• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.73-86
• /
• 2015

The use of complimentary indicators, other than radiation dose and risk, to assess the safety of radioactive waste disposal has been discussed in a number of publications for providing the reasonable assurance of disposal safety and convincing the public audience. In this study, the radionuclide flux was selected as performance indicator to appraise the performance of engineered barriers and natural barrier in the Wolsong low- and intermediate-level waste disposal facility. Radionuclide flux showing the retention capability by each compartment of the disposal system is independent of assumptions in biosphere model and exposure pathways. The scenario considered as the normal scenario of disposal facility has been divided into intact or degraded silo concrete conditions. In the intact silo concrete, the radionuclide flux has been assessed with respect to the radionuclide retardation performance of each engineered barrier. In the degraded silo concrete, the radionuclide flux has been explored based on the performance degradation of engineered barriers and the relative significance of natural barrier quantitatively. The results can be used to optimally design the near-surface disposal facility being planned as the second project phase. In the future, additional complimentary indicators will be employed for strengthening the safety case for improving the public acceptance of low- and intermediate-level waste disposal facility.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.12 no.4
• /
• pp.267-274
• /
• 2014

The first Low- and Intermediate-Level Waste (LILW) disposal facility with 6 silos has been constructed in granite host rock saturated with groundwater in Korea. A two-dimensional numerical modeling on gas migration was carried out using TOUGH2 with EOS5 module in the disposal facility. Laboratory-scale experiments were also performed to measure the important properties of silo concrete related with gas migration. The gas entry pressure and relative gas permeability of the concrete was determined to be $0.97{\pm}0.15bar$ and $2.44{\times}10^{-17}m^2$, respectively. The results of the numerical modeling showed that hydrogen gas generated from radioactive wastes was dissolved in groundwater and migrated to biosphere as an aqueous phase. Only a small portion of hydrogen appeared as a gas phase after 1,000 years of gas generation. The results strongly suggested that hydrogen gas does not accumulate inside the disposal facility as a gas phase. Therefore, it is expected that there would be no harmful effects on the integrity of the silo concrete due to gas generation.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
• /
• v.80 no.4
• /
• pp.369-378
• /
• 1991

Major statutory nature protection areas include Nature Parks, Nature Reserves. Nature Ecological System Protected Areas. Biosphere Reserves, Nature Protected Forests, Wildlife Sanctuaries, and Protection Forests with total area of 1,124,000 ha. These protected areas cover almost 18% of the forested area. The number of visitors of NPs reached over 33 million per year with sharp increasing rate over the years. To protect the deteriorated hiking trails and camp grounds caused by overuse, two management policies have been implemented : cooking prohibition and natural rest rotation system. While prohibition of cooking is based on the fact that most of the solid wastes in nature parks are leftovers of cooking, natural rest rotation system is mainly for rehabilitation of deteriorated areas by natural processes. The system has closed 47 trails(in 27 mountains) throughout the country since January 1991, which is scheduled to continue 3 years. Due to the lack of accumulated scientific knowledge on how, when and where to close, application of the system leaves much to be desired. This paper discusses the current efforts to protect the natural resources for recreational use and suggests future directions for an effective policy implementation.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.683-689
• /
• 2017

Objective: The experiments were carried out to measure the effect of multivitamin, acidifier and Azolla on growth performance, profitability and lipid profiles of blood of broiler chickens to produce safe and cost effective broilers. Methods: In experiment 1, 240 day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were fed diets; $D_1$ (control), $D_2$ ($D_1$ with 1 mL multivitamin/liter water), $D_3$ ($D_1$ with 1 mL acidifier/liter water), $D_4$ ($D_1$ with 1 mL multivitamin and 2 mL acidifier/liter water) having 3 replications in each, and 20 chicks/replication. In experiment 2, 150 day-old Cobb-500 broiler chicks were fed diets; $T_1$ (control), $T_2$ (5% Azolla in the diet), $T_3$ (7% Azolla in the diet) and $T_4$ ($T_1$ with 1 mL multivitamin and 1 mL acidifier/liter water) having 3 replications in each, and 20 chicks/replication in control, and 10 chicks/replication in the remaining dietary treatment groups for 35 days. Results: In experiment 1, the highest live weight was observed in $D_4$ (p<0.05), however, feed intake was statistically similar between diets (p>0.05). The lowest feed conversion ratio (FCR) (p<0.001) and mortality (p<0.05) were observed in $D_2$ followed by $D_4$, $D_1$, and $D_3$, respectively. There were no significant differences between diets for feed cost and net profit (p>0.05). However, evidently but not significantly, the highest net profit was obtained in $D_2$ followed by $D_4$, $D_1$, and $D_3$, respectively. In experiment 2, the highest live weight (p<0.05) and feed intake (p<0.001) were observed in $T_4$. Mortality (p<0.01), FCR (p<0.01), feed cost (p<0.05) and net profit (p<0.05) were significantly different among diets. Considering net profit, $T_2$ was the best performing dietary group followed by $T_3$, $T_1$, and $T_4$, respectively. The lowest lipid profiles were observed in $D_3$ followed by $D_1$, $D_4$, and $D_2$, respectively (p<0.05). In experiment 2, the lowest total cholesterol, TG, and the highest amount of high density lipoprotein were observed in $T_2$, followed by $T_3$, $T_1$, and $T_4$, respectively (p<0.05). Evidently but not significantly, low density lipoprotein was the highest in $T_2$ followed by $T_3$, $T_4$, and $T_1$, respectively (p>0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, Azolla and acidifier reduced lipid profiles of broiler chickens. Considering net profit and lipid profiles, 5% Azolla may be the suitable dietary group for producing safe and profitable broilers. However, more studies are needed to confirm this study prior to suggesting using Azolla in the poultry industry.

• Journal of Bio-Environment Control
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.218-231
• /
• 2005

This paper reviews the engineering approach needed to support humans during their long-term missions in space. This approach includes closed plant production systems under microgravity or low pressure, mass recycling, air revitalization, water purification, waste management, elimination of trace contaminants, lighting, and nutrient delivery systems in controlled ecological life support system (CELSS). Requirements of crops f3r space use are high production, edibility, digestibility, many culinary uses, capability of automation, short stems, and high transpiration. Low pressure on Mars is considered to be a major obstacle for the design of greenhouses fer crop production. However interest in Mars inflatable greenhouse applicable to planetary surface has increased. Structure, internal pressure, material, method of lighting, and shielding are principal design parameters for the inflatable greenhouse. The inflatable greenhouse operating at low pressure can reduce the structural mass and atmosphere leakage rate. Plants growing at reduced pressure show an increasing transpiration rates and a high water loss. Vapor pressure increases as moisture is added to the air through transpiration or evaporation from leaks in the hydroponic system. Fluctuations in vapor pressure will significantly influence total pressure in a closed system. Thus hydroponic systems should be as tight as possible to reduce the quantity of water that evaporates from leaks. And the environmental control system to maintain high relative humidity at low pressure should be developed. The essence of technologies associated with CELSS can support human lift even at extremely harsh conditions such as in deserts, polar regions, and under the ocean on Earth as well as in space.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural and Forest Meteorology
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.137-145
• /
• 2014

Rice-barley double cropping system is typical in southwestern part of South Korea. However, the information of carbon dioxide ($CO_2$) exchange for barley growing season has still limited in comparison with rice. Using the eddy covariance (EC) technique, seasonal variation of $CO_2$ exchange was analyzed for the barley growing season at a rice-barley double cropping field in Gimje, Korea. The effects of environmental factors and biomass on the $CO_2$ flux also were investigated. Quality control and gap-filling of flux data were conducted before this analysis and investigation. The results indicated that $CO_2$ uptake increased rapidly at tillering stage and maximum net ecosystem exchange of $CO_2$ (NEE) occurred at the early of May, 2012 ($-11.2gCm^{-2}d^{-1}$), when the heading of barley occurred. NEE, gross primary production (GPP), and ecosystem respiration (Re) during the barley growing season were -348.0, 663.3, and $315.2gCm^{-2}$, respectively. In this study, an attempt has been made to measure NEE, GPP, and Re with the help of the EC system for the barley growing season for the first time in Korea, focusing on $CO_2$ exchange between the biosphere and the atmosphere.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.245-255
• /
• 2008

Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Company(KHNP) conducted site investigations for a low and intermediate-level nuclear waste repository in the Gyeong Ju site. The site characterization work constitutes a description of the site, its regional setting and the current state of the geosphere and biosphere. The main objectives of hydogeological investigation aimed to understand the hydrogeological setting and conditions of the site, and to provide the input parameters for safety evaluation. The hydogeological characterization of the site was performed from the results of surface based investigations, i.e geological mapping and analysis, drilling works and hydraulic testing, and geophysical survey and interpretation. The hydro-structural model based on the hydrogeological characterization consists of one-Hydraulic Soil Domain, three-Hydraulic Rock Domains and five-Hydraulic Conductor Domains. The hydrogeological framework and the hydraulic values provided for each hydraulic unit over a relevant scale were used as the baseline for the conceptualization and interpretation of flow modeling. The current hydrogeological characteristics based on the surface based investigation include some uncertainties resulted from the basic assumption of investigation methods and field data. Therefore, the reassessment of hydrostructure model and hydraulic properties based on the field data obtained during the construction is necessitated for a final hydrogeological characterization.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.42 no.4
• /
• pp.335-342
• /
• 2009

The effects of bacterial lysis on the rate of quartz dissolution were investigated under pH 7 condition using Bacillus subtilis cells which were either irradiated or non-irradiated with gamma ray. The amount of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) which resulted from bacterial lysis increased in slurries of quartz and bacteria mixture over experimental period. Lysis of non-irradiated bacteria led to the elevated concentration of dissolved silicon when compared with abiotic control. Concomitant increase in the amounts of DOC and dissolved silicon over time indicated that lixiviation of silicon from quartz was due to bacterial lysis. Higher amounts of DOC and dissolved silicon were present in the irradiated bacterial slurries than those of non-irradiated bacteria. The enhancement of quartz dissolution in the irradiated bacterial slurries was likely attributed to disruption of organic molecules in the bacterial cells by gamma ray and formation of effective ligands for quartz dissolution. The results suggest that the effects of bacterial lysis on mineral weathering rate should be considered for prediction of time for released radionuclides to migrate to surface biosphere in high level radioactive waste disposal site.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.661-678
• /
• 2006

Products developed in this research is a software which can transfer the type of shape(.shp) into the type of ascii using the land cover data and the topography data in the metropolitan area of Seoul. In addition, it can calculate the $CO_2$ flux according to distribution of plants within the land cover data. The $CO_2$ flux is calculated by the experimental equation which is compose of the meteorological parameters such as the solar radiation and the air temperature. The net flux was shown in about $-19ton/km^2$ by removing $CO_2$ through the photosynthesis during daytime, and in 2 ton/km2 by producing it through the respiration during nighttime on 10 August 2004, the maximum day of air temperature during the period of 3yr(2001 to 2004), in the metropolitan area of Seoul. Spatial distribution of the air temperature and the wind field is simulated by substituting the middle classification of the land cover map data, upgraded by the Korean Ministry of Environment(KME), for the land-use data of the United States Geological Survey(USGS) within the Meteorological Mesoscale Model Version 5(MM5) on 10 August 2006 in the metropolitan area of Seoul. Difference of the air temperature between both data was shown in the maximum range of $-2^{\circ}C\;to\;2.9^{\circ}C$, and the air temperature due to the land use data of KME was higher than that of USGS in average $0.4^{\circ}C$. Also, those of wind vectors were meanly lower than that of USGS in daytime and nighttime. Furthermore, the hourly time series of Volatile Organic Components(VOCs) is calculated by using the Biosphere Emission and Interaction System Version 2(BEIS2) including the new land cover data and the meteorological parameters such as the air temperature and so]ar insolation. It is possible to calculate the concentration of ozone due to the biogenic emission of VOCs.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.5
• /
• pp.223-227
• /
• 2014

${\delta}$-Aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a compound which is widely present in the biosphere and plays an important role in the living body as an intermediate of the tetrapyrrole compound biosynthesis pathway that leads to heme in mammals and chlorophyll in plants. ALA is of interest as a biodegradable mediator, a growth regulator, a precursor of heme proteins, and an effective agent used in therapy of cancer. It has been recently reported that ALA is commonly used in dermatology, due to good effects of skin therapy. Although for the last few decades a substantial amount of research has been focused on the elucidation of the mechanism of ALA and the improvement of its therapeutic activity, it's effect on the cell functions and growth was not cleared. Here, we identified that ALA treatment could attenuate cell proliferation of HEK293T and HaCaT cells. In addition, ALA treatement could induce apoptosis of HeLa cells. These results suggest that apoptosis induced by ALA treatment might be responsible for inhibition of cell proliferation. These results propose the possibility of the improved therapeutic strategy making ALA one of the effective drugs used in human cancers.