• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.493-500
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• 2022

The objective of this study was to derive derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) reflecting the site-specific characteristics of KRR-1&2. A total of 7 nuclides (H-3, C-14, Co-60, Sr-90, Cs-137, Eu-152, and Eu-154) were selected for DCGLs derivation. Radiation dose at the sites was evaluated with RESRAD-ONSITE program. The dose contribution due to direct external exposure was the highest during the entire evaluation period. Ingestion had the second effect. The DCGLs of Co-60 was derived to be 0.051 Bq/g, and DCGLs of Cs-137 was 0.193 Bq/g. The DCGLs of H-3 showed the highest value of 129 Bq/g. The ratio of DCGLs derived by applying site-specific values and default values ranged from 0.27 to 19.6. For six nuclides excluding H-3, KRR-1&2 sites and the overseas NPP sites showed similar DCGLs. H-3 showed large differences in DCGLs from this study and overseas NPPs. The large difference resulted from input parameter values applied to the sites. In conclusion, it is critical to apply site-specific parameter values reflecting the site characteristics to derive DCGLs for decommissioned site clearance. The result of this study can be used as a reference for nuclide selection and DCGLs derivation reflecting the site characteristics when decommissioning nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants in Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.113-121
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• 2021

A safety assessment of radioactive waste repositories is a mandatory requirement process because there are possible radiological hazards owing to radionuclide migration from radioactive waste to the biosphere. For a reliable safety assessment, it is important to establish a parameter database that reflects the site-specific characteristics of the disposal facility and repository site. From this perspective, solubility, a major geochemical parameter, has been chosen as an important parameter for modeling the migration behavior of radionuclides. The solubilities were derived for Am, Ni, Tc, and U, which were major radionuclides in this study, and on-site groundwater data reflecting the operational conditions of the Gyeongju low and intermediate level radioactive waste (LILW) repository were applied to reflect the site-specific characteristics. The radiation dose was derived by applying the solubility and radionuclide inventory data to the RESRAD-OFFSITE code, and sensitivity analysis of the dose according to the solubility variation was performed. As a result, owing to the low amount of radionuclide inventory, the dose variation was insignificant. The derived solubility can be used as the main input data for the safety assessment of the Gyeongju LILW repository in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2017

The U.S. NRC establishes a radiological criteria with regard to restricted or unrestricted use of nuclear plant site after decommissioning in NUREG-1757. According to this, a nuclear plant site can be released in a restricted way or unrestricted way only if a licensee demonstrates that the dose criteria is fulfilled after the site decontamination and remediation. In order to prove compliance with the radiological criteria of site release, LTP(License Termination Plan) must include the site release criteria, site characterization, final survey plan with major radionuclides and DCGL(Derived Concentration Guideline Levels), etc. Based on the decommissioning case of Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in the United States, this paper analyzed a method of setting the DCGL that can be applied to Kori NPP Unit 1 which will be permanently disabled in 2017.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.1098-1108
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• 2019

Korea's first commercial nuclear power plant at Kori site was permanently shut down in 2017 and is currently in transition stage. Preparatory activities for decommissioning such as historical site assessment, characterization, and dismantling design are being actively carried out for successful D&D (Dismantling and Decontamination) at Kori site. The ultimate goal of decommissioning will be to ensure the safety of workers and residents that may arise during the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and, thereby finally returning the site to its original status in accordance with the release criteria. Upon completion of decommissioning, the resident's safety at a site released will be assessed from the evaluation of dose caused by radionuclides expected to be present or detected at the site. Although the U.S. commercial nuclear power plants with decommissioning experience use different site release criteria, most of them are 0.25 mSv/y. In Korea, both the unrestricted and restricted release criteria have been set to 0.1 mSv/y by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission. However, since the dose is difficult to measure, measurable concentration guideline levels for residual radionuclides that result in dose equivalent to the site release criteria should be derived. For this derivation, site reuse scenario, selection of potential radionuclides, and systematic methodology should be developed in planning stage of Kori site decommissioning. In this paper, for calculation of a preliminary site-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) for the Nuclear Power Plant site, a novel approach has been developed which can fully reflect practical reuse plans of the Kori site by taking into account multiple site reuse scenarios sequentially, thereby striking a remarkable distinction with conventional approaches which considers only a single site scenario.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.11 no.5
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• pp.335-341
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• 2017

Cyclotron is a device that accelerates positrons or neutrons, and is used as a facility for making radioactive drugs having short half-lives. Such radioactive drugs are used for positron emission tomography (PET), which is a medical apparatus. In order to make radioactive drugs from a cyclotron, a nuclear reaction must occur between accelerated positrons and a target. After the reaction, unncessary neutrons are produced. In the present study, radioactivation generated from the collisions between the concrete shielding wall and the positrons and neutrons produced from the cyclotron is investigated. We tracked radioactivated radioactive isotopes by conducting experiments using FLUKA, a type of Monte Carlo simulation. The properties of the concrete shielding wall were comparatively analyzed using materials containing impurities at ppm level and materials that do not contain impurities. The generated radioactivated nuclear species were comparatively analyzed based on the exposure dose affecting human body as a criterion, through RESRAD-Build. The results of experiments showed that the material containing impurities produced a total of 14 radioactive isotopes, and $^{60}Co$(72.50%), $^{134}Cs$(16.75%), $^{54}Mn$(5.60%), $^{152}Eu$(4.08%), $^{154}Eu$(1.07%) accounted for 99.9% of the total dose according to the analysis having the exposure dose affecting human body as criterion. The $^{60}Co$ nuclear species showed the greatest risk of radiation exposure. The material that did not contain impurities produced a total of five nuclear species. Among the five nuclear species, 54Mn accounted for 99.9% of the exposure dose. There is a possibility that Cobalt can be generated by inducive nuclear reaction of positrons through the radioactivation process of $^{56}Fe$ instead of impurities. However, there was no radioactivation because only few positrons reached the concrete wall. The results of comparative analysis on exposure dose with respect to the presence of impurities indicated that the presence of impurities caused approximately 98% higher exposure dose. From this result, the main cause of radioactivation was identified as the small ppm-level amount of impurities.