• 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.

• 대한방사선방어학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2011.11a
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• pp.136-137
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• 2011

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.15 no.7
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• pp.689-694
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• 2006

To examine inshore radioactive contamination caused by nuclear power plants, nuclear testing, hospital and laboratory, both gross ${\beta}$-radioactivity and ${\upsilon}$-spectrometry were measured. The measurements were taken with the Abalone and Top shell, which had been collected from the four different sites at the coast in Jeju-do (Seongsan, Deajeong, Wimi, Dodu). The activity ranges of concentration were respectively 0.11-0.29 Bq/kg-wet for $^{90}Sr$, 0.01-0.04 Bq/kg-wet for $^{137}Cs$, 36 - 53 Bq/kg-wet for $^{40}K$ in shellfish on the Jeju island. The radioactivities of $^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs$ and $^{40}K$ were similar to those in sampling location of shellfish in the coastal on the Jeju island. The radioactivity of $^{90}Sr$ for the Abalone was lower level than that for Top shell. The radio- activity of $^{137}Cs$ for the Abalone was similar to that for the Top shell. But the radioactivity of $^{40}K$ for the Abalone was higher level than that for the Top shell. As a result, the gross ${\beta}$-radioactivity observed was similar to that in nature. Among radionuclides, only $^{90}Sr$, $^{137}Cs$ and $^{40}K$ were detected in a very small amount, and each was also close to the natural levels.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.189-198
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• 1994

An angular dependence experiment was made and a performance test of the Teledyne dosimetry system was done in accordance with the ANSI N13.11-1992. The angular dependence experiment was performed with $^{137}Cs$ and low energy X-ray beam. Teledyne dosimetry system performed well at the $0^{\circ}$ angle of incidence for all dosimeters in both vertical and horizontal irradiations. It would have easily passed the 0.5 tolerance limit. But the dosimetry system was not performed well at the ${\pm}60^{\circ}$ angle of incidence for low energy X-ray beam. The accuracy for $^{137}Cs$ beam at all angles of incidence was within the 0.5 tolerance limit. Therefore performance of the dosimetry system could be considered acceptable in case that the dosimeter is irradiated to $^{137}Cs$ beam. However, it could not be acceptable for the dosimeter irradiated to low energy X-ray, especially at more than ${\pm}40^{\circ}$

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.93-103
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• 2003

IAEA, FT-04-020, and ANS 16.1, standard leaching test methods, were evaluated comparatively with their test results. Leaching index of $^{60}$ Co and $^{137}$ Cs by ANS 16.1 method for waste forms of paraffin and cement were above 6.0. Their leaching behavior were depending on the type of matrix and leachant. Leachability of $^{60}$ Co for cement waste form was higher in simulated seawater than do-mineralized water, and was higher in de-mineralized water for paraffin waste form. leachability of $^{60}$ Co was contrary to $^{137}$ Cs. Cumulative fraction leached of $^{60}$ Co was higher in order or IAEA ＞ ANS ＞ FT in a cement waste form.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.123-132
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• 2014

After the nuclear accident of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plants (FDNPPs) on 11 March 2011, a large amount of radioactive materials has been released into the atmosphere and the ocean. A compartment model is used to evaluate the circulation characteristics and the spatiotemporal concentration distributions of radionuclides in the ocean. In the comparison with observed concentrations of $^{137}Cs$ in seawater, calculated concentrations by the compartment model were well agreed with them. On the basis of these results, we performed evaluation of the effective dose and the cancer risk. In the early stage of the accident, the effective doses from ingestion of the seafood near the Fukushima region were much higher than 1 mSv which is the value of the annual effective dose limit to individual recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). However, the effective doses by ingestion of the seafood decreased below 1 mSv as distance from the FDNPPs increased and time passed. In addition, it was estimated that the cancer risks by intake of the contaminated marine products were less than natural occurrence probability of cancer. Consequently, it was inferred that the health risk due to the $^{137}Cs$ was low after since mid-term period of the accident.

• Journal of the Korean Physical Society
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• v.73 no.9
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• pp.1263-1268
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• 2018

Three different ice core samples from Antarctica were analyzed to identify activity concentrations of radioactive isotopes. Tracking migration of radioactive isotopes to Antarctica can provide a key clue to understand global environmental changes caused by radiation exposures because the Antarctic ice cores can preserve unique characteristics of various environmental conditions. We are particularly interested in the $^{137}Cs$ nucleus, because it is closely related to radiation exposure from nuclear power plant accidents and nuclear bomb tests. With its half life of $30.17{\pm}0.03$ years, $^{137}Cs$ can also be used to assess the age of sedimentation occurring after around the year 1945. We selected three ice core samples, called Tarn8, Styx27, and H25, from different time periods; the Tarn8 sample is known to be from earlier than ~ 1000 AD, the Styx27 sample is approximately from the year 1945, and the H25 sample is from the year 2012. Radioactive isotope measurements of the ice core samples were performed using a 100% HPGe detector at Cheongpyeong Underground Radiation Laboratory (CURL). We measured the activity of $^{137}Cs$ in the H25 sample to be $0.98{\pm}0.82mBq/kg$. Although the activity has a large uncertainty mainly due to the limited sample quantity, the $^{137}Cs$ isotopes in the Antarctic ice core were measured for the first time in Korea.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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• 1997.05b
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• pp.439-444
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• 1997

In order to investigate organic association of fallout cesium, strontium and plutonium in the soil, soil samples influenced by fallout from nuclear weapon testings were treated with alkali (0.1 M-sodium hydroxide solution) to extract organic acids. After extraction, the resultant three fractions (sedimentary residue, humic and fulvic acid fractions) were subjected to the r-ray spectrometric analysis for $^{137}$ Cs, and radiochemical analysis for gosr and $^{239,240}$Pu. Alkali extraction experiments showed that a lot of $^{ 239,240}$Pu was extracted to organic acids from the soil samples, whereas most of $^{137}$ Cs and $^{90}$ Sr remained in residual fraction. Less than 10% of the total $^{137}$ Cs and $^{90}$ Sr was found in the organic fraction. The concentrations of $^{137}$ Cs and $^{90}$ Sr associated with humic fractions were higher than those with the corresponding fulvic fractions. It was found that more than 40% of the total $^{239,240}$Pu was associated with the organic fraction of soils. In contrast with $^{137}$ Cs and $^{90}$ Sr, $^{239,240}$Pu associated with vulvic fractions was much higher than in humic fractions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.5
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• pp.1417-1427
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• 2019

In this study, we evaluated the performance of a commercial pixelated cadmium zinc telluride (CZT) detector for spectroscopy and identified its feasibility as a Compton camera for radiation monitoring in a nuclear power plant. The detection system consisted of a $20mm{\times}20mm{\times}5mm$ CZT crystal with $8{\times}8$ pixelated anodes and a common cathode, in addition to an application specific integrated circuit. The performance of the various radioisotopes $^{57}Co$, $^{133}Ba$, $^{22}Na$, and $^{137}Cs$ was evaluated. In general, the amplitude of the induced signal in a CZT crystal depends on the interaction position and material non-uniformity. To minimize this dependency, a drift time correction was applied. The depth of each interaction was calculated by the drift time and the positional dependency of the signal amplitude was corrected based on the depth information. After the correction, the Compton regions of each spectrum were reduced, and energy resolutions of 122 keV, 356 keV, 511 keV, and 662 keV peaks were improved from 13.59%, 9.56%, 6.08%, and 5%-4.61%, 2.94%, 2.08%, and 2.2%, respectively. For the Compton imaging, simulations and experiments using one $^{137}Cs$ source with various angular positions and two $^{137}Cs$ sources were performed. Individual and multiple sources of $^{133}Ba$, $^{22}Na$, and $^{137}Cs$ were also measured. The images were successfully reconstructed by weighted list-mode maximum likelihood expectation maximization method. The angular resolutions and intrinsic efficiency of the $^{137}Cs$ experiments were approximately $7^{\circ}-9^{\circ}$ and $5{\times}10^{-4}-7{\times}10^{-4}$, respectively. The distortions of the source distribution were proportional to the offset angle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2388-2394
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• 2023

The radioactivity concentration of environmental radionuclides was analyzed for soil and sand at eight locations within a radius of 255 m centered on the Dongnam Institute of Radiological & Medical Science (DIRAMS), Korea. The average activity concentrations of ⁴⁰K, ¹³⁷Cs, ²²⁶Ra, and ²³²Th were 661.1 Bq/kg-dry, 0.9 Bq/kg-dry, 21.9 Bq/kg-dry, and 11.1 Bq/kg-dry, respectively. The activity of ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs was lower than the 3-year (2017-2019) average reported by the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, respectively. Due to the nature of granite-rich soil, the radioactivity of ⁴⁰K was 0.6-fold higher than in other countries, while ¹³⁷Cs was in the normal fluctuation range (15-30 Bq/kg-dry) of the concentration of radioactive fallout from nuclear tests. The activity of ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th was lower than in Korean soils reported by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). The average activity concentrations of ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K for the soil and sand samples from DIRAMS were within the range specified by UNSCEAR in 2000. The radium equivalent activity and internal and external hazard index values were below the recommended limits (1 mSv/y). These radionuclide concentration (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs) data can be used for regional environmental monitoring and ecological impact assessments of nuclear power plant accidents.