• 한국지하수토양환경학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국지하수토양환경학회 2003년도 추계학술발표회
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• pp.3-10
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• 2003

Soil and groundwater contamination by petroleum hydrocarbon products is only one of many environmental problems in Korea. However, many environmental consulting companies have been targeted their business on this subject because the petroleum-oil-lubricant (POL) products have been widely used product and accidental releases of the products from storages resulted numerous small and large contaminated sites throughout Korea. Therefore, many small and large companies are actively participating in environmental assessment and remediation projects for the POL contaminated sites. Remedial technologies for the POL contaminated sites have been developed for many years by government and private institutions throughout the world. Development of a new decontamination technology for the POL contaminated sites is no longer attractive issue in research community because scientific bases of most cost-effective remedial technologies are well understood and have been used in the field by commercial sector. Numerous sites contaminated by underground tanks at gas stations have been remediated by relatively small companies in this country. We should appreciate their noticeable contributions as a frontier under very difficult market environment in Korea. We heard many successful stories as well as a few failure stories. Soil-groundwater remediation of POL contaminated site is not a simple task as shown in the text books or protocols. Therefore, failure risk is always with us, which requires continuous efforts for improvement of the technologies by the users and developers. In this presentation, author will discuss technical problems encountered and improvement made during implementation of several remedial technologies applied by Samsung Environmental Team. This is not a presentation about research or case study. We want to share our thought and experience with environmental engineers actively engaged in soil and groundwater remediation projects in Korea.

• 한국초전도ㆍ저온공학회논문지
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.31-35
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• 2019

Andong-dam was built up in 1967 and it is one of the biggest dams in Korea. Previous studies showed that the sediments are highly contaminated with heavy metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Many research projects are going on to find out the source of the contamination, to evaluate the toxicities to ecosystem, to estimate the volume of sediment to be treated and to find out a good remediation method. Reports show that the sediment is highly contaminated and the main contamination source is supposed to be abandoned mines and a zinc refinery located upper stream of the river. A magnetic separation has been tested as a treatment method for the dredged sediment. Lab scale test showed that the magnetically captured portion is about 10% in weight but the contamination of heavy metal is much higher than the contamination of the passed portion. This indicates that a magnetic separation could be applied for the purpose of reduction of sediment to be treated and for increasing the volume of low toxic sediments which can be dumped as general waste. A magnetic separation using a HGMS has been tested for the sediment with variable magnetic field and the results showed the higher magnetic field increase the captured portion but the concentrating effect of heavy metal was weakened. Further study is needed to establish a useful technology and optimization between decontamination and reduction of sediment volume.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제24권12호
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• pp.1601-1608
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• 2015

This study evaluates heavy metal(Cu and Cr) adsorption characteristics produced from food waste charcoal extracted in an optimal operation condition after analyzing activated charcoal of iodine adsorption and heavy metals that derived from an activation process of carbide by the developed by-products of food waste treatment facility using the methods from previous studies. As experiment apparatus, this study used a tube-shaped high temp furnace. The mixing ratio of by-products of food waste treatment facility, carbide, and activation component($ZnCl_2$) was 1:1. The experiment was proceeded as adjusting the activation temperature from 400 to $800^{\circ}C$ and activation time from 30 to 120 minutes. The optimal activation condition for iodine absorption was 90 minutes at $700^{\circ}C$ and by using the produced food waste charcoal, this study conducted an experiment on absorption of heavy metals (Cu and Cr) as changing pH of artificial wastewater and stirring time. As a result, pH 7 showed the highest heavy metal decontamination ratio and in terms of stirring time, it revealed balance adsorption after 10 minutes. This result can be particularly applied as basic data for recyclability of high concentration organic waste, by-products of food waste treatment facility, as an food waste charcoal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권4호
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• pp.1210-1217
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• 2021

The analysis of ⁴¹Ca in concrete generated from the nuclear facilities decommissioning is critical for ensuring the safe management of radioactive waste. An analytical method for the determination of ⁴¹Ca in concrete is described. ⁴¹Ca is a neutron-activated long radionuclide, and hence, for accurate analysis, it is necessary to completely extract Ca from the concrete sample where it exists as the predominant element. The decomposition methods employed were the acid leaching, microwave digestion, and alkali fusion. A comparison of the results indicated that the alkali fusion is the most suitable way for the separation of Ca from the concrete sample. Several processes of hydroxide and carbonate precipitation were employed to separate ⁴¹Ca from interferences. The method relies on the differences in the solubility of the generated products. The behavior of Ca and the interfering elements such as Fe, Ni, Co, Eu, Ba, and Sr is examined at each separation step. The purified ⁴¹Ca was measured by a liquid scintillation counter, and the quench curve and counting efficiency were determined by using a certified reference material of known ⁴¹Ca activity. The recoveries in this study ranged from 56 to 68%, and the minimum detectable activity was 50 mBq g^-1 with 0.5 g of concrete sample.

• 상하수도학회지
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• 제32권5호
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• pp.399-409
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• 2018

Prussian blue is known as a superior material for selective adsorption of radioactive cesium ions; however, the separation of Prussian blue from aqueous suspension, due to particle size of around several tens of nanometers, is a hurdle that must be overcome. Therefore, this study aims to develop granule type adsorbent material containing Prussian blue in order to selectively adsorb and remove radioactive cesium in water. The surface of granular activated carbon was grafted using a covalent organic polymer (COP-19) in order to enhance Prussian blue immobilization. To maximize the degree of immobilization and minimize subsequent detachment of Prussian blue, several immobilization pathways were evaluated. As a result, the highest cesium adsorption performance was achieved when Prussian blue was synthesized in-situ without solid-liquid separation step during synthesis. The sample obtained under optimal conditions was further analyzed by scanning electron microscope-energy dispersive spectrometry, and it was confirmed that Prussian blue, which is about 9.7% of the total weight, was fixed on the surface of the activated carbon; this level of fixing represented a two-fold improvement compared to before COP-19 modification. In addition, an elution test was carried out to evaluate the stability of Prussian blue. Leaching of Prussian blue and cesium decreased by 1/2 and 1/3, respectively, compared to those levels before modification, showing increased stability due to COP-19 grafting. The Prussian blue based adsorbent material developed in this study is expected to be useful as a decontamination material to mitigate the release of radioactive materials.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제26권1호
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• pp.54-64
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• 2021

The chemical warfare agents (CWAs) have been developed for offensive or defensive purposes and used as chemical weapons in war and terrorism. The CWAs are exposed to the natural environment, transported through the water system and then eventually contaminate soil and groundwater. Therefore, effective decontamination technology to remediate CWAs are needed. The CWAs are extremely dangerous and prodution is strictly prohibited, therefore, it is difficult to use CWAs even in experimental purpose. In this study, 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) was chosen as a model representative CWA because it is a simulant of anti-plant CWAs and one of the major component of agent orange. The optimum degradation conditions such as oxidant:activator ratio were determined. The effects of hydroxylamine and chelating agents such as citric acid (CA), oxalic acid (OA), malic acid (MA), and EDTA addition to increase Fe2+ activation were also investigated. Scavenger experiments using tert-butyl alcohol (TBA) and ethanol confirmed that although both sulfate (SO4•-) and hydroxyl radical (•OH) existed in Fe2+-persulfate system, sulfate radical was the predominant radical. To promote the Fe2+ activator effect, the effect of hydroxylamine as a reducing agent was investigated. In chelating agents assisted Fe2+-persulfate oxidation, the addition of 2 mM of CA and MA enhanced 2,4-D degradation. In contrast, EDTA and OA inhibited the 2,4-D removal due to steric hindrance effect.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.339-346
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• 2021

Purpose: To determine the extent of environmental contamination and the effect of disinfection around patients with carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measurements and microbial culture tests. Methods: The subjects of this study were 10 patients hospitalized in a single room due to CRE from April 13 to 21, 2021. One hundred and sixty samples were collected using cotton swabs from the patients' environment including the surface and drain of sinks and toilet seats before and after disinfection of the room after discharge. Twenty-one samples were collected from the nurses' personal digital assistants (PDAs), keyboards, and computer mice before disinfection. The relative light units (RLUs) and CRE colony-forming units (CFU) of 181 samples were measured using ATP test equipment and chrome agar plates, respectively. Results: The highest RLUs were measured at the sink drains before and after disinfection. Four CRE samples from the sink drains (2), sink surface (1), and toilet bowl (1) before disinfection were cultured. Based on the failure criteria (≥ 250 RLU/cm² and ≥ 1 CFU/100 cm²), 90 % and 50 % of the samples from the drain exceeded the failure criteria before and after disinfection, respectively. In the culture tests, CRE was not detected after disinfection. Conclusion: According to the RLU and CFU measurements of drain samples, disinfection was not effective. Thus, improvements in the disinfection methods of drains, as well as more efficient and systematic environmental decontamination and disinfection evaluation tools, are needed to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of disinfection in various places.

• 제어로봇시스템학회:학술대회논문집
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• 제어로봇시스템학회 2003년도 ICCAS
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• pp.849-854
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• 2003

The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has developed a teleoperated cleaning robot for use in the radioactive zone of the isolation room of the Irradiated Material Examination Facility where direct human access to the interior is strictly limited. The teleoperated cleaning robot that was designed to completely eliminate human interaction with the hazardous radioactive contaminants has five remotely replaceable submodules - a mobile module for navigation, a cleaning module for dislodging and sucking contaminated waste, a sensing module for obstacle avoidance, a collection module for storing the acquired waste, and a cover module for protecting the collection module. This cleaning robot is capable of cleaning the contaminated floor surface of the isolation room and collecting loose dry spent nuclear fuel debris and other radioactive waste fixed or scattered on the floor surface. The developed cleaning robot is operated either by a manual control or by autonomous control in conjunction with a graphical simulator, by which the human operator can monitor and intervene the robot performing cleanup tasks in the isolation room. In this paper, we present the mechanical and environmental design considerations and development of the teleoperated cleaning robot for radioactive isolation room use. We also demonstrate its mock-up performance test results from the viewpoint of a remote cleanup operation and remote maintenance.

• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제6권1호
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

In spite of colossal efforts taken for safe handling and storage of radioactive waste, the uncontrolled release of radiocesium ($^{137}Cs$ and $^{134}Cs$ isotopes) into the natural environment is inevitable. $^{137}Cs$ is of particular concern because of its long half-life, ability to transfer into biota through food chains, as well as its great mobility, bioavailability, and chemical and ecophysiological similarity with potassium. Radiocesium is released anthropogenically into the environment. Mushrooms are known for their ability to accumulate radionuclides, particularly radiocesium, which is heterogeneously distributed in the individual parts of mushrooms, and it is found that mushrooms are a hyper-accumulator of radiocesium from their environment than other vegetation. Mushrooms play a major role in the mobilization, accumulation, and translocation of cesium, i.e., decontamination of soils (mycoextraction) polluted with cesium radioisotopes, and this capacity appears to be a relevant bioindicator of cesium contamination in the environment. Moreover, the extension of mycelium into the soil makes the use of mushrooms as bioindicators of radiocesium possible. This paper reviews the potential of mushrooms in the accumulation of radiocesium from the environment, and dissertates the salient features to support the employment of mushrooms in environmental biomonitoring as a sensitive bioindicator of radiocesium contamination.

• 한국방사성폐기물학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국방사성폐기물학회 2018년도 추계학술논문요약집
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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.