• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.545-552
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• 2002

We developed an ultra low background gamma ray spectrometer particularly suitable for experiment which require lower detection limit. The background of a germanium spectrometer is suppressed by applying active and passive shielding technique at the same time. The active shielding devices consist of plastic scintillating plates of 50 mm thick and anti-coincidence electronic system. The shielding is made of 150 mm thick walls of very low activity lead,20 mm with activity of <10 Bq/kg and 130 mm with activity of <50 Bq/kg. The observed background count rates are 1.2 $s^{-1}$ and 0.36 $s^{-1}$ without and with the active shielding, respectively, overall the energy regions from 30 keV to 3 MeV The cosmic ray induced background is suppressed by a rate of 0.8 $s^{-1}$ at the present work. The detection efficiency curve necessary to obtain the radioactivity of environmental samples has been precisely determined on the energy regions from 80 to 2000 keV with a 10$^3$ ml marinelli beaker sample, consisting of the calibrated radionuclides $^{109}$ Cd, $^{57}$ CO, $^{139}$ Ce, $^{203}$ Hg, $^{113}$ Sn, $^{85}$Sr, $^{137}$ Cs, $^{60}$ Co and $^{88}$ Y. Virtues Of the method are demonstrated by measuring the activity of $^{137}$ Cs contained in the powdered milk.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.3
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• pp.470-477
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• 2018

With a highly functional methyl vinyl silicone rubber (VMQ) matrix and filler materials of $B_4C$, PbO, and benzophenone (BP) and through powder surface modification, silicone rubber mixing, and vulcanized molding, a flexible radiation shielding and resistant composite was prepared in the study. The dispersion property of the powder in the matrix filler was improved by powder surface modification. BP was added into the matrix to enhance the radiation resistance performance of the composites. After irradiation, the tensile strength, elongation, and tear strength of the composites decreased, while the Shore hardness of the composites and the crosslinking density of the VMQ matrix increased. Moreover, the composites with BP showed better mechanical properties and smaller crosslinking density than those without BP after irradiation. The initial degradation temperatures of the composites containing BP before and after irradiation were $323.6^{\circ}C$ and $335.3^{\circ}C$, respectively. The transmission of neutrons for a 2-mm thick sample was only 0.12 for an Am-Be neutron source. The transmission of ${\gamma}$-rays with energies of 0.662, 1.173, and 1.332 MeV for 2-cm thick samples were 0.7, 0.782, and 0.795, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1519-1526
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• 2023

For the first time Aluminium-BariumeZinc oxide nanocomposite (ZABONC) was synthesized by solution combustion method where calcination was carried out at low temperatures (600℃) to study the electromagnetic (EM) (X/γ) radiation shielding properties. Further for characterization purpose standard techniques like PXRD, SEM, UV-VISIBLE, FTIR were used to find phase purity, functional groups, surface morphology, and to do structural analysis and energy band gap determination. The PXRD pattern shows (hkl) planes corresponding to spinel cubic phase of ZnAl₂O4, cubic Ba(NO₃)₂, α and γ phase of Al₂O₃ which clearly confirms the formation of complex nano composite. From SEM histogram mean size of nano particles was calculated and is in the order of 17 nm. Wood and Tauc's relation direct energy band gap calculation gives energy gap of 2.9 eV. In addition, EM (X/γ) shielding properties were measured and compared with the theoretical ones using standard procedures (NaI (Tl) detector and multi channel analyzer MCA). For energy above 356 keV the measured shielding parameters agree well with the theory, while below this value slight deviation is observed, due to the influence of atomic/crystallite size of the ZABONC. Hence synthesized ZABONC can be used as a shielding material in EM (X/γ) radiation shielding.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.41-47
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• 2017

Considering that the X-ray apron used in the department of radiology is also used in the department of nuclear medicine, the study aimed to analyze the shielding rate of the apron according to types of radioisotopes, thus ${\gamma}$ ray energy, to investigate the protective effects. The radioisotopes used in the experiment were the top 5 nuclides in usage statistics $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$, $^{123}I$, and $^{201}Tl$, and the aprons were lead equivalent 0.35 mmPb aprons currently under use in the department of nuclear medicine. As a result of experiments, average shielding rates of aprons were $^{99m}Tc$ 31.59%, $^{201}Tl$ 68.42%, and $^{123}I$ 76.63%. When using an apron, the shielding rate of $^{131}I$ actually resulted in average dose rate increase of 33.72%, and $^{18}F$ showed an average shielding rate of -0.315%, showing there was almost no shielding effect. As a result, the radioisotopes with higher shielding rate of apron was in the descending order of $^{123}I$, $^{201}Tl$, $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$. Currently, aprons used in the nuclear medicine laboratory are general X-ray aprons, and it is thought that it is not appropriate for nuclear medicine environment that utilizes ${\gamma}$ rays. Therefore, development of nuclear medicine exclusive aprons suitable for the characteristics of radioisotopes is required in consideration of effective radiation protection and work efficiency of radiation workers.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.71-80
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• 2001

The threshold voltage shift observed in TDE (Total Dose Experiment) on board the KITAT-1 is converted into dose (rad($SiO_2$)) using the result of laboratory calibration with Co-60 gamma ray source in KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute). Simulation using the NASA radiation model of geomagnetosphere verifies that the dose difference between RADFET1 and RADFET3 observed on KITSAT-1 comes from the difference in shielding thickness at the position of these RADFETs.

• Applied Science and Convergence Technology
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.340-344
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• 2014

Ion pumps continue to be a staple in ultra-high vacuum (UHV) applications. Since their adoption as a primary UHV pump in the 1960's, it has been known that a variety of particles can emanate from within the ion pump and cause undesirable effects on current measurements and optics components. Historically the solution has been baffling and shielding which results in longer conductance paths to the ion pump. Those solutions can work, but require a larger pump and more vacuum plumbing to compensate for conductance losses. The first step was to fully understand the nature of the particles and their charges. Once those were characterized options for emissions reduction were evaluated. It was determined that an efficient design of shielding near the source of the particle generation site was the most cost effective solution. With a slight modification to the chamber of a small ion pump, internal shielding was developed that reduced the emissions by a factor of up to 1000 times.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.1
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• pp.178-184
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• 2020

The traditional methods for radiation shield design always only focus on either the structure or the components of the shields rather than both of them at the same time, which largely affects the shielding performance of the facilities, so in this paper, a novel method for designing the structure and components of shields simultaneously is put forward to enhance the shielding ability. The method is developed by using the genetic algorithm (GA) and the MCNP software. In the research, six types of shielding materials with different combinations of elements such as polyethylene (PE), lead (Pb) and Boron compounds are applied to the radiation shield design, and the performance of each material is analyzed and compared. Then two typical materials are selected based on the experiment result of the six samples, which are later verified by the Compact Accelerator Neutron Source (CANS) facility. By using this method, the optimal result can be reached rapidly, and since the design progress is semi-automatic for most procedures are completed by computer, the method saves time and improves accuracy.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3317-3323
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• 2022

Half Value Layer calculations theoretically need prior specification of linear attenuation calculations, since the HVL value is derived by dividing ln(2) by the linear attenuation coefficient. The purpose of this study was to establish a direct computational model for determining HVL, a vital parameter in nuclear radiation safety studies and shielding material design. Accordingly, a typical gamma-ray transmission setup has been modeled using MCNPX (version 2.4.0) general-purpose Monte Carlo code. The MCNPX code's INPUT file was designed with two detection locations for primary and secondary gamma-rays, as well as attenuator material between those detectors. Next, Half Value Layer values of some well-known gamma-ray shielding materials such as lead and ordinary concrete have been calculated throughout a broad gamma-ray energy range. The outcomes were then compared to data from the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Half Value Layer values obtained from MCNPX were reported to be highly compatible with the HVL values obtained from the NIST standard database. Our results indicate that the developed INPUT file may be utilized for direct computations of Half Value Layer values for nuclear safety assessments as well as medical radiation applications. In conclusion, advanced simulation methods such as the Monte Carlo code are very powerful and useful instruments that should be considered for daily radiation safety measures. The modeled MCNPX input file will be provided to the scientific community upon reasonable request.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.439-448
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• 1993

The B-type gamma knife unit was installed at Kyung-Hee University Hospital in March 1992. The selective beam plugging method can be used to reduce the low percentage isodose profiles of normal sensitive organ and to modify the isodose curves of treatment volume for better shaping of the target volume. For representing the changes of the low percentage isodose profiles, the variations of dose distribution for several cases were discussed in this paper. The film dosimetry was peformed for the evaluation of calculated isodose profiles predicted by KULA dose planning system. The results were verified by RFA-3 automatic densitometry. The clinical application of selective beam shielding method was peformed in 17 patients in 100 patients who have undergone gamma knife radiosurgery for a year. The calculated and the measured isodose profiles for the high percentage regions were well consistent with each other. When the target of pituitary tumor is macro-size, the selective beam shielding method is the most applicable method. When the target size, however, is small, the correct selection of the proper helmet size is very important. All patients were exposed almost about 3~12 Gy for brain stem, and 3~11.2 Gy for optic apparatus. It is recommended that the same or other plugging patterns with multiple isocenters should be used for protection of the radiosensitive normal structures with precise treatment of CNS lesions.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.1035-1039
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• 2010

Activation products generated by photoneutrons in concrete shielding wall around electron linac were estimated for a high energy X-ray container cargo inspection system. Monte carlo code, MCNPX2.5.0 was used for reference system of 9MeV fixed type dual-direction container cargo inspection system installed at major harbors in Korea. Activation products inventory generated by photoneutron (n,$\gamma$) reaction are estimated, and then radiation dose rate is calculated from the results.