• Title/Summary/Keyword: Nuclear safety regulation

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RADIOACTIVE SOURCE SECURITY: WHY DO WE NOT YET HAVE A GLOBAL PROTECTION SYSTEM?

  • Englefield, C.
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.46 no.4
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    • pp.461-466
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    • 2014
  • Security of radioactive sources has been an issue since the earliest days of safety regulation of such materials. Since the events of September 11 2001, some governments and regulatory bodies have been much more focussed on these issues and have introduced extensive and enhanced security arrangements. International organisations like the IAEA and WINS have worked hard to help States in this regard. However, only a minority of States have implemented statutory security systems for radioactive source security. Why have so many States still to take action? What can be done to encourage and support these changes? This paper will offer some possible explanations for the lack of action in so many States and some potential answers to these questions.

Environmental Effects of DFDF Normal Operation (정상운전시 DFDF 시설의 환경영향평가)

  • 박장진;이호희;신진명;김종호;양명승
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2003.11a
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    • pp.621-626
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    • 2003
  • A DUPIC nuclear fuel is a newly developed fuel for CANDU reactors based on the concept of refabrication of spent PWR fuel by a dry process. Because a spent PWR fuel, a highly radioactive material, is used as a starting material, the experimental verification of DUPIC nuclear fuel fabrication requires an appropriate facility which should satisfy engineering requirements and guarantees safe operation. DUPIC nuclear fuel development team modified M6 hot-cell in IMEF to construct the dedicated facility(DFDF) for tile experiment. The experiment with spent PWR fuel have been conducted since January of 2000. Environmental effects of DFDF normal operation have been investigated when DUPIC nuclear fuel is fabricated with the maximum capacity of 50kg U/yr. The analysis results of the radiological safety of DFDF facility have shown that both national regulation limit and IMEF design criteria are satisfied.

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Development of a Methodology for Estimating Radioactivity Concentration of NORM Scale in Scrap Pipes Based on MCNP Simulation

  • Wanook Ji;Yoomi Choi;Zu-Hee Woo;Young-Yong Ji
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.21 no.4
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    • pp.481-487
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    • 2023
  • Concerning the apprehensions about naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) residues, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its member nations have acknowledged the imperative to ensure the radiation safety of NORM industries. Residues with elevated radioactivity concentrations are predominantly produced during NORM processing, in the form of scale and sludge, referred to as technically enhanced NORM (TENORM). Substantial quantities of TENORM residues have been released externally due to the dismantling of NORM processing factories. These residues become concentrated and fixed in scale inside scrap pipes. To assess the radioactivity of scales in pipes of various shapes, a Monte Carlo simulation was employed to determine dose rates corresponding to the action level in TENORM regulations for different pipe diameters and thicknesses. Onsite gamma spectrometry was conducted on a scrap iron pipe from the titanium dioxide manufacturing factory. The measured dose rate on the pipe enabled the estimation of NORM concentration in the pipe scale onsite. The derived action level in dose rate can be applied in the NORM regulation procedure for on-site judgments.

A Study on Economic Methodology for Deriving Money Coefficients (금전계수 도출을 위한 경제학적 방법론 연구)

  • Min-Hee Back
    • Journal of Radiation Industry
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    • v.17 no.1
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    • pp.111-118
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    • 2023
  • The International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) 103 recommends a cost-benefit analysis method as an auxiliary tool for scientific and rational decision-making for the principle of optimization of radiological protection. In order to conduct a cost-benefit analysis, the safety improvement of nuclear power by regulation must be measured and converted into monetary terms. The improvement of nuclear safety can be measured by reducing the radiation exposure dose of the people, and it is necessary to determine the coefficient to convert the radiation exposure dose into money. The monetary coefficient is calculated as the product of the statistical life value (VSL) and the nominal risk coefficient. In order to derive the monetary coefficient, the willingness to pay (WTP) can be estimated using the contingent valuation method (CVM), which quantifies the value of non-market goods by converting them into monetary units. WTP can be estimated based on the random utility model, which is the basic model for bivariate selection type conditional value measurement data. Statistical life value can be calculated using the estimated WTP and reduction in early mortality, and a monetary coefficient can be derived.

[ $^{99m}Tc$ ] Generator Safety Simulation Based on GEANT4 (GEANT4를 이용한 $^{99m}Tc$ Generator 안전성 시뮬레이션)

  • Kang, Sang-Koo;Han, Dong-Hyun;Kim, Chong-Yeal
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.19 no.1
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    • pp.1-8
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    • 2008
  • Technisium $(^{99m}Tc)$ is one of the most widely used radioactive isotopes for diagnosis in nuclear medicine. In general, technisium is produced inside the so called $^{99m}Tc$ generator which is usually made out of lead to shield relatively high energy radiation from $^{99}Mo$ and its daughter nuclide $^{99m}Tc$. In this paper, a GEANT4 simulation is carried out to test the safety of the $^{99m}Tc$ generator, taking the Daiichi product with radioactivity of 500 mCi as an example. According to the domestic regulation on radiation safety, the dose at 10 cm and 100 cm away from the surface of shielding container should not exceed 2.0 mSv/h and 0.02 mSv/h, respectively. The simulated dose turned out to be less than the limit, satisfying the domestic regulation.

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Safety Assessment of Nuclear Waste Incineration Process by Estimating Radiation Dose of Workers and Residential Individuals (원자력폐기물 소각공정에서의 작업자 및 인근주민의 피폭선량에 따른 안전성 평가)

  • 서용칠
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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    • v.8 no.4
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    • pp.165-174
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    • 1993
  • For the safety assessment of the demonstration-scale incineration plant for treating the combustible radioactive wastes, radiation doses of a worker and a residential individual were estimated. The demonstration plant showed a good performance of trial-burn tests using non-radioactive tracers with resulting In high mass reduction of around 40 times and very low emmission of dusts through a stack, which promised a high decontamination factor in an order of 10$^{7}$ . Based on the result s obtained from the trial-burns in the process, the estimation of radiation dose for workers and general publics near the plant was made using dose pathway calculation theories. The parametric values for calculation were selected from design and operational results of the process and from more conservative conditions In reference data. The estimated annual doses for workers and residential indivisuals were 3.07 $\times$ 10$^{-4}$ and 4.35 X 10$^{-8}$ $\mu$Sv/y, respectively, which were high enough to operate the process when comparing with the allowable dose limit in the regulation. The dose calculation models were quite applicable with showing an excellent safety for the process.

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From Radon and Thoron Measurements, Inhalation Dose Assessment to National Regulation and Radon Action Plan in Cameroon

  • Saidou;Shinji Tokonami;Masahiro Hosoda;Augustin Simo;Joseph Victor Hell;Olga German;Esmel Gislere Oscar Meless
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.47 no.4
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    • pp.237-245
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    • 2022
  • Background: The current study reports measurements of activity concentrations of radon (220Rn) and thoron (220Rn) in dwellings, followed by inhalation dose assessment of the public, and then by the development of regulation and the national radon action plan (NRAP) in Cameroon. Materials and Methods: Radon, thoron, and thoron progeny measurements were carried out from 2014 to 2017 using radon-thoron discriminative detectors (commercially RADUET) in 450 dwellings and thoron progeny monitors in 350 dwellings. From 2019 to 2020, radon track detectors (commercially RADTRAK) were deployed in 1,400 dwellings. It was found that activity concentrations of radon range in 1,850 houses from 10 to 2,620 Bq/㎥ with a geometric mean of 76 Bq/㎥. Results and Discussion: Activity concentrations of thoron range from 20 to 700 Bq/㎥ with a geometric mean of 107 Bq/㎥. Thoron equilibrium factor ranges from 0.01 to 0.6, with an arithmetic mean of 0.09 that is higher than the default value of 0.02 given by UNSCEAR. On average, 49%, 9%, and 2% of all surveyed houses have radon concentrations above 100, 200, and 300 Bq/㎥, respectively. The average contribution of thoron to the inhalation dose due to radon and thoron exposure is about 40%. Thus, thoron cannot be neglected in dose assessment to avoid biased results in radio-epidemiological studies. Only radon was considered in the drafted regulation and in the NRAP adopted in October 2020. Reference levels of 300 Bq/㎥ and 1,000 Bq/㎥ were recommended for dwellings and workplaces. Conclusion: Priority actions for the coming years include the following: radon risk mapping, promotion of a protection policy against radon in buildings, integration of the radon prevention and mitigation into the training of construction specialists, mitigation of dwellings and workplaces with high radon levels, increased public awareness of the health risks associated with radon, and development of programs on the scientific and technical aspects.

Radiation Shielding Analysis for Conceptual Design of HIC Transport Package (HIC 전용 운반용기 개념설계를 위한 방사선 차례해석)

  • Cho Chun-Hyung;Lee Kang-Wook;Lee Yun-Do;Choi Byung-Il;Lee Heung-Young
    • Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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    • 2005.06a
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    • pp.457-463
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    • 2005
  • KHNP(Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power Ltd., Co.) is developing a HIC transport package which is satisfying domestic and IAEA regulations and NETEC(Nuclear Environment Technology Institute) is conducting a conceptual design. In this study, the shielding thickness was calculated using the data from radionuclide assay program which is currently using in nuclear sites and Micro Shield code. Considering the structural safety, carbon steel was chosen as shielding material and the shielding thickness was calculated for 500 R/hr and 100 R/hr at HIC surface, respectively. Through the shielding analysis, it was evaluated that the regulation limit is satisfied when the shielding thickness is 22 cm for 500 R/hr and 17 cm for 100/hr.

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Design and Fabrication of CLYC-Based Rotational Modulation Collimator (RMC) System for Gamma-Ray/Neutron Dual-Particle Imager

  • Kim, Hyun Suk;Lee, Jooyub;Choi, Sanghun;Bang, Young-bong;Ye, Sung-Joon;Kim, Geehyun
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.46 no.3
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    • pp.112-119
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    • 2021
  • Background: This work aims to develop a new imaging system based on a pulse shape discrimination-capable Cs2LiYCl6:Ce (CLYC) scintillation detector combined with the rotational modulation collimator (RMC) technique for dual-particle imaging. Materials and Methods: In this study, a CLYC-based RMC system was designed based on Monte Carlo simulations, and a prototype was fabricated. Therein, a rotation control system was developed to rotate the RMC unit precisely, and a graphical user interface-based software was also developed to operate the data acquisition with RMC rotation. The RMC system was developed to allow combining various types of collimator masks and detectors interchangeably, making the imaging system more versatile for various applications and conditions. Results and Discussion: Operational performance of the fabricated system was studied by checking the accuracy and precision of the collimator rotation and obtaining modulation patterns from a gamma-ray source repeatedly. Conclusion: The prototype RMC system showed reliability in its mechanical properties and reproducibility in the acquisition of modulation patterns, and it will be further investigated for its dual-particle imaging capability with various complex radioactive source conditions.

Application for Fire Protection Regulation based on Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Analysis (위험도 및 성능기반 분석방법에 의한 원전 화재방호규정 적용 방안)

  • Jee, Moon-Hak;Lee, Byung-Kon
    • Fire Science and Engineering
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    • v.20 no.3 s.63
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    • pp.65-70
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    • 2006
  • From the beginning of the construction stage, the fire protection regulation for the nuclear power plants conforms to the design requirements for the acquisition of the license permit. This regulation is based on the plant status of the normal operation, but it is not enough to be used as an application standard for fire protection at the transient mode of the plant and the outage time for refueling as well as for the plant decommissioning. While the advanced fire protection requirement that has been developed in America recently suggests the performance-based requirement and management rule applicable to the overall life time of the plant, it simply represents the conceptual application. It means that it can not be treated as appropriate standards because it does not deal with the qualitative and quantitative approach in specific ways. By the way, with the use of the performance-based fire risk analysis, the dynamic behavior of the heat and smoke at the fire compartment of the nuclear power plants can be analyzed and the thermal effect to the safety-related equipment and cables can be evaluated as well. At this paper, it suggests the ways to change the applicable fire protection regulations and the required evaluation items for the fire risk resulted from the plant configuration change with an intent to introduce the state-of-the-art quantitative fire risk analysis technology at the domestic nuclear power plants.