose evaluation stage, the external radiation dose was evaluated based on the previously derived external radiation dose rate and working time. As a result of measuring the external radiation dose rate at the detailed points of water treatment facilities A to C, it was 1.90×10-1 to 3.75×100 μSv h-1, and the external radiation dose was analyzed as 3.27×10-3 to 9.85×10-2 mSv y-1. The maximum external radiation dose appeared during the disinfection and cleaning of activated carbon at facility B, and it is judged that natural radionuclides were concentrated in activated carbon. It was found that the external radiation dose of workers in the water treatment facility was less than 1mSv y-1, which is about 10% of the dose limit for the public. As a result of this study, it was found that the radiological effect of external radiation dose of domestic water treatment facility workers was insignificant. The results are expected to contribute as background data to present optimized safety management measures for domestic NORM industries in the future.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

본 연구는 원자력안전위원회의 재원으로 한국원자력안전재단의 지원을 받아 수행한 원자력안전연구사업의 연구결과입니다(No. 2105035).

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