• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2009

This study has been focused on determining the chemical composition of $^{14}C$ - in terms of both organic and inorganic $^{14}C$ contents - in reactor coolant from 3 different PWR's reactor type. The purpose was to evaluate the characteristic of $^{14}C$ that can serve as a basis for reliable estimation of the environmental release at domestic PWR sites. $^{14}C$ is the most important nuclide in the inventory, since it contributes one of the main dose contributors in future release scenarios. The reason for this is its high mobility in the environment, biological availability and long half-life(5730yr). More recent studies - where a more detailed investigation of organic $^{14}C$ species believed to be formed in the coolant under reducing conditions have been made - show that the organic compounds not only are limited to hydrocarbons and CO. Possible organic compounds formed including formaldehyde, formic acid and acetic acid, etc. Under oxidizing conditions shows the oxidized carbon forms, possibly mainly carbon dioxide and bicarbonate forms. Measurements of organic and inorganic $^{14}C$ in various water systems were also performed. The $^{14}C$ inventory in the reactor water was found to be 3.1 GBq/kg in PWR of which less than 10% was in inorganic form. Generally, the $^{14}C$ activity in the water was divided equally between the gas- and water- phase. Even though organic $^{14}C$ compound shows that dominant species during the reactor operation, But during the releasing of $^{14}C$ from the plant stack, chemical forms of $^{14}C$ shows the different composition due to the operation conditions such as temperature, pH, volume control tank venting and shut down chemistry.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.162-167
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• 2015

Although the perfomance indicators of the nuclear power plants in Korea show optimal, it requires detailed analysis and discussion centered on the radiation dose. As analysis methods, analysis on the radiation dose of nuclear power plants over the past five years was assessed by comparing the relevant radiation dose of radiation workers and per capita average annual radiation dose of the world's major nuclear power stations was also analyzed. The radiation workers over the annual radiation dose limit of 50 mSv were not. The contrast ratio of the radiation exposure according to the reactor type was the normal operation of PHWR was 6.2% higher than those of the PWR. This shows the radiation work of PHWR during normal driving operation is much more than those of PWR. According to the Performance Indicators of the World Association of Nuclear Operator, the annual radiation dose per unit in 2013 showed 527 man-mSv of Korea is the best country among the major nuclear power generating states, the world average was 725 man-mSv. The annual per capita radiation dose is about 80% less than 1 mSv of the public dose limit and also the average per capita dose showed a very low level as 0.82 mSv. Workers in related organizations showed 1.07 mSv, the non-destructive inspection agency workers showed 3.87 mSv. The remarkable results were due to radiation reduced program such as development of radiation shielding and radiation protection. In conclusion, the radiation exposured dose of nuclear power plants workers in Korea showed a trend which is ideally reduced. But more are expected to be difficul and the psychological insecurity against the operation of the nuclear power plants is existed to the residents near the nuclear power plants. So the radiation dose reduction policy and radiation dose follow up study of nuclear power plants will be continously excuted.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.633-638
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• 2017

The amount of radioactive waste has been rapidly increased with development of radiation treatment in medical field. Recently, it has been a common practice to use I-131 for thyroid cancer, F-18 for PET/CT and Tc-99m for diagnosis of nuclear medicine. All the wastes concerned have been disposed of by means of the self-disposal method, for example incineration, after storage enough to decay less than clearance level. IAEA proposed criteria for clearance level of waste which depends on the individual ($10{\mu}Sv/y$) and collective dose (1 man-Sv/y), and concentration of each nuclide (IAEA Safety Series No 111-P-1.1, 1992 and IAEA RS-G-1.7, 2004). In this study, specific radioactivity of radioactive waste contaminated with Re-186 was measured to confirm whether it meets the clearance level. Re-186 has long half life of 3.8 days relatively and emits beta and gamma radiation, therefore it can be applied in treatment and imaging purposes. The specific radioactivity of contaminated gloves weared by radiation workers was measured by MCA(Multi-channel Analyzer) which was calibrated by reference materials in accordance with the measuring procedure. As a result, comparison evaluation of decay storage period between the half-life which was calculated by attenuation curve based on real measurement and physical half-life was considered, and it is showed that the physical half-life is longer than induced half-life. Therefore, the storage period of radioactive waste for self-disposal may be curtailed in case of application of induced half-life. The result of this study will be proposed as ISO standard.