• 시스템엔지니어링학술지
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• 제17권1호
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• pp.11-20
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• 2021

Decontamination of systems, structures and components (SSC) during the decommissioning of a Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) can be for a variety of reasons. The main reasons for decontamination are: to reduce the contamination of SSC to a reasonably low level, to reduce the potential for the spread of contaminants into the environment and to reduce the cost of disposal due to the reduced level of contamination in a particular SSC. The decontamination technique can be aggressive or non-aggressive depending on the intent after the decontamination process. Aggressive decontamination technique is used when the intent is not to reuse the SSC while a non-aggressive decontamination technique is used with the intent of SSC reuse. For different SSCs there are different decontamination techniques that can be used, each having its own advantages and drawbacks. Metal components such as pipes in the nuclear power plant account for a large amount of nuclear wastes generated. Some of these wastes can be reused if the contaminant level is reduced to an acceptable level. Laser ablation is a non-aggressive decontamination technique that can be used to reduce the contamination in pipes to an acceptable level with no secondary waste generated during the process. The operation and control of a laser ablation device must be precise to achieve a high decontamination factor. This precision can be achieved by a well-designed motion control system. For this purpose, a motion control system was developed consisting of two parts: the first part being the precise control of the laser ablation device inside the pipe and the second part is the control of the laser ablation device outside the pipe. This paper describes the Systems Engineering approach for the development process of a motion control system for the Laser decontamination system.

• International Journal of Contents
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.102-108
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• 2020

The purpose of this study was to estimate and analyze the potential radiation dose that the future visitors and the cleaning staff will be exposed to when the KRR-1 reactor is converted into a memorial hall. The radiation doses were estimated using the RESRAD-BUILD software, where case, building, receptor, shielding, and source parameters were applied as the input data. Also, the basic data for the assessment of the radiation doses were determined in an indirect manner using the data on the waste generated during the decommissioning process of the reactor. The assessment results indicate that the potential radiation dose to the visitors and the cleaning staff will be less than 1 mSv, the annual dose limit for the general public. However, if anyone for a significant period of time is close to the reactor, the overall dose will increase. The radiation dose for the future visitors and the cleaning staff was determined to be lower than the annual dose limit for the general public. Given such a risk, systematic measures, such as periodic monitoring or limiting hours, are imperative.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.2660-2666
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• 2020

Korea successfully achieved energy independence in the shortest period of time from being the poorest country in terms of energy 50 years ago through steady development of nuclear technology. In the past, the nuclear industry has been driven through government-centered policy development, public institution-based research, and industrial facility and infrastructure construction. Consequently, South Korea became a nuclear energy powerhouse exporting nuclear power plants to the UAE, surpassing the level of domestic technological independence. However, in recent years, the nuclear industry in Korea has experienced a decline in new plant construction since the Fukushima accident in Japan, which caused changes in public perspectives regarding nuclear power plant operation, more stringent safety standards on the operation of nuclear power plants, and a shift in governmental energy policy. These changes are expected to change the domestic nuclear industry ecosystem. Therefore, in this study, we investigate the priority of technology development investment from the perspective of experts in private nuclear power companies, shifting the focus from government-led nuclear R&D policies. To establish a direction in nuclear technology development, a survey was conducted by applying an analytic hierarchy analysis to experts who have worked in nuclear power plants for more than 15 years. The analysis items of focus were the 3 attributes of strategic importance, urgency, and business feasibility of four major fields related to nuclear energy: nuclear safety, decommissioning, radioactive waste management, and strengthening industrial competitiveness.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권7호
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• pp.2277-2288
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• 2021

To regulate the safety protocols in nuclear facilities, radioactive aerosols have been extensively researched to understand their health impacts. However, most measured particle-size distributions remain at low resolutions, with the particle sizes ranging from nanometer to micrometer. This study combines the high-resolution detection of 500 size classes, ranging from 6 nm to 10 ㎛, for aerodynamic diameter distributions, with a regional lung deposition calculation. We applied the new approach to characterize particle-size distributions of aerosols generated during the plasma arc cutting of simulated non-radioactive steel alloy wastes. The high-resolution measured data were used to calculate the deposition ratios of the aerosols in different lung regions. The deposition ratios in the alveolar sacs contained the dominant particle sizes ranging from 0.01 to 0.1 ㎛. We determined the distribution of various metals using different vapor pressures of the alloying components and analyzed the uncertainties of lung deposition calculations using the low-resolution aerodynamic diameter data simultaneously. In high-resolution data, the changes in aerosols that can penetrate the blood system were better captured, correcting their potential risks by a maximum of 42%. The combined calculations can aid the enhancement of high-resolution measuring equipment to effectively manage radiation safety in nuclear facilities.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권10호
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• pp.3949-3956
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• 2022

Kori Unit 1 is planning a system decontamination project to reduce radiation exposure of decommissioning workers, prevent the spread of contamination and down-grade the level of classification of radioactive waste. The system decontamination range for Kori Unit 1 will be the entire primary system, including RCS, CVCS and RHRS. Some system design modifications are required for the system decontamination operation. In this paper, major system design modifications were evaluated based on the conditions that system restoration is needed after completion of system decontamination. The major system design modifications are CIDF connection location to system, system decontamination operating pressure control, RCP seal water injection and formation of letdown flow. It was evaluated that there was no negative effect on the system due to the system design modifications. However, as the RCP seal water is injected into the system in the oxidation process, the concentration of the oxidizing agent is diluted. Therefore, the oxidizing agent injection and system decontamination operation procedures should be developed to address the dilution effect of the oxidizing agent. The system design modifications dealt in this paper will be finally confirmed through on-site investigation in the future, and if necessary, the system design modifications will be re-evaluated.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권5호
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• pp.1519-1523
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• 2021

Radioactive iodine (¹³¹I) released from nuclear power plants has been a critical environmental concern for workers. The effective trapping of radioactive iodine isotopes from the off-gas stream generated from nuclear facilities is an important issue in radioactive waste treatment systems evaluation. Numerous studies on retaining methyl iodide (CH₃I¹³¹) by impregnated activated carbons under the high content of moisture have been extensively studied so far. But there have been no good results on how to remove methyl iodide at high humid conditions up to now. A new challenge is to introduce other promising impregnating chemical agents that are able to uptake enough radioactive methyl iodide under high humid conditions. In order to develop a good removal efficiency to control radioiodine gas generated from a high humid process, activated carbons (ACs) impregnated with triethylene diamine (TEDA) and qinuclidine (QUID) were prepared. In addition, the removal efficiencies of the activated carbons (ACs) under humid conditions up to 95% RH were evaluated by applying the standard method specified in ASTM-D3808. Quinuclidine impregnated activated carbon showed a much higher decontamination factor above 1,000, which is enough to meet the regulation index for the iodine filters in nuclear power plants (NPPs).

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제3권2호
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• pp.95-104
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• 2005

TRIGA 연구로의 해체 시 발생하는 금속성 폐기물의 용융기술을 확립하기 위한 기초연구로 전기로 내에서 방사성 핵종(Co, Cs, Sr)을 포함한 알루미늄의 용융 시 용융온도, 용융시간 및 플럭스(flux)의 종류가 핵종의 분배 거동에 미치는 영향을 조사하였다. 플럭스의 종류에 따라 다소 차이는 있으나, 플럭스의 첨가로 알루미늄 용융체의 유동성이 증가됨을 확인할 수 있었다 용융 후주괴(ingot) 및 슬래그(slag) 시료의 XRD분석을 통해 핵종이 주괴에서 슬래그 상으로 이동하고 슬래그를 구성하고 있는 산화알루미늄과 결합하여 안정한 화합물을 형성함을 알 수 있었다. 슬래그의 발생량은 용융온도와 용융시간이 증가할수록 증가하는 경향을 보였으며, 증가속도는 플럭스의 종류에 따라 차이를 보였다. 핵종 중 Co는 용융온도가 증가함에 따라 주괴 내 에서는 감소하였으나 슬래그 상에서는 증가하는 경향을 보였으며, 실험조건에 따라 최대 90$\%$까지 주괴에서 슬래그로 이동하였다. 휘발성이 강한 Cs과 Sr은 대부분이 슬래그와 분진으로 이동하여 매우 높은 제염계수를 얻을 수 있었다.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2005년도 춘계 학술대회
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• pp.161-166
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• 2005

현재 원자력연구소의 방사성폐기물 저장시설에는 1988년 서울사무소의 폐쇄 과정에서 발생한 토양 약 3,100여 드럼이 저장되고 있다. 이 토양은 시설 저장용량의 약 $27\%$를 차지하고 있어 포화용량에 도달하고 있는 저장시설의 운영 및 관리를 어렵게 하는 요인이 되고 있다. 그러나 토양내에 함유되어 있는 주요 핵종이 Co-60과 Cs-137이며 저장한 기간이 16년가량 경과하였으므로 발생초기보다 방사능 농도가 많이 낮추어졌을 것으로 평가되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 토양의 규제해제를 위한 기반작업으로 토양의 핵종 및 방사능평가 작업을 수행하였다. 작업을 위하여 작업절차서의 개발, 밀폐형 작업실의 제작 등이 이루어졌으며, 시료의 채취를 통한 방사선학적 특성 분석이 수행되었다. 분석 결과 토양에 함유된 ${\gamma}$-선 방출핵종은 Co-60과 Cs-137만이 존재하는 것으로 나타났으며, 전체 ${\gamma}$-선 방출핵종의 농도는 약 $0.01\;{\sim}\;0.12$ Bq/g 인 것으로 평가되었다. 현재 토양의 규제해제를 예상하고 있는 시점인 2009년이 되면 이러한 농도는 더욱 낮아져 0.1 Bq/g 미만이 되며, 이러한 농도는 현재 IAEA에서 제시하고 있는 규제해제 농도를 만족시키는 수준이 될 것이다. 또한, 토양의 규제해제는 이러한 농도 기준 외에도 환경영향평가를 통하여 국내의 원자력법에 적법하도록 처리될 것이다.

• IEIE Transactions on Smart Processing and Computing
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.66-70
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• 2017

Radioactive materials are used in medicine, non-destructive testing, and nuclear plants. Source localization is especially important during nuclear decommissioning and decontamination because the actual location of the radioactive source within nuclear waste is often unknown. The coded-aperture imaging technique started with space exploration and moved into X-ray and gamma ray imaging, which have imaging process characteristics similar to each other. In this study, we simulated $21{\times}21$ and $37{\times}37$ coded aperture collimators based on a modified uniformly redundant array (MURA) pattern to make a gamma imaging system that can localize a gamma-ray source. We designed a $21{\times}21$ coded aperture collimator that matches our gamma imaging detector and did feasibility experiments with the coded aperture imaging system. We evaluated the performance of each collimator, from 2 mm to 10 mm thicknesses (at 2 mm intervals) using root mean square error (RMSE) and sensitivity in a simulation. In experimental results, the full width half maximum (FWHM) of the point source was $5.09^{\circ}$ at the center and $4.82^{\circ}$ at the location of the source was $9^{\circ}$. We will continue to improve the decoding algorithm and optimize the collimator for high-energy gamma rays emitted from a nuclear power plant.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제16권3호
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• pp.389-396
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• 2018

국내 가동원전 중 2-루프 가압경수로인 고리1호기는 약 40년 운전한 후, 2017년 6월 18일 영구정지되었다. 영구정지된 고리 1호기는 주요 해체작업을 수행하기전에 계통내 선량률을 저감시켜 작업자피폭을 최소화하기 위한 계통제염을 수행할 예정이다. 일반적으로, 계통제염 범위는 원자로압력용기, 가압기, 증기발생기, 화학 및 체적제어계통, 잔열제거계통 및 원자로 냉각재계통 주요배관을 포함한다. 이러한 계통 및 기기 등을 효율적으로 제염하기 위해서는 제염과정에서 원자로냉각재계통내 유동특성을 평가할 필요가 있다. 계통제염을 위해 순환유량을 제공하는 방법은 다양하나, 본 논문에서는 잔열제거펌프 운전에 따른 고리1호기 원자로냉각재계통내 유동특성을 평가하였다. 잔열제거펌프를 이용한 계통제염은 원자로냉각재 내 유량의 불균형을 초래하여 계통내 기기 및 배관 등에 불순물을 침적시켜 제염이 효율적이지 않다는 것으로 평가되었다.