• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.99-105
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• 2005

A model for evaluating radioactive contamination in the urban environment, named METRO-K, was developed as a basic step for accident consequence analysis in case of an accidental release. The three kind of radionuclides $(^{137}Cs,\;^{106}Ru,\;^{131}I)$ and the different chemical forms of iodine (particulate, organic and elemental forms) are considered in the model. The radioactive concentrations are evaluated for the five types of surface (roof, paved road, wall, lawn/soil, tree) as a function of time. Using the model, the contaminative impacts of the surfaces were intensively investigated with respect to with and without precipitation during the measurement periods of radionuclides in air. In addition, a practical application study was conducted using $^{137}Cs$ concentration in air and precipitation measured in an European country at the Chernobyl accident. As a result precipitation was an influential factor in surface contamination. The degree of contamination was strongly dependent on the types of radionuclide and surface. Precipitation was more influential in contamination of $^{137}Cs$ than that of $^{131}I$ (elemental form).

• Journal of the Ergonomics Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.37-51
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• 2009

The nuclear power industry in the world has recognized the importance of integrating non-technical and team skills training with the technical training given to its control room operators to reduce human errors since the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents. The Nuclear power plant (NPP) industry in Korea has been also making efforts to reduce the human errors which largely have contributed to 120 nuclear reactor trips from the year 2001 to 2006. The Crew Resource Management (CRM) training was one of the efforts to reduce the human errors in the nuclear power industry. The CRM was developed as a response to new insights into the causes of aircraft accidents which followed from the introduction of flight recorders and cockpit voice recorders into modern jet aircraft. The CRM first became widely used in the commercial airline industry, but military aviation, shipboard crews, medical and surgical teams, offshore oil crews, and other high-consequence, high-risk, time-critical industry teams soon followed. This study aims to develop a CRM training program that helps to improve plant performance by reducing the number of reactor trips caused by the operators' errors in Korean NPP. The program is; firstly, based on the work we conducted to develop a human factors training from the applications to the Nuclear Power Plant; secondly, based on a number of guidelines from the current practicable literature; thirdly, focused on team skills, such as leadership, situational awareness, teamwork, and communication, which have been widely known to be critical for improving the operational performance and reducing human errors in Korean NPPs; lastly, similar to the event-based training approach that many researchers have applied in other domains: aircraft, medical operations, railroads, and offshore oilrigs. We conducted an experiment to test effectiveness of the CRM training program in a condition of simulated control room also. We found that the program made the operators' attitudes and behaviors be improved positively from the experimental results. The more implications of the finding were discussed further in detail.

• 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.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.41 no.1
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• pp.31-39
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• 2016

Background: It is necessary to consider the overall countermeasure for analysis of nuclear activities according to the increase of the nuclear facilities like nuclear power and reprocessing plants in the neighboring countries including China, Taiwan, North Korea, Japan and South Korea. South Korea and comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty organization (CTBTO) are now operating the monitoring instruments to detect radionuclides released into the air. It is important to estimate the origin of radionuclides measured using the detection technology as well as the monitoring analysis in aspects of investigation and security of the nuclear activities in neighboring countries. Materials and methods: A three-dimensional forward/backward trajectory model has been developed to estimate the origin of radionuclides for a covert nuclear activity. The developed trajectory model was composed of forward and backward modules to track the particle positions using finite difference method. Results and discussion: A three-dimensional trajectory model was validated using the measured data at Chernobyl accident. The calculated results showed a good agreement by using the high concentration measurements and the locations where was near a release point. The three-dimensional trajectory model had some uncertainty according to the release time, release height and time interval of the trajectory at each release points. An atmospheric dispersion model called long-range accident dose assessment system (LADAS), based on the fields of regards (FOR) technique, was applied to reduce the uncertainties of the trajectory model and to improve the detective technology for estimating the radioisotopes emission area. Conclusion: The detective technology developed in this study can evaluate in release area and origin for covert nuclear activities based on measured radioisotopes at monitoring stations, and it might play critical tool to improve the ability of the nuclear safety field.

• Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education
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• v.32 no.4
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• pp.775-788
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• 2012

This study was done at a scientific camp sponsored by Nara Women's University Secondary School, Japan. In this school, $10^{th}$ grade students from 4 East Asian countries: Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Singapore, participated. We made a research on students' perceptions about nuclear energy. Sample populations include 77 students in total, with 12 Korean, 46 Japanese, 9 Taiwanese and 10 Singaporean students. Overall perceptions comparison about nuclear energy shows average values from the order of highest Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, and to lowest, Japan. We implemented a T-test to identify perception differences about nuclear energy, with one group that include 3 countries (Korea, Taiwan and Singapore) and another group that includes all the Japanese students. T-test results of perceptions about nuclear energy shows students from the 3 countries of Korea, Taiwan and Singapore having higher average than Japanese students. (p<.05). Korean average scores regarding overall perceptions about nuclear energy show as the highest in all 4 East Asian countries and also highest in all subcategories. On the contrary in Japan, they have lower and negative perceptions of nuclear energy. In spite of these facts, perceptions of Japanese students about nuclear energy seem lowest and negative mainly because of the recent Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster, caused by the tsunami and its subsequent damages and fears of radiation leaks, etc. This shows that negative information about future disasters and its resulting damages like the Chernobyl nuclear accident could influence more on people's risk perception than general information like nuclear energy-related technologies or the news that the plant is operating normally, etc. Even if the possibility of this kind of accident is very low, just one accident could bring abnormal risks to technology itself. This strong signal makes negative image and strengthens its perceptions to the people. This could bring a stigma about nuclear energy. This study shows that Government's policy about the highest priority for nuclear energy safety is most important. As long as such perception and decision are fixed, we found that it might not be easy to get changed again because they were already fortified and maintained.