• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.39 no.5
• /
• pp.603-616
• /
• 2007

Roy Huddle, having invented the coated particle in Harwell 1957, stated in the early 1970s that we know now everything about particles and coatings and should be going over to deal with other problems. This was on the occasion of the Dragon fuel performance information meeting London 1973: How wrong a genius be! It took until 1978 that really good particles were made in Germany, then during the Japanese HTTR production in the 1990s and finally the Chinese 2000-2001 campaign for HTR-10. Here, we present a review of history and present status. Today, good fuel is measured by different standards from the seventies: where $9*10^{-4}$ initial free heavy metal fraction was typical for early AVR carbide fuel and $3*10^{-4}$ initial free heavy metal fraction was acceptable for oxide fuel in THTR, we insist on values more than an order of magnitude below this value today. Half a percent of particle failure at the end-of-irradiation, another ancient standard, is not even acceptable today, even for the most severe accidents. While legislation and licensing has not changed, one of the reasons we insist on these improvements is the preference for passive systems rather than active controls of earlier times. After renewed HTGR interest, we are reporting about the start of new or reactivated coated particle work in several parts of the world, considering the aspects of designs/ traditional and new materials, manufacturing technologies/ quality control quality assurance, irradiation and accident performance, modeling and performance predictions, and fuel cycle aspects and spent fuel treatment. In very general terms, the coated particle should be strong, reliable, retentive, and affordable. These properties have to be quantified and will be eventually optimized for a specific application system. Results obtained so far indicate that the same particle can be used for steam cycle applications with $700-750^{\circ}C$ helium coolant gas exit, for gas turbine applications at $850-900^{\circ}C$ and for process heat/hydrogen generation applications with $950^{\circ}C$ outlet temperatures. There is a clear set of standards for modem high quality fuel in terms of low levels of heavy metal contamination, manufacture-induced particle defects during fuel body and fuel element making, irradiation/accident induced particle failures and limits on fission product release from intact particles. While gas-cooled reactor design is still open-ended with blocks for the prismatic and spherical fuel elements for the pebble-bed design, there is near worldwide agreement on high quality fuel: a $500{\mu}m$ diameter $UO_2$ kernel of 10% enrichment is surrounded by a $100{\mu}m$ thick sacrificial buffer layer to be followed by a dense inner pyrocarbon layer, a high quality silicon carbide layer of $35{\mu}m$ thickness and theoretical density and another outer pyrocarbon layer. Good performance has been demonstrated both under operational and under accident conditions, i.e. to 10% FIMA and maximum $1600^{\circ}C$ afterwards. And it is the wide-ranging demonstration experience that makes this particle superior. Recommendations are made for further work: 1. Generation of data for presently manufactured materials, e.g. SiC strength and strength distribution, PyC creep and shrinkage and many more material data sets. 2. Renewed start of irradiation and accident testing of modem coated particle fuel. 3. Analysis of existing and newly created data with a view to demonstrate satisfactory performance at burnups beyond 10% FIMA and complete fission product retention even in accidents that go beyond $1600^{\circ}C$ for a short period of time. This work should proceed at both national and international level.

• Journal of Animal Environmental Science
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.37-50
• /
• 2009

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of on-farm management systems(including the farm size, stocking density of growing-finishing phase, proportion of finisher diet and type of growing-finishing building) and pre-slaughter handling(including the transportation time and loading time) on carcass grade, the incidence of PSE pork, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and score for elasticity of market pigs. For this study, 248,787 pigs of 53 different farms were used to establish the pork quality assurance program and to meet the comsumer's need. The results are summarized as follows. 1. The farm size had significant influence on carcass grade, in which showing the higher grade by increasing the farm size. However, the incidence of PSE pork were not significantly differences among the farm size. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and score for elasticity of market pigs were not significant influenced by farm size. 2. The stocking density of growing-finishing phase was statistically significant for carcass grade, in which showing the higher grade in mid density group. However, the incidence of PSE pork was higher in high density group. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat and elasticity of market pigs were greater in mid density groups, but not influenced by stocking density for subcutaneous fat score. 3. The carcass grade and the incidence of PSE pork were not significantly influenced by transportation time. However, transportation time significantly affected the meat quality score, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat, subcutaneous fat and elasticity of the carcasses were superior in more than 1 hour transportation groups. 4. At any time loading, the carcass grade and PSE incidence were not significantly differences. However, the meat quality score for intra-muscle fat, inter-muscle fat and elasticity of market pigs were superior in before 10 AM groups, but not influenced by loading time for subcutaneous fat score. 5. The proportion of finisher diet had not significant influence on carcass grade, but PSE incidence affected by proportion of finisher diet, 21 percent or more group was higher PSE incidence. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat and inter-muscle fat of the carcasses were superior in 21 percent or more fed finisher diet groups, but elasticity score of carcass had not influenced by the proportion of finisher diet. 6. The type of growing-finishing building was affected the carcass grade and PSE incidence of the market pigs, carcass grade and PSE incidence were superior in enclosed mechanical ventilation building groups. The meat quality score for intra-muscle fat and inter-muscle fat of the carcasses were not significantly differences by the type of finishing building, but the score of subcutaneous fat and elasticity of carcass were superior in opened natural ventilation building groups. In conclusion, the results of this study suggest that we have more precise on-farm management practice and the knowledge related to pre-slaughter handling skills to reduce the stress and improve the status of welfare of market pigs.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
• /
• v.30 no.10
• /
• pp.1516-1524
• /
• 2020

Climate change is expected to affect not only availability and quality of water, the valuable resource of human life on Earth, but also ultimately public health issue. A six-year monitoring (total 20 times) of Escherichia coli O157, Salmonella enterica, Legionella pneumophila, Shigella sonnei, Campylobacter jejuni, and Vibrio cholerae was conducted at five raw water sampling sites including two lakes, Hyundo region (Geum River) and two locations near Water Intake Plants of Han River (Guui region) and Nakdong River (Moolgeum region). A total 100 samples of 40 L water were tested. Most of the targeted bacteria were found in 77% of the samples and at least one of the target bacteria was detected (65%). Among all the detected bacteria, E. coli O157 were the most prevalent with a detection frequency of 22%, while S. sonnei was the least prevalent with a detection frequency of 2%. Nearly all the bacteria (except for S. sonnei) were present in samples from Lake Soyang, Lake Juam, and the Moolgeum region in Nakdong River, while C. jejuni was detected in those from the Guui region in Han River. During the six-year sampling period, individual targeted noxious bacteria in water samples exhibited seasonal patterns in their occurrence that were different from the indicator bacteria levels in the water samples. The fact that they were detected in the five Korea's representative water environments make it necessary to establish the chemical and biological analysis for noxious bacteria and sophisticated management systems in response to climate change.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.375-380
• /
• 2002

Purpose : To develop a practical film dosimetry system for routine Quality Assurance (QA). Materials and Methods :An One Click Film (OCF) Dosimetry system was designed to perform swift routine QA with functions including automatic fog value elimination, angle adjustment, automatic symmetry calculation, and realtime profile generation with the ability to display realtime three-dimensional dose distributions. Results : The most frequently used functions for routine QA, such as the elimination of the fog value, conversion into an H&D curve, symmetry, and isodose distribution, can be achieved with only one click. Conclusion : Reliable results were achieved with the OCF dosimetry with simpler steps than other commercially available film dosimetry systems for routine QA. More research on the refined user interface will make this system be clinically useful.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.2
• /
• pp.479-485
• /
• 2022

At the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, physical human phantoms were developed to evaluate various radiation protection quantities, based on the mesh-type reference computational phantoms of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The physical human phantoms were fabricated such that a radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter (RPLGD) with a Tin filter, namely GD-352M, could be inserted into them. A Tin filter is used to eliminate the overestimated signals in low-energy photons below 100 keV. The measurement uncertainty of the RPLGD reader system based on GD-352M should be analyzed for obtaining reliable protection quantities before using it for practical applications. Generally, the measurement uncertainty of RPLGD systems without Tin filters is analyzed for quality assurance of radiotherapy units using a high-energy photon beam. However, in this study, the measurement uncertainty of GD-352M was analyzed for evaluating the protection quantities. The measurement uncertainty factors in the RPLGD include the reference irradiation, regression curve, reproducibility, uniformity, energy dependence, and angular dependence, as described by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These factors were calculated using the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement method, applying ISO/ASTM standards 51261(2013), 51707(2015), and SS-ISO 22127(2019). The measurement uncertainties of the RPLGD reader system with a coverage factor of k = 2 were calculated to be 9.26% from 0.005 to 1 Gy and 8.16% from 1 to 10 Gy. A blind test was conducted to validate the RPLGD reader system, which demonstrated that the readout doses included blind doses of 0.1, 1, 2, and 5 Gy. Overall, the E_n values were considered satisfactory.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
• /
• v.54 no.4
• /
• pp.293-297
• /
• 2022

In 2022, Korea reported a total of 224 perfusionists, employing nurses or clinical laboratory technologists (also known as medical technologists) to provide hospital self-education or reliable education. In 2021, the total number of perfusionists in Japan was 2,100, mainly supported by clinical engineering technologists. During the same period, the number of perfusionists reported in the United States was 4,212, who had received training in the master's program, post-bachelor certificate program, and bachelor's program. Most personnel in the USA were graduates of healthcare sciences or life sciences. Perfusionists must be knowledgeable in heart anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, pathology, hemodynamics, laboratory analysis, and quality assurance, as well as techniques to operate the cardiopulmonary bypass machine (heart-lung bypass machine). These are jobs similarly handled by clinical laboratory technologists. The importance of perfusionists became more prominent during two major crises: the MERS-CoV and COVID-19 pandemic. Currently, perfusionists play a significant role in the rapidly expanding field of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) and extracorporeal circulation during cardiac surgery. Results of the current study indicate that hospitals offering cardiac surgery and infectious disease hospitalization need to be institutionalized to secure a certain number of qualified perfusionists. In the future, we look forward to establishing a perfusion technology association under the Korean Society for Clinical Laboratory Physiology to provide academic exchanges.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.231-240
• /
• 2008

We developed a user-friendly program to independently verify monitor units (MUs) calculated by radiation treatment planning systems (RTPS), as well as to manage beam database in clinic. The off-axis factor, beam hardening effect, inhomogeneity correction, and the different depth correction were incorporated into the program algorithm to improve the accuracy in calculated MUs. A beam database in the program was supposed to use measured data from routine quality assurance (QA) processes for timely update. To enhance user's convenience, a graphic user interface (GUI) was developed by using Visual Basic for Application. In order to evaluate the accuracy of the program for various treatment conditions, the MU comparisons were made for 213 cases of phantom and for 108 cases of 17 patients treated by 3D conformal radiation therapy. The MUs calculated by the program and calculated by the RTPS showed a fair agreement within ${\pm}3%$ for the phantom and ${\pm}5%$ for the patient, except for the cases of extreme inhomogeneity. By using Visual Basic for Application and Microsoft Excel worksheet interface, the program can automatically generate beam data book for clinical reference and the comparison template for the beam data management. The program developed in this study can be used to verify the accuracy of RTPS for various treatment conditions and thus can be used as a tool of routine RTPS QA, as well as independent MU checks. In addition, its beam database management interface can update beam data periodically and thus can be used to monitor multiple beam databases efficiently.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
• /
• v.21 no.4
• /
• pp.291-298
• /
• 2003

Purpose: We report upon a web-based system for Patterns of Care Study (PCS) devised for Korean radiation oncology. This PCS was designed to establish standard tools for clinical quality assurance, to determine basic parameters for radiation oncology processes, to offer a solid system for cooperative clinical studies and a useful standard database for comparisons with other national databases. Materials and Methods: The system consisted of a main server with two back-ups in other locations. The program uses a Linux operating system and a MySQL database. Cancers with high frequencies in radiotherapy departments in Korea from 1998 to 1999 were chosen to have a developmental priority. Results: The web-based clinical PCS .system for radiotherapy in www.pcs.re.kr was developed in early 2003 for cancers of the breast, rectum, esophagus, larynx and lung, and for brain metastasis. The total number of PCS study items exceeded one thousand. Our PCS system features user-friendliness, double entry checking, data security, encryption, hard disc mirroring, double back-up, and statistical analysis. Alphanumeric data can be input as well as image data. In addition, programs were constructed for IRB submission, random sampling of data, and departmental structure. Conclusion: For the first time in the field of PCS, we have developed a web-based system and associated working programs. With this system, we can gather sample data in a short period and thus save, cost, effort and time. Data audits should be peformed to validate input data. We propose that this system should be considered as a standard method for PCS or similar types of data collection systems.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.127-132
• /
• 2013

The position of the internal organs can change continually and periodically inside the body due to the respiration. To reduce the respiration induced uncertainty of dose localization, one can use a respiratory gated radiotherapy where a radiation beam is exposed during the specific time of period. The main disadvantage of this method is that it usually requests a long treatment time, the massive effort during the treatment and the limitation of the patient selection. In this sense, the combination of the real-time position management (RPM) system and the volumetric intensity modulated radiotherapy (RapidArc) is promising since it provides a short treatment time compared with the conventional respiratory gated treatments. In this study, we evaluated the accuracy of the respiratory gated RapidArc treatment. Total sic patient cases were used for this study and each case was planned by RapidArc technique using varian ECLIPSE v8.6 planning machine. For the Quality Assurance (QA), a MatriXX detector and I'mRT software were used. The results show that more than 97% of area gives the gamma value less than one with 3% dose and 3 mm distance to agreement condition, which indicates the measured dose is well matched with the treatment plan's dose distribution for the gated RapidArc treatment cases.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.357-368
• /
• 2008

On July 31, 2008, the Government issued the construction and operation permit for the first low and intermediate level radioactive waste disposal facility in the Republic of Korea. In this paper, the fundamental regulatory framework, regulatory requirements and technical standards of the disposal facility are introduced, and the phased review process adopted for evaluation of the safety of the facility is briefly described. The Atomic Energy Act sets forth a stepwise regulatory framework for the whole life-cycle of the disposal facility such as siting, design, construction, operation, closure and institutional control. More detailed regulatory requirements and technical standards are stipulated in the subsequent regulations of the Atomic Energy Act and a series of Notices issued by the Ministry of Eduction, Science and Technology. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, as entrusted by the Ministry under the Atomic Energy Act, conducted safety review on the disposal facility, and evaluated the compliance with relevant criteria in all technical elements(i.e. siting and structural safety, radiological environmental impact, operational safety, systems and components, quality assurance, and total systematic performance assessment, etc.). The overall safety review process can be phased into inception phase, initial review phase, main review phase and completion phase. The review results were reported to and deliberated by the five Sub-committees of the Special Committee on Nuclear Safety, and then reported to the Ministry. The Ministry issued the construction and operation permit of the disposal facility through the deliberation of the review results by the Nuclear Safety Commission. Hereafter, the safety of the repository will be reassured by a series of subsequent regulatory inspections and reviews under the Atomic Energy Act. In addition, the licensee's continuous implementation of the "Safety Promotion Plan" may also enhance the long-term safety of the repository and contribute to build-up the confidence of the safety case.