• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.423-434
• /
• 2016

The importance of severe nuclear accidents and probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) were brought to international attention with the occurrence of severe nuclear accidents caused by the extreme natural disaster at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In Korea, studies on level 3 PSA had made little progress until recently. The code systems of level 3 PSA, MACCS2 (MELCORE Accident Consequence Code System 2, US), COSYMA (COde SYstem from MAria, EU) and OSCAAR (Off-Site Consequence Analysis code for Atmospheric Releases in reactor accidents, JAPAN), were reviewed in this study, and the disadvantages and limitations of MACCS2 were also analyzed. Experts from Korea and abroad pointed out that the limitations of MACCS2 include the following: MACCS2 cannot simulate multi-unit accidents/release from spent fuel pools, and its atmospheric dispersion is based on a simple Gaussian plume model. Some of these limitations have been improved in the updated versions of MACCS2. The absence of a marine and aquatic dispersion model and the limited simulating range of food-chain and economic models are also important aspects that need to be improved. This paper is expected to be utilized as basic research material for developing a Korean code system for assessing off-site consequences of severe nuclear accidents.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.39 no.3
• /
• pp.127-133
• /
• 2014

North Korea's uranium enrichment facility is a matter of international concern. It is of particular alarming to South Korea with regard to the security and safety of the country. This situation requires continuous monitoring of the DPRK and emergency preparedness on the part of the ROK. To assess the detectability of an undeclared uranium enrichment plant in North Korea, uranium concentrations in the air at both a short and a long distance from the enrichment facility were estimated. $UF_6$ source terms were determined by using existing information on North Korean facility and data from the operation experience of enrichment plants from other countries. Using the calculated source terms, two atmospheric dispersion models (Gaussian Plume Model and HYSPLIT models) and meteorological data were used to estimate the uranium particle concentrations from the Yongbyon enrichment facility. A maximum uranium concentration and its location are dependent upon the meteorological conditions and the height of the UF6 release point. This study showed that the maximum uranium concentration around the enrichment facility was about $1.0{\times}10^{-7}g{\cdot}m^{-3}$. The location of the maximum concentration was within about 0.4 km of the facility. It has been assumed that the uranium sample of about a few micrograms (${\mu}g$) could be obtained; and that few micrograms of uranium can be easily measured with current measurement instruments. On the contrary, a uranium concentration at a distance of more than 100 kilometers from the enrichment facility was estimated to be about $1.0{\times}10^{-13}{\sim}1.0{\times}10^{-15}g{\cdot}m^{-3}$, which is less than back-ground level. Therefore, based on the results of our paper, an air sample taken within the vicinity of the Yongbyon enrichment facility could be used to determine as to whether or not North Korea is carrying out an undeclared nuclear program. However, the air samples taken at a longer distance of a few hundred kilometers would prove difficult in detecting a clandestine nuclear activities.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
• /
• v.57 no.1
• /
• pp.1-15
• /
• 2024

The Melanesian region in the western Pacific is dominated by complex plate tectonics, with the largest oceanic plateau, the OntongJava plateau, and a hotspot, the Caroline Islands. To better understand the complex geodynamics of the region, we estimate P- and S-velocity models and 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) model by using relative teleseismic travel times measured at seismometers on land and the seafloor. Our results show high-velocity anomalies in the subduction zones of the Melanesian region to a depth of about 400 km, which is thought to be subducting Solomon Sea, Bismarck, and Australian plates along plate boundaries. Along subduction zones, positive 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomalies are found, which may be caused by partial melting due to dehydration. A broad high-velocity anomaly is observed at 600 km depth below the Ontong-Java plateau, with a negative 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly. This is thought to be a viscous and dry remnant of the Pacific plate that subducted at 45-25 Ma, with a low volume of fluids due to dehydration for a long period in the mantle transition zone. Beneath the Caroline Islands, a strong low-velocity anomaly is obseved to a depth of 800 km and appears to be connected to the underside of the remnant Pacific plate in the mantle transition zone. This suggests that the mantle plume originating in the lower mantle has been redirected due to the interaction with the remnant Pacific plate and has reached its current location. The mantle plume also has a positive 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly, which is thought to be due to the influence of embedded fluids or partial melting. A high-velocity anomaly, interpreted as an effect of the thick lithosphere beneath the Ontong-Java plateau, is observed down to 300 km depth with a negative 𝛿 (V_P/V_S) anomaly, which likely indicate that little fluid remains in the melt residue accumulated in the lithosphere.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
• /
• v.27 no.9
• /
• pp.978-988
• /
• 2005

A three-dimensional dynamic model was applied to Lake Paldang, Han River in this study. The model was calibrated and verified using the data measured under different ambient conditions. The model results were in reasonable agreements with the field measurements in both calibration and verification. Utilizing the validated model, we analyzed the spatial and temporal distributions of temperature, current, residence time, and spreading pattern of incoming flows within the lake. Relatively low velocity and high temperature were computed at the surface layer in the southern region of the Sonae island. The longest residence time within the lake was predicted in the southern region of the Sonae island and the downstream region of the South Branch. This can be attributed to the fact that the back currents caused by the dam blocking occur mainly in these regions. Vertical thermal profiles indicated that the thermal stratifications would be occurred feebly in early summer and winter. During early spring and fall, it appeared that there would be no discernible differences at the vertical temperature profiles in the entire lake. The vertical overturns, however, do not occur during these periods due to an influence of high discharge flows from the dam. During midsummer monsoon season with high precipitation, the thermal stratification was disrupted by high incoming flow rates and discharges from the dam and very short residence time was resulted in the entire lake. In this circulation patterns, the plume of the Kyoungan stream with smallest flow rate and higher water temperature tends to travel downstream horizontally along the eastern shore of the south island and vertically at the top surface layer. The model results suggest that the Paldang lake should be a highly hydrodynamic water body with large spatial and temporal variations.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Gas
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.38-44
• /
• 2018

Ammonia is used primarily as a refrigerant in refrigeration facility and SCR of a plant, and is frequently involved in leakage accidents. This study was conducted by selecting ammonia, a material with a wide influence range when evaluated, as a material with higher vapor pressure and lighter than air. In this study, the influence ranges were computed using KORA(Korea Off-site Risk Assessment supporting tool) with four different environmental factors : ground roughness, sealing, operating temperature, pressure, and leakage hole size. As a result, the difference in the influence range of ground roughness is approximately 4.62 times, while the ammonia storage tank shows a difference in the reduction rate of 0.64 when sealed. The extent of impact increased with increasing leakage depending on storage temperature and pressure, and when storing higher than the saturation vapor pressure, the impact range showed an average growth rate of 3.45 % per 0.1 Mpa($45^{\circ}C$). The influence ranges based on the size of the leakage holes is shown to be proportional to the area of the leakage zone.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.40 no.8
• /
• pp.601-615
• /
• 2007

A selective withdrawal method has been widely used to control the quality of water released from a stratified reservoir and to improve downstream ecosystem habitats. Recently, several existing reservoir withdrawal facilities have been modified to accommodate multi-level water intake capabilities in order to adapt the impact of long-term discharge of high turbidity flow. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of selective withdrawal method on the control of downstream turbidity and its impact on water quality in Daecheong Reservoir. A laterally integrated two-dimensional hydrodynamic and eutrophication model, which was calibrated and validated in the previous studies, was applied to simulate the temporal variations of outflow turbidity with various hypothetical selective withdrawal scenarios. In addition, their impacts on the algal growth as well as water quality constituents were analyzed in three different spatial domains of the reservoir The results showed that the costly selective withdrawal method would provide very limited benefits for downstream turbidity control during two years of consecutive simulations for 2004-2005. In particular, an excessive withdrawal from the epilimnion zone for supplying upper layer clean water resulted in movement of turbidity plume that contained high phosphorus concentrations upward photic zone, and in turn increased algal growth in the lacustrine zone.

• Journal of Korean Society for Atmospheric Environment
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.237-250
• /
• 2013

At Gosan ABC superstation in Jeju Island, we measured organic carbon (OC) and elemental carbon (EC) in $PM_{2.5}$ from October 2009 to June 2010 using a Sunset Laboratory Model-4 Semi-Continuous OC/EC Field Analyzer. It employs TOT (Thermal-Optical-Transmittance) method with NIOSH 5040 protocol and enables to continuously monitor OC and EC concentrations with 1-hour time resolution. The mean values of OC and EC for the entire period of measurements were $2.1{\pm}1.4{\mu}g/m^3$ and $0.7{\pm}0.6{\mu}g/m^3$, respectively. The OC/EC ratio was 3 and EC accounted $25{\pm}2.1%$ of total carbon (TC, TC=OC+EC). Although OC and EC showed similar trend in seasonal variation, the ratio of OC to EC was the highest in early summer when temperature was the highest and the air was affected by biomass burning in the southern part of China. In winter, the high OC and EC concentrations were likely influenced by increased coal combustion from residential heating. The high OC and EC concentrations were observed during events such as haze, dust, and the combination of the two. During the haze events, OC and EC were enhanced with increase in $PM_{10}$, $PM_{2.5}$, $SO_2$, and $NO_2$ with broad maxima. When dust occurred, both OC and EC started decreasing after reaching their maxima a couple of hours before $PM_{10}$ maximum. The peak separation of carbonaceous species and aerosol masses with time was more noticeable when haze event was followed by dust plume. These results confirm that OC and EC are key components of haze occurring in the study region.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Marine Environment & Energy
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.67-85
• /
• 2007

A three-dimensional hydrodynamic model with the fine grid is applied to simulate the barotropic tides, tidal currents, residual currents and salinity dispersions in the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea. Data inputs include seasonal hydrography, mean wind and river input, and oceanic tides. Computed tidal distributions of four major tides($M_2,\;S_2,\;K_1$ and $O_1$) are presented and results are in good agreement with the observations in the domain. The model reproduces well the tidal charts. The tidal residual current is relatively strong around west coast of Korea including the Cheju Island and southern coast of China. The current by $M_2$ has a maximum speed of 10 cm/s in the vicinity of Cheju Island with a anti-clockwise circulation in the Yellow Sea. General tendency of the current, however, is to flow eastward in the South Sea. Surface residual current simulated with $M_2$ and with $M_2+S_2+K_1+O_1$ tidal forcing shows slightly different patterns in the East China Sea. The model shows that the southerly wind reduces the southward current created by freshwater discharge. In summer during high runoff(mean discharge about $50,000\;m^3/s$ of Yangtze), low salinity plume-like structure(with S < 30.0 psu) extending some 160 km toward the northeast and Changjiang Diluted Water(CDW), below salinity 26 psu, was found within about 95 km. The offshore dispersion of the Changjiang outflow water is enhanced by the prevailing southerly wind. It is estimated that the inertia of the river discharge cannot exclusively reach the around sea of Cheju Island. It is noted that spatial and temporal distribution of salinity and the other materials are controlled by mixture of Changjiang discharge, prevailing wind, advection by flowing warm current and tidal current.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.127-134
• /
• 2008

Potential economic impact of a hypothetical severe accident at a nuclear power plant(Uljin units 3/4) was estimated by applying the Delphi method, which is based on the expert judgements and opinions, in the process of quantifying uncertain factors. For the purpose of this study, it is assumed that the radioactive plume directs the inland direction. Since the economic risk can be divided into direct costs and indirect effects and more uncertainties are involved in the latter, the direct costs were estimated first and the indirect effects were then estimated by applying a weighting factor to the direct cost. The Delphi method however subjects to risk of distortion or discrimination of variables because of the human behavior pattern. A mathematical approach based on the Bayesian inferences was employed for data processing to improve the Delphi results. For this task, a model for data processing was developed. One-dimensional Monte Carlo Analysis was applied to get a distribution of values of the weighting factor. The mean and median values of the weighting factor for the indirect effects appeared to be 2.59 and 2.08, respectively. These values are higher than the value suggested by OECD/NEA, 1.25. Some factors such as small territory and public attitude sensitive to radiation could affect the judgement of panel. Then the parameters of the model for estimating the direct costs were classified as U- and V-types, and two-dimensional Monte Carlo analysis was applied to quantify the overall economic risk. The resulting median of the overall economic risk was about 3.9% of the gross domestic products(GDP) of Korea in 2006. When the cost of electricity loss, the highest direct cost, was not taken into account, the overall economic risk was reduced to 2.2% of GDP. This assessment can be used as a reference for justifying the radiological emergency planning and preparedness.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.597-605
• /
• 2014

The continuous observations for atmospheric aerosols were conducted during 3 years (2009 to 2011) by using Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST) multi-wavelength Raman lidar at Gwangju, Korea ($35.10^{\circ}N$, $126.53^{\circ}E$). The aerosol depolarization ratios calculated from lidar data were used to identify the Asian dust layer. The optical properties of Asian dust layer were different according to its vertical distribution. In order to investigate the difference between the optical properties of each individual dust layers, the transport pathway and the transport altitude of Asian dust were analyzed by Hybrid Single Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory (HYSPLIT) model. We consider that the variation of optical properties were influenced not only their transport pathway but also their transport height when it passed over anthropogenic pollution source regions in China. The lower particle depolarization ratio values of $0.12{\pm}0.01$, higher lidar ratio of $67{\pm}9sr$ and $68{\pm}9sr$ at 355 nm and 532 nm, respectively, and higher ${\AA}ngstr\ddot{o}m$ exponent of $1.05{\pm}0.57$ which are considered as the optical properties of pollution were found. In contrast with this, the higher particle depolarization ratio values of $0.21{\pm}0.09$, lower lidar ratio of $48{\pm}5sr$ and $46{\pm}4sr$ at 355 nm and 532 nm, respectively, and lower ${\AA}ngstr\ddot{o}m$ exponent of $0.57{\pm}0.24$ which are considered as the optical properties of dust were found. We found that the degree of mixing of anthropogenic pollutant aerosols in mixed Asian dust govern the variation of optical properties of Asian dust and it depends on their altitude when it passed over the polluted regions over China.