• 방사선산업학회지
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• 제17권4호
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• pp.443-449
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• 2023

KAERI(Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) is conducting research and development of large-scale radiation generators and the latest radiation measuring instruments. In particular, research and development of security screening equipment using an electron beam accelerator and a neutron generator is in progress recently. Globally, 20 ft containers are used to transport imports and exports, and electron beam accelerators are radiation sources to measure the shape of the material inside the container during customs inspections in each country. KAERI is developing a device that can use an electron beam accelerator and a neutron generator sequentially to grasp the shape of various materials as well as the location of the internal target material. In this study, when using the neutron generator, the radiation dose and the degree of activation by neutron for the facility and surrounding environment, facility equipment were simulated using MCNP and FISPACT code. As a result, the shielding structures inside and outside the radiation control area were satisfactory to the reference level established conservatively based on the Korean Nuclear Act.

• 한국의학물리학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국의학물리학회 2006년도 제33회 추계학술대회 발표논문집
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• pp.131-131
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• 2006

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.378-383
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• 2016

Background: Radiation dose rates in PRIDE facility is evaluated quantitatively for assessing radiation safety of workers because of large amounts of depleted uranium being handled in PRIDE facility. Even if direct radiation from depleted uranium is very low and will not expose a worker to significant amounts of external radiation. Materials and Methods: ORIGEN-ARP code was used for calculating the neutron and gamma source term being generated from depleted uranium (DU), and the MCNP5 code was used for calculating the neutron and gamma fluxes and dose rates. Results and Discussion: The neutron and gamma fluxes and dose rates due to DU on spherical surface of 30 cm radius were calculated with the variation of DU mass and density. In this calculation, an imaginary case in which DU density is zero was added to check the self-shielding effect of DU. In this case, the DU sphere was modeled as a point. In case of DU mixed with molten salt of 50-250 g, the neutron and gamma fluxes were calculated respectively. It was found that the molten salt contents in DU had little effect on the neutron and the gamma fluxes. The neutron and the gamma fluxes, under the respective conditions of 1 and 5 kg mass of DU, and 5 and $19.1g{\cdot}cm^{-3}$ density of DU, were calculated with the molten salt (LiCl+KCl) of 50 g fixed, and compared with the source term. As the results, similar tendency was found in neutron and gamma fluxes with the variation of DU mass and density when compared with source spectra, except their magnitudes. Conclusion: In the case of the DU mass over 5 kg, the dose rate was shown to be higher than the environmental dose rate. From these results, it is concluded that if a worker would do an experiment with DU having over 5 kg of mass, the worker should be careful in order not to be exposed to the radiation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제48권4호
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• pp.167-174
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• 2023

Background: A nondestructive test is commonly used to inspect the surface defects and internal structure of an object without any physical damage. X-rays generated from an electron accelerator or a tube are one of the methods used for nondestructive testing. The high penetration of X-rays through materials with low atomic numbers makes it difficult to discriminate between these materials using X-ray imaging. The interaction characteristics of neutrons with materials can supplement the limitations of X-ray imaging in material discrimination. Materials and Methods: The radiation image acquisition process for air-cargo security inspection equipment using X-rays and neutrons was simulated using a GEometry ANd Tracking (Geant4) simulation toolkit. Radiation images of phantoms composed of 13 materials were obtained, and the R-value, representing the attenuation ratio of neutrons and gamma rays in a material, was calculated from these images. Results and Discussion: The R-values were calculated from the simulated X-ray and neutron images for each phantom and compared with those obtained in the experiments. The R-values obtained from the experiments were higher than those obtained from the simulations. The difference can be due to the following two causes. The first reason is that there are various facilities or equipment in the experimental environment that scatter neutrons, unlike the simulation. The other is the difference in the neutron signal processing. In the simulation, the neutron signal is the sum of the number of neutrons entering the detector. However, in the experiment, the neutron signal was obtained by superimposing the intensities of the neutron signals. Neutron detectors also detect gamma rays, and the neutron signal cannot be clearly distinguished in the process of separating the two types of radiation. Despite these differences, the two results showed similar trends and the viability of using simulation-based radiation images, particularly in the field of security screening. With further research, the simulation-based radiation images can replace ones from experiments and be used in the related fields. Conclusion: The Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute has developed air-cargo security inspection equipment using neutrons and X-rays. Using this equipment, radiation images and R-values for various materials were obtained. The equipment was reconstructed, and the R-values were obtained for 13 materials using the Geant4 simulation toolkit. The R-values calculated by experiment and simulation show similar trends. Therefore, we confirmed the feasibility of using the simulation-based radiation image.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제14권2호
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• pp.51-62
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• 1989

The high efficiency moderated-type neutron spectrometer and doseequivalent counter were developed for the measurement of low level environmental neutrons. By using these detectors, the neutron energy spectra and dose equivalent rates due to skyshine effect were measured in the environment surrounding the accelerator facilities and also the altitude variation of cosmic ray neutrons in the aircraft flying over Japan.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제26권3호
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• pp.167-175
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• 2001

Semiconductor diode detectors coated with neutron reactive material are presently under investigation for various uses, such as remote sensing of thermal neutrons, fast neutron counting, and thermal neutron radiography. Theory indicates that single-coated devices can yield thermal neutron efficiencies from 4% to 11 %, which is supported by experimental evidence. Radiation endurance measurements indicate that the devices function well up to a limiting thermal neutron fluence of $10^{13}/cm^2$, beyond which noticeable degradation occurs. Thermal neutron contrast images of step wedges and simple phantoms, taken with dual in-line pixel devices, show promise for thermal neutron imaging detectors.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제43권1호
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• pp.20-28
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• 2018

Background: Heat energy produced in nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel cycle facilities interactions modifies the physical properties of the shielding materials containing water content. Therefore, in the present paper, effect of the heat on shielding effectiveness of the concretes is investigated for gamma and neutron. The mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, fast neutron removal cross-section and exposure buildup factors. Materials and Methods: The mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, fast neutron removal cross-section and exposure buildup factors of ordinary and heavy concretes were investigated using NIST data of XCOM program and Geometric Progression method. Results and Discussion: The improvement in shielding effectiveness for photon and reduction in fast neutron for ordinary concrete was observed. The change in the neutron shielding effectiveness was insignificant. Conclusion: The present investigation on interaction of gamma and neutron radiation would be very useful for assessment of shielding efficiency of the concrete used in high temperature applications such as reactors.

• 전기전자학회논문지
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• 제20권1호
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• pp.61-67
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• 2016

본 논문에서는 중성자 방사선 측정을 위한 고속 고정밀 중성자 측정을 위한 하드웨어 설계방법을 제안한다. 제안된 고속 고정밀 중성자 측정 장치의 하드웨어 설계는 고성능 A/D 변환기를 사용하여 고정밀 고속의 아날로그 신호를 디지털 데이터로 변환할 수 있도록 구성된다. 중성자 센서를 사용하여 입사된 중성자 방사선 입자를 검출하고, 극저전류 정밀 측정 모듈을 통해 검출된 중성자 방사선을 보다 정밀하고 빠르게 측정하는 모듈을 설계한다. 고속 고정밀 중성자 측정을 위한 하드웨어 시스템은 중성자 센서부, 가변 고전압 발생부, 극저전류 정밀 측정부, 임베디드 시스템부, 디스플레이부 등으로 구성 된다. 중성자 센서부는 고밀도 폴리에틸렌을 통해 중성자 방사선을 검출하는 기능을 수행한다. 가변 고전압 발생부는 중성자 센서가 정상적으로 운영되기 위하여 발열 및 잡음 특성에 강인한 0 ~ 2KV 가변 고전압 발생장치의 기능을 수행한다. 극저전류 정밀 측정부는 중성자 센서에서 출력되는 고정밀 고속의 극저전류 신호를 고성능 A/D 변환기를 사용하여 정밀하고 빠르게 측정하고 아날로그 신호를 디지털 신호로 변환하는 기능을 수행한다. 임베디드 시스템부는 고속 고정밀 중성자 측정을 위한 중성자 방사선 측정 기능, 가변 고전압 발생장치 제어 기능, 유무선 통신 제어 기능, 저장 기능 등을 수행한다. 제안된 고속 고정밀 중성자 측정을 위한 하드웨어를 실험한 결과, 불확도, 중성자 측정 속도, 정확도, 중성자 측정 범위 등에서 기존의 장치보다 우수한 성능이 나타남을 확인할 수가 있다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권6호
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• pp.1970-1978
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• 2021

The aim of this study was to optimize the target, moderator, and collimator (TMC) in a neutron beam generator for the accelerator-based BNCT (A-BNCT) system. The optimization employed the Monte Carlo Neutron and Photon (MCNP) simulation. The optimal geometry for the target was decided as the one with the highest neutron flux among nominates, which were called as angled, rib, and tube in this study. The moderator was optimized in terms of consisting material to produce appropriate neutron energy distribution for the treatment. The optimization of the collimator, which wrapped around the target, was carried out by deciding the material to effectively prevent the leakage radiations. As results, characteristic of the neutron beam from the optimized TMC was compared to the recommendation by the International Atomic Energy Agent (IAEA). The tube type target showed the highest neutron flux among nominates. The optimal material for the moderator and collimator were combination of Fluental (Al₂0₃+AlF₃) with ⁶⁰Ni filter and lead, respectively. The optimized TMC satisfied the IAEA recommendations such as the minimum production rate of epithermal neutrons from thermal neutrons: that was 2.5 times higher. The results can be used as source terms for shielding designs of treatment rooms.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.715-727
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• 2024

During fast neutron imaging, besides the dark current noise and readout noise of the CCD camera, the main noise in fast neutron imaging comes from high-energy gamma rays generated by neutron nuclear reactions in and around the experimental setup. These high-energy gamma rays result in the presence of high-density gamma white spots (GWS) in the fast neutron image. Due to the microscopic quantum characteristics of the neutron beam itself and environmental scattering effects, fast neutron images typically exhibit a mixture of Gaussian noise. Existing denoising methods in neutron images are difficult to handle when dealing with a mixture of GWS and Gaussian noise. Herein we put forward a deep learning approach based on the Swin Transformer UNet (SUNet) model to remove high-density GWS-Gaussian mixture noise from fast neutron images. The improved denoising model utilizes a customized loss function for training, which combines perceptual loss and mean squared error loss to avoid grid-like artifacts caused by using a single perceptual loss. To address the high cost of acquiring real fast neutron images, this study introduces Monte Carlo method to simulate noise data with GWS characteristics by computing the interaction between gamma rays and sensors based on the principle of GWS generation. Ultimately, the experimental scenarios involving simulated neutron noise images and real fast neutron images demonstrate that the proposed method not only improves the quality and signal-to-noise ratio of fast neutron images but also preserves the details of the original images during denoising.