• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.198-206
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• 1996

Leaching of $^{54}Mn$, $^{60}Co$, $^{85}Sr$ and $^{137}Cs$ in paddy soil was studied using lysimeter cultures in a greenhouse. The radionuclides were applied to the water surfaces shortly before transplanting and five different times between transplanting and harvest. Fertilizer KCl and slaked lime were added simultaneously in the rate of 83kg and 200kg, respectively, per l0a following the first application after transplanting. Percolating water was sampled until two days before harvest. Concentrations of the radionuclides in percolating water decreased in the order of $^{85}Sr$ > $^{54}Mn$ > $^{60}Co$ > $^{137}Cs$ on the whole. Time taken to reach the maximum was the shortest for $^{137}Cs$(< one week) and the longest for $^{54}Mn$ and $^{85}Sr$. Six days' water dropping started 47 days after transplanting reduced the concentrations of $^{54}Mn$, $^{60}Co$, $^{85}Sr$ and $^{137}Cs$ by factors of 30-180, 3-75, 2-4 and 3-6, respectively, depending on the application time. After the significant decrease, $^{54}Mn$ concentration tended to gradually increase but $^{137}Cs$ did to the contrary Percent leaching varied 0.09-6.2% for $^{54}Mn$, 0.009-0.9% for $^{60}Co$, 1.4-14.4% for $^{85}Sr$ and 0.002-0.06% for $^{137}Cs$, with the application time. The highest leaching came from the application at 40 days after transplanting for all the radionuclides. The addition of KCl and lime increased percent leaching of the radionuclides by factors of 9, 85, 4 and 9, respectively.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.164-168
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• 1999

For investigating transfer factors of $^{137}Cs$ in the arable land of Korea, mature crop plants and topsoils were collected from paddy and upland fields located at 33 areas of the country and $^{137}Cs$ concentrations were measured by ${\gamma}-spectrometry$. The $^{137}Cs$ concentrations in soil were in the range of $0.7{\sim}17.7$ Bq/kg-dry in the paddy fields and $1.2{\sim}27.8$ Bq/kg-dry in the upland fields. The $^{137}Cs$concentrations in hulled seed, detected for 12 areas only, were in the range of $0.019{\sim}0.111$ Bq/kg-dry and those in Chinese cabbage, detected also for 12 areas only, were in the range of $0.012{\sim}0.066$ Bq/kg-fresh. Soil-to-plant transfer factors of $^{137}Cs$ were in the range of $1.2{\times}10^{-3}{\sim}1.1{\times}10^{-2}$ for hulled seed and $6.8{\times}10^{-4}{\sim}1.7{\times}10^{-2}$ for Chinese cabbage. Inboth plant stuffs, the factor tended to decrease with increasing soil organic matter or cation exchange capacity and, in hulled seed, it tended to increase with increasing soil clay content. No statistical significance was, however, found in all those relationships. Present results can be utilized for estimating radiation risk resulting from the food consumption by Korean people and deciding agronomical counter-measures at the time of an nuclear accident.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.52-58
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• 2004

This work was conducted to provide the reference data of radioactivity in the foodstuffs at a radiological emergency situation in Jeju Island The sampled foodstuffs were agricultural (31), livestock (6), marine (12) and forest products (4), and processed foods (3) consumed by Jeju Islanders. $^{137}Cs$ and $^{40}K$ activities were determined by HPGe r-ray spectromety. The activity ranges of $^{137}Cs$ was ${\sim}650\;mBq/kg$ fresh in the agricultural products, ${\sim}131\;mBq/kg$. fresh in the livestock, ${\sim}834\;mBq/kg$ fresh in the forest, ${\sim}253\;mBq/kg$ fresh in the marine and $32.0{\sim}483\;mBq/kg$. fresh in the processed foods (tea). In case of $^{40}K$ the activity was $16.6{\sim}542\;Bq/kg$. fresh in the agricultural products, $39.1{\sim}294\;Bq/kg$ fresh in the livestock, $85.5{\sim}116\;Bq/kg$ fresh in the forest, $50.1{\sim}657\;Bq/kg$ fresh in the marine, and $33.6{\sim}1,065\;Bq/kg$ fresh in the processed foods (tea). The highest activity of $^{137}Cs$, 834mBq/kg fresh was observed in oak mushroom and $^{40}K$ 1,065 Bq/kg fresh in coffee. Annual effective doses of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{40}K$ by intake of foodstuffs per capita were the following order; agricultural products (66,543 nSv) > livestock products (19,311 nSv) > processed foods (6,648 nSv) > marine products (6,579 nSv) > forest products (860 nSv). Therefore, total annual effective dose was summed 99,941 nSv which is quite low level comparing to the annual effective dose by external exposure, 2,400,000 nSv. The data obtained in this study can be useful for monitoring whether the foodstuffs are contaminated or not at an emergency radiation accident, and showed that the foodstuffs consumed in Jeju are safe in terms of annual effective dose of $^{137}Cs$ and $^{40}K$

• Journal of Food Hygiene and Safety
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.488-494
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• 2018

To ensure food-safety of mushrooms from radioactive contamination, edible mushroom samples distributed in Gyeonggi province in Korea were collected according to species and country of origin. A total of 284 mushrooms, belonging to 10 species (Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus eryngii, Agaricus bisporus, Flammulina velutipes, Phellinus linteus, Inonotus Obliquus (Chaga), Auricularia auricula-judae, Ganoderma lucidum and Tricholoma matsutake) were subjected to radioactivity testing. The concentration of artificial radionuclides, 131I, 134Cs, and 137Cs, was analyzed using gamma-ray spectrometry. 131I and 134Cs were not detected more than MDA value from all samples. Among 204 domestic mushrooms, however, 137Cs were detected in 0.21~2.58 Bq/kg from six cases (3 Lentinula edodes, 1 Ganoderma lucidum and 2 Tricholoma matsutake), whereas 137Cs were detected in 0.21~53.79 Bq/kg from 38 cases (22 Inonotus Obliquus(Chaga), 14 Phellinus linteus, 1 Lentinula edodes and 1 Tricholoma matsutake) among 80 imported mushrooms. In addition, average concentration of 137Cs in 10 Chaga mushroom-processed products was more than twice as much as dried Chaga mushroom, and maximum concentration was 123.79 Bq/kg. Results suggest that radioactivity monitoring system for imported mushrooms and mushroom-processed products should be continuously intensified to secure food-safety in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.3-13
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• 2001

Dissolved /sup 137/Cs, /sup 239.240/Pu, /sup 238/Pu and /sup 90/Sr contents in winter and spring of the Yellow Sea were determined to describe the distribution of artificial radionuclides. Surface water samples (100 liter) were collected by using a submerged pump, and subsurface samples (>10m depth) were collected using a 10L Niskin water sampler mounted to the Rosette sampler. The levels in the surface water ranged between 1.78～3.38 mBq kg/sup -1/ for /sup 137/Cs, 2.17～13.35 μBq kg/sup -1/ for /sup 239,240/Pu, and 1.97～3.96 mBq kg/sup -1/ for /sup 90/Sr, respectively. In particular, the concentration of /sup 239.240/Pu were 1/10 of those in the vicinity of Changjiang estuary (61～83 μBq kg/sup -1/). The difference of /sup 238.240/Pu concentration between surface and bottom water was <3.0 μBq kg/sup -1/in the Yellow Sea. It suggests that in the Yellow Sea which has shallow and high suspended sediments, /sup 239.240/Pu is preferentially removed from the water columm. The water column inventory of /sup 239.240/Pu in the Yellow Sea constitute about 0.7～0.9 % of the estimated fallout input to the area. The activity ratios of /sup 239.240/Pu//sup 137/Cs and /sup 137/Cs//sup 90/Sr ranged between 0.001～0.005, 0.79～1.65, respectively, and similar to those of open ocean which global fallout is the only source of artificial radionuclides. Therefore, it suggests that most of these artificial radionuclides in the Yellow Sea may be controlled by the atmospheric input.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2015.10a
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• pp.499-500
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• 2015

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.38 no.6 s.175
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• pp.689-697
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• 2005

Mineralogical composition, $^{137}Cs$ activity, total organic carbon (TOC), and particle size of marine sediments near Wuljin Nuclear Powerplant were analyzed and the relationships among those components were investigated. The particle sizes of sediments were equivalent to sand size and in the range of $-0.48\~3.6\;Md\phi$. TOC contents and $^{137}Cs$ activities were in the range of $0.06\~1.75\%$ and minimum detectable activity (MDA) $\~4.0Bq/kg-dry$ with the average value of $1.15{\pm}0.62$ Bq/kg-dry, respectively. The sediments in study area were characterized by large particle size and small TOC contents, and $^{137}Cs$ activity compared with other marine sediments. The main mineral components were quartz and feldspar (albite, microcline, and small amount of orthoclase) with small amount of pyroxene, calcite, hornblende. Minerals with $10{\AA}$ XRD peak (mainly biotite) and chlorite were also identified. Among those minerals, biotite shows the linear relationship with $^{137}Cs$ content probably due to the frayed edge site (FES) on biotite or small amount of mixed illite. However, TOC content shows most linear relationship with $^{137}Cs$ content because no significant amount of clay minerals, which can adsorb significant amount of Cs, were observed in the study area, indicating that the distribution of $^{137}Cs$ in this study area was more significantly affected by the TOC content than mineral composition.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.304-310
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• 1997

In greenhouse, a mixed solution of Mn-54, Co-60, Sr-85 and Cs-137 was applied to the soil of culture boxes 2 days before sowing cucumber and at 4 different times during its growth for measuring their transfer factors (TFs) for fruit and migration in soil. TFs varied with radionuclide, application time and harvest time by factor of up to about 60. Variations in TFs with application time showed different patterns among radionuclides. TFs decreased on the whole in the order of Sr-85 > Mn-54 > Co-60 > Cs-137. TFs of Mn-54, Co-60 and Cs-137 mixed with topsoil before sowing were a little higher than those for the soil-surface application made at an early growth stage while no difference in Sr-85 TF was found. After harvest, soil concentrations of the radionuclides applied at an early growth stage were examined. They decreased with increasing soil depth and 80${\sim}$99% of the radioactivity remained in the top 3cm. Soil pemeation of the radionuclides migration decreased in the order of Sr-85 > Mn-54 > Co-60 > Cs-137. The present data can be utilized in estimating radionuclide concentration in cucumber fruit, taking proper measures for its harvest and consumption and designing the best way of soil decontamination following an radioactive deposition during the cucummber growing season.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.167-172
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• 2012

Jeju Island is a significant area as a reference site of in situ gamma spectrometry because there are a number of open spaces which includes $^{137}Cs$ above a certain level. In this paper, the pasture within the Hallasan National Park was selected as one of the open spaces of Jeju Island. The homogeneity of $^{137}Cs$ at the site was assessed by analysis of variance on count and by radioactivity concentration obtained through in situ gamma spectrometry. For this purpose, the count of a total of 79 points at 3 sites were measured with less than count uncertainty of 5% for 2000 seconds. In the results of the analysis of variance, the 2 sites were homogeneous, and the remaining 1 site can be specified to be homogeneous through the adjustment of measuring range. The distribution of radioactivity concentration calculated by in situ gamma spectrometry were $53.7{\sim}93.2Bq\;kg^{-1}$, $30.5{\sim}61.0Bq\;kg^{-1}$ and $48.8{\sim}102Bq\;kg^{-1}$ at each site.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.141-148
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• 2006

Surveys of radioactive contamination were performed for imported foodstuffs in 2003. The following samples among imported foodstuffs were selected from markets and Korea Food and Drug Administration(KFDA); the imported samples from country associated with the Chernobyl nuclear accident, the samples produced around the nuclear power plants or nuclear tests, the foodstuffs reported as radioacitive contamination materials in foreign country. After pretreatments such as drying and homogenization, samples were analyzed. The $^{137}Cs$ radionuclide was only measured among the regulation radionuclides($^{137}Cs,\;^{134}Cs,\;^{131}I$) of food code. All foodstuffs except Inonotus Obliquus(Chaga mushooms) are less than 17.0 Bq/kg or below the minimum detectable activity(MDA). The activity concentrations of Chaga mushrooms from Russia ranged up to 131.25 Bq/ltg which is almost 35 % of the maximum permitted level of food code. The fraction of imported foodstuffs having meaningful radioactivity is small, however, the radioactive contamination survey of imported foodstuffs is still needed.