• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.43-51
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• 1999

In order to remediate hazardous waste site, a process of electrokinetically purging chemicals from saturated soil is examined by laboratory experiments. Electrokinetic soil remediation is one of the most promising soil decontamination processes that habe igh removal efficiency and time-effectiveness in low-permeability soils such as clay. Being combined with several mechanisms-electromigration, elec troosmosis, diffusion and electrolysis of water, electrokinetic soil processing can remove non-polar organics as well as ionic contaminants. The objectives of this study are; 1) the exploration of the feasibility of electrokinetic soil processing on the removal of heavy metals, 2) the investigation of applicability to the tailing-soils in aban doned mining area, 3) the examination of effects of soil pH and conductivity on the transport phenomena of elements in soils, and 4) the investigation of the applicability of the ionexchange membrance to the efficient collection of heavy metals removed from contaminated soils. With the result of this study, it is suggested that the removal efficiency is significantly influenced by applied voltage & current, type of purging solutions, soil pH, permeability and zeta potentials of soil. Although further study should be needed, it is possible to collect removed heavy metals with ion-exchange membrance in cathode compartment.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.20-27
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• 2023

Background: As the number of nuclear facilities nearing their pre-determined design life increases, demand is increasing for technology and infrastructure related to the decommissioning and decontamination (D&D) process. It is necessary to consider the nature of the dismantling environment constantly changing and the worker doing new tasks. A method was studied that can calculate the effect of learning and the change in work time on the work process, according to the learning-forgetting curve model (LFCM). Materials and Methods: The LFCM was analyzed, and input values and scenarios were analyzed for substitution into the D&D process of a nuclear facility. Results and Discussion: The effectiveness and efficiency of the training were analyzed. It was calculated that skilled workers can receive a 16.9% less collective radiation dose than workers with only basic training. Conclusion: Using these research methods and models, it was possible to calculate the change in the efficiency of workers performing new tasks in the D&D process and the corresponding reduction in the work time and collective dose.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.597-604
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• 2003

In the soil washing process, the contaminants are usually removed by abrasion from soil particles using mechanical energy and water However, organic contaminants with low water solubility like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) are remained on soil particles. Previous studies have shown that surfactant possessing amphipathic activity enhances the solubility of organic materials. For this reason solutions with surfactants have been used to improve removal of organic contaminants on soil washing process. But, in this manner, many problems were found like complete loss of surfactants and additional contamination by surfactant. The remediation method using microemulsion has been introduced to overcome these disadvantages. In this case, surfactants are recycled by phase separation of microemulsion after remediation. In microemulsion process, the surfactant will be recycled by phase separation of the microemulsion into a surfactant-rich aqueous phase and an oil phase after extraction. That is why remediation concept applying microemulsion as washing media has been Introduced. Suitable microemulsion have to be used in order to have the chance of refilling the soil after decontamination and to avoid any risk due to toxicity. The purpose of this research is to evaluate effect of microemulsion to remediation of contaminated soil. We performed test with various organic contaminants like Pyrene and BTEX, also compared efficiency of remediation in microemulsion process with soil washing

• 한국생물공학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.77-80
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• 2001

Groundwater, contaminated predominantly with aromatic compounds and chlorinated ethylene, could be biologically treated in a fluidized-bed reactor with immobilized cells. The decomposition efficiency for the aromatics was over 90% at the retention time of 2.5 h. The chlorinated ethylenes, especially trichloroethylene (TCE) and cis-dichloroethylene (DCE), could be decomposed only insufficiently. No anaerobic methane formation was observed for this groundwater even at a very low dissolved oxygen (DO) concentration of 0.75 mg/L. The variation of DO concentration resulted in an optimal value of 1.5 mg/L. The recycle of air waste could increase the utilization of oxygen. The amount of low boiling pollutants stripped out remained constant with the recycle, while for the higher boiling pollutants the stripping slightly increased. Using air instead of oxygen increases the flow rate of air waste, which is connected to a higher stripping of pollutants. In this investigation, the pollutant concentration in the air waste remained constant. The stripping of main pollutants did not exceed 0.3 %.

• Analytical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.438-442
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• 2004

To determine the contents of $^{99}Tc$ in the spent PWR (pressurized water reactor) nuclear fuels by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry), a technetium separation method using an extraction chromatographic resin (TEVA Spec resin) has been established. $^{99}Tc$ was separated from a spent PWR nuclear fuel solution by this separation procedure and its concentration was determined by ICP-MS. The result agrees well with the value calculated by the program ORIGEN 2 and also the value measured by AG MP-1 resin/ICP-MS method described in our previous paper. It can be concluded that the present separation procedure is superior to the AG MP-1 resin procedure with respect to the time required for technetium separation as well as the efficiency of decontamination from other radioactive nuclides.

• Journal of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.117-124
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• 2002

Counterflow oxidation was developed and evaluated for treatment of organics that adsorbed in/on granular activated carbon(GAC). This reaction is a method that destructs and removes organics adsorbed, at the same time, regenerates waste carbon, uti lizing a self-sustained flame which propagates itself ina direction counter to the oxygen flow. The results showed that the mass loss of carbon and flam temperature were strongly dependent on the flow rate of oxyen, adsorptive capability of regenerated carbon completely was recovered, as well as destrution and removal efficiency of thermally stable PCBs was achieved with the value of better than 99.99%.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.184-190
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• 2014

Decommissioning process of nuclear facilities consist of a sequence of problem solving activities, because there may exist not only working environments contaminated by radiological exposure but also industrial hazards such as fire, explosions, toxic materials, and electrical and physical hazards. Therefore, not a few countries in the world have been trying to develop appropriate counter techniques in order to guarantee safety and efficiency of the process. In spite of that, there still exists neither domestic nor international standard. Unfortunately, however, there are few workers who experienced decommissioning operations a lot in the past. As a solution, it is quite necessary to utilize experts' opinions for risk assessment in decommissioning process. As for an individual hazard factor, risk assessment techniques are getting known to industrial workers with advance of safety technology, but the way how to integrate those results is not yet. This paper aimed to find out an appropriate technique to integrate individual risk assessment results from the viewpoint of experts. Thus, on one hand the whole risk assessment activity for decommissioning operations was modeled as a sequence of individual risk assessment steps which can be classified into two activities, decontamination and dismantling, and on the other, a risk assessment structure was introduced. The whole model was inferred with Fuzzy theory and techniques, and a numerical example was appended for comprehension.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.379-379
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• 2018

MXenes are a new family of 2D transition metal carbide nanosheets analogous to graphene (Lv et al., 2017; Sun et al., 2018). Due to the easy availability, hydrophilic behavior, and tunable chemistry of MXenes, their use in applications for environmental pollution remediation such as heavy metal adsorption has recently been explored (Li et al., 2017). In this study, three-dimensional (3D) MXene ($Ti_3C_2T_x$) films with high adsorption capacity, good mechanical strength, and high selectivity for specific radionuclide from aquose solution were successfully fabricated by a polymeric precursor method using vacuum-assisted filtration. The highest removal efficiency on the films was 99.54%, 95.61%, and 82.79% for $Sr^{2+}$, $Co^{2+}$, and $Cs^+$, respectively, using a film dosage of 0.06 g/ L in the initial radionuclide solution (each radionuclide concentration = 1 mg/L and pH = 7.0). Especially, the adsorption process reached an equilibrium within 30 min. The expanded interlayer spacing of $Ti_3C_2T_x$ sheets in MXene films showed excellent radionuclide selectivity ($Cs^+$ and/or $Sr^{2+}/Co^{2+}$) (Simon, 2017). Besides, the MXene films was not only able to be easily retrieved from an aqueous solution by filtration after decontamination processes, but also to selectively separate desired target radionuclides in the solutions. Therefore, the newly developed MXene ($Ti_3C_2T_x$) films has a great potential for radionuclide removal from aqueous solution.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.374-389
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• 2023

Organophosphorus (OP) pesticides, particularly malathion, parathion, diazinon, and chlorpyrifos, are widely used in both agricultural and residential contexts. This refractory quality is shared by certain organ phosphorus insecticides, and it may have unintended consequences for certain non-target soil species. Bioremediation cleans organic and inorganic contaminants using microbes and plants. Organophosphate-hydrolyzing enzymes can transform pesticide residues into non-hazardous byproducts and are increasingly being considered viable solutions to the problem of decontamination. When coupled with system analysis, the multi-omics technique produces important data for functional validation and genetic manipulation, both of which may be used to boost the efficiency of bioremediation systems. RNA-guided nucleases and RNA-guided base editors include zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs), and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR), which are used to alter genes and edit genomes. The review sheds light on key knowledge gaps and suggests approaches to pesticide cleanup using a variety of microbe-assisted methods. Researches, ecologists, and decision-makers can all benefit from having a better understanding of the usefulness and application of systems biology and gene editing in bioremediation evaluations.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.199-205
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• 2023

Arsenic is a highly toxic element, and its contamination is widespread around the world. The natural materials with high selectivity and efficiency toward pollutants are important in wastewater treatment technology. In this study, the mesoporous synthetic hectorite was synthesized by facile hydrothermal crystallization of gels comprising silica, magnesium hydroxide, and lithium fluoride. Additionally, the naturally available clay was modified using zirconium at room temperature. Both synthetic and modified natural clays were employed in the removal of arsenate from aquatic environments. The materials were fully characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) analyses. The synthesized materials were used to remove arsenic (V) under varied physicochemical conditions. Both materials, i.e., Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, showed high percentage removal of arsenic (V) at lower pH, and the efficiency decreased in an alkaline medium. The equilibrium-state sorption data agrees well with the Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms, and the maximum sorption capacity is found to be 4.608 and 2.207 mg/g for Zr-bentonite and Zr-hectorite, respectively. The kinetic data fits well with the pseudo-second order kinetic model. Furthermore, the effect of the background electrolytes study indicated that arsenic (V) is specifically sorbed at the surface of these two nanocomposites. This study demonstrated that zirconium intercalated synthetic hectorite as well as zirconium modified natural clays are effective and efficient materials for the selective removal of arsenic (V) from aqueous medium.