• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.117-122
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• 2017

With the increase in leisure life, the population of ski resorts is rapidly increasing. The activity at the ski resort is likely to receive a direct chance of natural sunlight or space ray. Because it is located in the mountains where altitude exists. As a general rule, it is widely known that the higher the elevation rate, the more increasing the natural radiation dose. However, the natural radiation dose rate for the ski slopes has not been reported yet. Various ski resorts exist in Korea, but this study had chose 4 ski resorts to measure the natural dose of natural radiation. As a result, the natural radiation dose for the ski slope was measured at a relatively high dose of ordinary living areas. However, the level of natural radiation dose was not worrisome. It is recommended to wear ski wear or goggles to minimize natural radiation exposure at the ski slopes.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.151-160
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• 2023

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) proposes 11 industries that handle Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) that are considered to need management. A water treatment facility is one of the above industries that takes in groundwater and produces drinking water through a water treatment process. Groundwater can accumulate natural radionuclides such as uranium and thorium in raw water by contacting rocks or soil containing natural radionuclides. Therefore, there is a possibility that workers in water treatment facilities will be exposed due to the accumulation of natural radionuclides in the water treatment process. The goal of this study is to evaluate the external radiation dose according to the working type of workers in water treatment facilities. In order to achieve the above goal, the study was conducted by dividing it into 1) analysis of the exposure environment, 2) measurement of the external radiation dose rate 3) evaluation of the external radiation dose. In the stage of analyzing the exposure environment, major processes that are expected to occur significantly were derived. In the measurement stage of the external radiation dose rate, a map of the external radiation dose rate was prepared by measuring the spatial radiation dose rate in major processes. Through this, detailed measurement points were selected considering the movement of workers. In the external radiation dose evaluation stage, the external radiation dose was evaluated based on the previously derived external radiation dose rate and working time. As a result of measuring the external radiation dose rate at the detailed points of water treatment facilities A to C, it was 1.90×10^-1 to 3.75×10⁰ μSv h^-1, and the external radiation dose was analyzed as 3.27×10^-3 to 9.85×10^-2 mSv y^-1. The maximum external radiation dose appeared during the disinfection and cleaning of activated carbon at facility B, and it is judged that natural radionuclides were concentrated in activated carbon. It was found that the external radiation dose of workers in the water treatment facility was less than 1mSv y^-1, which is about 10% of the dose limit for the public. As a result of this study, it was found that the radiological effect of external radiation dose of domestic water treatment facility workers was insignificant. The results are expected to contribute as background data to present optimized safety management measures for domestic NORM industries in the future.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 1980

A portable count-ratemeter and a thermoluminescent detector ($CaSO_4:Dy$) have been used to obtain total gamma dose rates at approximately 50 locations during the course of several survey trips in the southeastern Korea. The purposes of these measurement were to provide a future reference data and to establish the approximate range of population exposure to the natural environmental radiation. The natural levels encountered ranged from a low of 14.6 microroentgen per hour to a high of 18.9 microroentgen per hour with a mean of $16.3{\pm}1.0$ microroentgen per hour. Among these results are the relatively high natural dose rate levels in the Masan area and Yangsan-Tongdosa area with the relatively low natural dose rate levels in the Gyeongsan-Cheongdo area and the Samrangjin-Jinyeong-Gimhae area.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3849-3854
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• 2022

The present work aims to optimize the radiation protection efficiency for ion-selective containers used in the liquid treatment for the nuclear power plant (NPP) cooling cycle. Some naturally occurring rocks were examined as filler materials to reduce absorbed dose and equivalent dos received from the radioactive waste container. Thus, the absorbed dose and equivalent dose were simulated at a distance of 1 m from the surface of the radioactive waste container using the Monte Carlo simulation. Both absorbed dose and equivalent dose rate are reduced by raising the filler thickness. The total absorbed dose is reduced from 7.66E-20 to 1.03E-20 Gy, and the equivalent dose is rate reduced from 183.81 to 24.63 µSv/h, raising the filler thickness between 0 and 17 cm, respectively. Also, the filler type significantly affects the equivalent dose rate, where the redorded equivalent dose rates are 24.63, 24.08, 27.63, 33.80, and 36.08 µSv/h for natural rocks basalt-1, basalt-2, basalt-sill, limestone, and rhyolite, respectively. The mentioned results show that the natural rocks, especially a thicker thickness (i.e., 17 cm thickness) of natural rocks basalt-1 and basalt-2, significantly reduce the gamma emissions from the radioactive wastes inside the modified container. Moreover, using an outer cementation concrete wall of 15 cm causes an additional decrease in the equivalent dose rate received from the container where the equivalent dose rate dropped to 6.63 µSv/h.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.100-104
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• 2009

In this study, the space gamma dose rates in the apartments structured with concrete were measured in accordance with construction year. In addition, the environmental radiation rates coming from the subway platforms and the road tunnels were analyzed in the equivalent dose by multiplying the absorbed dose with the radiation weighting factors. The space gamma dose rates measured in apartments were higher than those of outdoor which was $0.08{\sim}0.11uSv/h$ in the natural conditions. Especially, the older construction year is, the higher becomes space gamma dose rate. The average gamma dose rates in the subway platforms were measured. In the case of Busan and Daegu subway, the earlier the opening year is, the higher becomes dose rate. However, the dose rates of Seoul subway Lines were high overall, regardless of opening year. Seoul subway Line 6 showed the highest value of 0.21uSv/h. The gamma dose rate in road tunnels was higher than one of the outdoor and increased with opening year like as apartment. In dose rate comparison of the concrete structures with the outdoor, therefore, the space gamma dose rate of indoor is higher than one of the outdoor and the older structures have a higher dose rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1798-1806
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• 2020

In this study, we investigated whether there is a significant relationship between the natural radiation dose rate and the cancer incidences in Korea by using a big data analysis. The natural dose rate data for this analysis were the measurement data obtained from the 171 monitoring posts of the 113 administrative districts in Korea over the 10 years from 2007 to 2016. The relative cancer incidences for this analysis were the difference in the cancer patients per hundred thousand people year-on-year in the administrative districts with the five highest and the five lowest natural gamma dose rates each year over the same period. To analyze the correlation between the two variables, Spearman's rank correlation coefficient between the two rates was derived using R, a well-known big data analysis tool. The analysis showed that Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was more than 0.05 and that the correlation between the two variables was not statistically significant.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.161-165
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• 2005

The gamma-ray dose rates in air at 233 locations in Korea have been determined. The contribution to the gamma-ray dose rates in air due to the presence of $^{232}Th-series,\;^{238}U-series\;and\;^{40}K$ is as follows: 47.3% $(36\;nGyh^{-1})\;^{232}Th-series$ 14.5% $(11\;nGyh^{-1})\;^{238}U-series$ and 38.2% $(29\;nGyh^{-1})\;^{40}K$. The mean gamma-ray dose rate theoretically derived from $^{232}Th-series,\;^{238}U-series\;and\;^{40}K\;was\;76{\pm}17\;nGyh^{-1}$. This corresponds to an annual effective dose of $410\;{\mu}Sv$ and an annual collective dose of 18900 person-Sv for all provinces under study. The results have been compared with other global radiation dose.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.167-174
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• 2005

The concentrations of natural and artificial radionuclides in soil and gamma ray dose rate in air at 233 locations in Korea have been determined. The national mean concentrations of $^{232}Th,\;^{226}Ra,\;^{40}K,\;^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ in soil were $60{\pm}31,\;33{\pm}14,\;673{\pm}238,\;35{\pm}9.3\;and\;5.0{\pm}3.4\;Bq\;kg^{-1}$, respectively. The mean gamma-ray dose rate at 1 m above the ground was $7918\;nGy\;h^{-1}$. $^{137}Cs$ concentration had highly significant correlation with organic matter content and cation exchange capacity. $^{90}Sr$ concentration had slightly coherent with pH. The results have been compared with other global radioactivity and radiation measurements.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.3
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• pp.143-151
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• 2022

Background: After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident, biological alterations in the natural biota, including morphological changes of fir trees in forests surrounding the power plant, have been reported. Focusing on the terminal buds involved in the morphological formation of fir trees, this study developed a method for estimating the absorbed radiation dose rate using radionuclide distribution measurements from tree organs. Materials and Methods: A phantom composed of three-dimensional (3D) tree organs was constructed for the three upper whorls of the fir tree. A terminal bud was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations for the absorbed dose rate of radionuclides in the tree organs of the whorls. Evaluation of the absorbed dose targeted ¹³¹I, ¹³⁴Cs, and ¹³⁷Cs, the main radionuclides subsequent to the FDNPP accident. The dose contribution from each tree organ was calculated separately using dose coefficients (DC), which express the ratio between the average activity concentration of a radionuclide in each tree organ and the dose rate at the terminal bud. Results and Discussion: The dose estimation indicated that the radionuclides in the terminal bud and bud scale contributed to the absorbed dose rate mainly by beta rays, whereas those in 1-year-old trunk/branches and leaves were contributed by gamma rays. However, the dose contribution from radionuclides in the lower trunk/branches and leaves was negligible. Conclusion: The fir tree model provides organ-specific DC values, which are satisfactory for the practical calculation of the absorbed dose rate of radiation from inside the tree. These calculations are based on the measurement of radionuclide concentrations in tree organs on the 1-year-old leader shoots of fir trees. With the addition of direct gamma ray measurements of the absorbed dose rate from the tree environment, the total absorbed dose rate was estimated in the terminal bud of fir trees in contaminated forests.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2006

The measured mean activities of $^{226}Ra,\;^{232}Th,\;^{40}K\;and\;^{137}Cs$ in the soil of Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahimyar Khan Bistricts were 32.9, 53.6, 647.4 and 1.8 Bq $kg^{-1}$. The average absorbed dose rate calculated from these activities was 74.3 nGy $h^{-1}$ and the mean annual effective dose rate was found to be 0.46 mSv $y^{-1}$. Absorbed doses to different body organs were derived from annual effective doses using tissue weighting factors. Radiation induced fatal cancer risks were assessed by using ICRP 60 Model. Estimations incurred 184deaths per year due to cancer.