• Title/Summary/Keyword: Environmental Impact Investigation

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An Investigation on the Technical Background for Carbon-14 Monitoring in Radioactive Effluents (원자력시설의 Carbon-14 방사성유출물에 대한 감시배경의 조사)

  • Kim, Hee-Geun;Kong, Tae-Young;Jeong, Woo-Tae;Kim, Seok-Tae
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.34 no.4
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    • pp.195-200
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    • 2009
  • effluents to the environment. The activity of carbon-14, one of the radioactive effluents, in the environment is already high level and its effect on radiation exposure to the public and the environment is insignificant; thus, NPPs did not perform the carbon-14 monitoring in effluents in the past. By the way, effluents of noble gas and particulate radioactive materials originated from nuclear fuels has been continuously reduced due to both the advancement of manufacturing and integrity technology for nuclear fuels and the improvement of operation methods of NPPs. Futhermore, the portion of dose assessment by tritium and carbon-14 to the public has been relatively increased because the lower limit of detection for low-energy beta sources, such as tritium and carbon-14, is low due to the advancement of radiation detection technology. In this paper, the technical background for carbon-14 monitoring in nuclear facilities was investigated using United States technical reports and papers. This paper also reviews whether carbon-14 monitoring is necessary or not based on the investigated documents.

Factors Affecting Sustainable Web Technology Adoption : Pro-social Behavior Perspectives (지속가능한 웹 기술 수용에 영향을 미치는 요인에 관한 연구 : 친사회적 행동 관점)

  • Kim, Sunhee;Kwon, Ohbyung
    • The Journal of Society for e-Business Studies
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    • v.19 no.4
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    • pp.205-229
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    • 2014
  • Examination of the various impact factors on adoption sustainable IT can influence on the potential for creating sustainable businesses in today's society. However, the societal factor out of environmental factors, which stimulates customer intention to use sustainable IT, has seldom been investigated. In this paper, we examine the adoption of sustainable web technology from the pro-social behavior perspective. The concept of sustainable IT is theoretically examined based on social exchange theory. An empirical investigation is conducted into customer intention to use new sustainable IT. The results indicate that customers care about the social responsibility and usefulness of the sustainable IT-based services they choose. In this study, the social features of web technology and their influences on adoption are verified empirically for the first time. In addition, pro-sociality is identified as necessary to a perception of the socially responsible features of information technology. Furthermore, pro-social adoption behavior in the beginning stages of sustainable IT use is elucidated.

Groundwater-surface water interaction of the upstream area of the dam composed of accumulated sediments and reservoir in the upstream area of Searsvill Dam (Searsville 댐 상류부를 대상으로 한 퇴적토와 저수지로 구성된 지하수 시스템의 지하수-지표수 상호작용)

  • Kim, Dongkyun
    • Journal of Wetlands Research
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    • v.15 no.1
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    • pp.43-50
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    • 2013
  • The groundwater-surface water interaction of Searsville Lake area, California, US was analyzed using 3-dimensional groundwater model. This study especially focuses on investigating the groundwater head drawdown near the lake when the abrupt decline of the lake water table occurs due to the implementation of the options to remove the accumulated sediments along the dam. The result of the investigation revealed that the groundwater head drawdown near the lake is not significant enough to adversely affect the wetland habitat of the area regardless of the hydrogeologic parameters of the aquifers. We expect this result provides useful information to the similar Korean case studies in which the surface water level abruptly changes due to the operation of the hydraulic gates of dams and wiers and the corresponding environmental impact should be considered.

Wind tunnel investigation of correlation and coherence of wind loading on generic tall twin buildings in close proximity

  • Lim, Juntack;Bienkiewicz, Bogusz
    • Wind and Structures
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    • v.18 no.4
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    • pp.443-456
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    • 2014
  • A popular modern architectural form for tall buildings is two (or more) towers which are structurally linked through such features as a shared podium or sky-bridges. The fundamental features of the wind loading and the structural links of such buildings can be studied by measuring load components on the individual unlinked towers along with their correlations. This paper describes application of dual high frequency force balance (DHFFB) in a wind tunnel study of the base wind loading exerted on generic tall twin buildings in close proximity. Light models of two identical generic tall buildings of square plan were mounted on DHFFB and the base wind loading exerted on the buildings was simultaneously acquired. The effects of the relative positions of the buildings on the correlations and coherences involving loading components on each building and on the two buildings were investigated. For some relative positions, the effects of the building proximity on the wind loading were significant and the loading was markedly different from that exerted on single buildings. In addition, the correlations between the loadings on the two buildings were high. These effects have potential to significantly impact, for example, the modally-coupled resonant responses of the buildings to the aerodynamic excitations. The presented results were not meant to be recommended for direct application in wind resistant design of tall twin buildings. They were intended to show that wind loading on tall buildings in close proximity is significantly different from that on single buildings and that it can be conveniently mapped using DHFFB.

The Impact of Comfort of built Environment and Microclimate on Outdoor Activities in Urban Space (건조환경의 쾌적성과 미기후가 도시공간의 외부활동 지속에 미치는 영향 분석)

  • Jeong, Yunnam;Lee, Gunwon
    • Asia-pacific Journal of Multimedia Services Convergent with Art, Humanities, and Sociology
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    • v.9 no.5
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    • pp.565-575
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    • 2019
  • This study aimed to examine the influence of physical environment, microclimate, and comfort on sustaining outdoor activities. This study has identified the main factors that influence sustaining outdoor activities as physical environment, comfort in the physical environment, microclimate and microclimate comfort. For analysis, the study conducted the investigation on pedestrian walkability during spring, summer and winter of the year 2017. The microclimate levels were also recorded at the same time. The method of logit regression analysis was used to analyze these outcomes. The result showed that the comfort and safety of the physical environment as well as the ideal climatic conditions, in terms of temperature, wind level, and solar insolation, were related to sustaining outdoor activities. Also, walking and shopping in the physical and climatic environment were the factors that were found to be more influenced than the act of remaining in a place and forming conversations.

Construction of Aquatic Environmental Database Near Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant (월성 원전 주변 수생 환경 자료 구축)

  • Suh, Kyung-Suk;Min, Byung-Il;Yang, Byung-Mo;Kim, Jiyoon;Park, Kihyun;Kim, Sora
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.235-243
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    • 2019
  • Radioactive materials are released into the air and deposited on the surface soil after a nuclear accident. Radionuclides deposited in soil are transported by precipitation to nearby environments and contaminate the surface water system. Basic data on surface watershed and soil erosion models have been collected and analyzed to evaluate the behavior of radionuclides deposited on surface soil after a nuclear accident. Data acquisition and analysis in aquatic environment were performed to investigate the physical characteristics and variation of biota in rivers and lakes of the Nakdong river area near the Wolsong nuclear power plant. For these purposes, a digital map, and hydrological, water quality and biota data were gathered and a systematic database (DB) was constructed in connection with them. Constructed aquatic DB will be supplied and used in surface watershed and soil erosion models for investigation of long-term movement of radionuclides in adsorptive form in surface soil. Finally, basic data and established models will be utilized for general radiological impact assessment in aquatic environment.

Investigation of the Effect of Seaweed Nanofibers in Jute Fiber-reinforced Composites as an Additive (해초 나노섬유가 황마섬유 강화 복합재료의 기계적 물성에 미치는 영향)

  • Kim, Jae-Cheol;Lee, Dong-Woo;Song, Jung-Il
    • Composites Research
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    • v.31 no.6
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    • pp.398-403
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    • 2018
  • Recently, environmental pollution caused by plastic waste, ecosystem disturbance of micro-plastics and human body accumulation are becoming big problems. In order to replace the traditional plastic, eco-friendly resin and natural fiber-based composite materials have been developed, but they have a disadvantage that their mechanical properties are significantly lower than those of synthetic fiber-based composites. In this study, eco - friendly nanofiber was extracted from seaweed and used as an additive in order to improve the mechanical properties of jute fiber-reinforced composites. Through the hand lay-up process, the composites were fabricated, and it was confirmed that the nanofiber was effective in improving the mechanical properties of natural fiber composites through tensile, bending and drop weight impact tests.

Experimental and numerical investigation of closure time during artificial ground freezing with vertical flow

  • Jin, Hyunwoo;Go, Gyu-Hyun;Ryu, Byung Hyun;Lee, Jangguen
    • Geomechanics and Engineering
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    • v.27 no.5
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    • pp.433-445
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    • 2021
  • Artificial ground freezing (AGF) is a commonly used geotechnical support technique that can be applied in any soil type and has low environmental impact. Experimental and numerical investigations have been conducted to optimize AGF for application in diverse scenarios. Precise simulation of groundwater flow is crucial to improving the reliability these investigations' results. Previous experimental research has mostly considered horizontal seepage flow, which does not allow accurate calculation of the groundwater flow velocity due to spatial variation of the piezometric head. This study adopted vertical seepage flow-which can maintain a constant cross-sectional area-to eliminate the limitations of using horizontal seepage flow. The closure time is a measure of the time taken for an impermeable layer to begin to form, this being the time for a frozen soil-ice wall to start forming adjacent to the freeze pipes; this is of great importance to applied AGF. This study reports verification of the reliability of our experimental apparatus and measurement system using only water, because temperature data could be measured while freezing was observed visually. Subsequent experimental AFG tests with saturated sandy soil were also performed. From the experimental results, a method of estimating closure time is proposed using the inflection point in the thermal conductivity difference between pore water and pore ice. It is expected that this estimation method will be highly applicable in the field. A further parametric study assessed factors influencing the closure time using a two-dimensional coupled thermo-hydraulic numerical analysis model that can simulate the AGF of saturated sandy soil considering groundwater flow. It shows that the closure time is affected by factors such as hydraulic gradient, unfrozen permeability, particle thermal conductivity, and freezing temperature. Among these factors, changes in the unfrozen permeability and particle thermal conductivity have less effect on the formation of frozen soil-ice walls when the freezing temperature is sufficiently low.

Investigation of Changes in Fluvial Landforms in the Yeoju Reach of the Han River by the Han River Restoration Project (한강살리기사업에의한 한강 여주 구간의 하천 지형 변화 고찰)

  • Kim, Jong Yeon
    • Journal of The Geomorphological Association of Korea
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    • v.27 no.2
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    • pp.29-46
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    • 2020
  • In this study, changes in the fluvial landforms of the Yeoju section of the Han River, which was made up of the Han River Restoration Project, were examined through existing previous research data, government's environmental impact assessment data, satellite images, and field observations. For example, In the vicinity of Dori Island, the most upstream part of the study section, the location of the confluence of the Han River and Cheongmi Stream was changed, and it was found that a significant portion of the sand sedimentary layer disappeared. In the Bawuinupgubi area, the wetland, which is the first class in the ecological nature, was greatly modified, and the elevation of the ground rose as Gangcheon island and it was completely separated from the river by dredging The confluence of Geumdangcheon and the point bar of Yeonyang-ri in the south were also dredged, turned into an artificial waterfront park, and a chute channel remained in the form of a wetland was also developed as a recreational park. The deposional forms around Baekseok-ri islands also disappeared as dredging was carried out. Among the areas adjacent to the confluence of Bokcheon and Yangchon-ri Island, some sedimentay forms remains, but the abandonned channel between Yangchon-ri and the northern river bank has been changed into a riverside reservoir through dredging and embankment construction, and the waterway of the tributary river(Yazoo) has been greatly changed.

Assessment of cold-formed steel screwed beam-column conections: Experimental tests and numerical simulations

  • Merve Sagiroglu Maali;Mahyar Maali;Zhiyuan Fang;Krishanu Roy
    • Steel and Composite Structures
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    • v.50 no.5
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    • pp.515-529
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    • 2024
  • Cold-formed steel (CFS) is a popular choice for construction due to its low cost, durability, sustainability, resistance to high environmental and seismic pressures, and ease of installation. The beam-column connections in residential and medium-rise structures are formed using self-drilling screws that connect two CFS channel sections and a gusset plate. In order to increase the moment capacity of these CFS screwed beam-column connections, stiffeners are often placed on the web area of each single channel. However, there is limited literature on studying the effects of stiffeners on the moment capacity of CFS screwed beam-column connections. Hence, this paper proposes a new test approach for determining the moment capacity of CFS screwed beam-column couplings. This study describes an experimental test programme consisting of eight novel experimental tests. The effect of stiffeners, beam thickness, and gusset plate thickness on the structural behaviour of CFS screwed beam-column connections is investigated. Besides, nonlinear elasto-plastic finite element (FE) models were developed and validated against experimental test data. It found that there was reasonable agreement in terms of moment capacity and failure mode prediction. From the experimental and numerical investigation, it found that the increase in gusset plate or beam thickness and the use of stiffeners have no significant effect on the structural behaviour, moment capacity, or rotational capacity of joints exhibiting the same collapse behaviour; however, the capacity or energy absorption capacities have increased in joints whose failure behaviour varies with increasing thickness or using stiffeners. Besides, the thickness change has little impact on the initial stiffness.