• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제51권8호
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• pp.1964-1969
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• 2019

The safety and efficiency of nuclear reactors largely depend on the monitoring and control of nuclear radiation. Due to the unique nuclear-physical characteristics, Hf is one of the most promising materials for the manufacturing of the control rods and the emitters of neutron detectors. It is proposed to use the Compton neutron detector with the emitter made of Hf in the In-core Instrumentation System (ICIS) for monitoring the neutron field. The main advantages of such a detector in comparison the conventional β-emission sensors are the possibility of reaching of a higher cumulative radiation dose and the absence of signal delays. The response time of the detection is extremely important when a nuclear reactor is operating near its critical operational parameters. Taking Hf as an example, the general principles for calculating the chains of materials transformation under neutron irradiation are reported. The influence of ^179m1Hf on the Hf composition changing dynamics and the process of transmutants' (Ta, W) generation were determined. The effect of these processes on the absorbing properties of Hf, which inevitably predetermine the lifetime of the detector and its ability to generate a signal, is estimated.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권3호
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• pp.185-190
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• 2016

Background: In order to measure neutron energy spectra, the conventional Bonner Sphere Spectrometers (BSS) are widely used. In this spectrometer, several measurements with different size Bonner spheres are required. Operators should, therefore, place these spheres in several times to a measurement point where radiation dose might be relatively high. In order to reduce this effort, novel neutron energy spectrometer using an onion-like single Bonner sphere was proposed in our group. This Bonner sphere has multiple sensitive spherical shell layers in the single sphere. In this spectrometer, a band-shaped thermal neutron detection medium, which consists of a LiF-ZnS mixed powder scintillator sheet and a wavelength-shifting (WLS) fiber readout, was looped to each sphere at equal angular intervals. Amount of LiF neutron converter is reduced near polar region, where the band-shaped detectors are concentrated, in order to uniform the directional sensitivity. The LiF-ZnS mixed powder has an advantage of extremely high light yield. However, since it is opaque, scintillation photons cannot be collect uniformly. This type of detector shows no characteristic shape in the pulse height spectrum. Subsequently, it is difficult to set the pulse height discrimination level. This issue causes sensitivity fluctuation due to gain instability of photodetectors and/or electric modules. Materials and Methods: In order to solve this problem, we propose to replace the LiF-ZnS mixed powder into a flexible and Transparent RUbber SheeT type $LiCaAlF_6$ (TRUST LiCAF) scintillator. TRUST LiCAF scintillator can show a peak shape corresponding to neutron absorption events in the pulse height spectrum. Results and Discussion: We fabricated the prototype detector with five sensitive layers using TRUST LiCAF scintillator and conducted basic experiments to evaluate the directional uniformity of the sensitivity. Conclusion: The fabricated detector shows excellent directional uniformity of the neutron sensitivity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권1호
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• pp.155-163
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• 2020

To investigate the optimal detector material for prompt gamma imaging during boron neutron capture therapy, in this study, we evaluated the characteristic regarding radiation reaction of available detector materials using a Monte Carlo simulation. Sixteen detector materials used for radiation detection were investigated to assess their advantages and drawbacks. The estimations used previous experimental data to build the simulation codes. The energy resolution and detection efficiency of each material was investigated, and prompt gamma images during BNCT simulation were acquired using only the detectors that showed good performance in our preliminary data. From the simulation, we could evaluate the majority of detector materials in BNCT and also could acquire a prompt gamma image using the six high ranked-detector materials and lutetium yttrium oxyorthosilicate. We provide a strategy to select an optimal detector material for the prompt gamma imaging during BNCT with three conclusions.

• 한국정보통신학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국정보통신학회 2016년도 추계학술대회
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• pp.944-945
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• 2016

감마선 영상화 장치에서 감마선을 탐지하는 검출부는 선원을 바라보는 Collimator와 Collimator 이외의 방향에서 입사되는 감마선을 차폐하기 위한 차폐체로 구성되며 검출센서는 해당 차폐체 내부에 위치하게 된다. 감마선에 대한 분포는 Collimator의 입사구를 통해 들어오는 신호와 검출부가 바라보는 방향에 대한 정보를 통해 분포를 나타낼 수 있다. 때문에 입사구에서 들어오는 신호 외에는 잡음으로 처리해야 하므로 차폐체의 역할이 중요하다. 본 논문에서는 상용 감마선 탐지장치의 보다 축소된 납 기반의 콜리메이터 및 차폐체에 대하여 구조와 물성을 변경하여 소형, 경량화 된 Collimator 및 차폐체를 제작하였다. 또한 감마선 조사시험시설을 이용하여 감마선 입사구의 측정된 신호값을 기준으로 차폐 효율을 분석하였다. 분석결과 제작된 Collimator 및 차폐체가 영상화 장치구현를 구현하는데 보다 효율적임을 확인하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권8호
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• pp.2797-2801
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• 2023

CdZnTeSe (CZTS) has attracted attention for applications in X- and gamma-ray detectors owing to its improved properties compared to those of CdZnTe (CZT). In this study, we grew and processed single crystals of CZT and CZTS using the Bridgeman method to confirm the feasibility of using a dosimeter for high-energy X-rays in radiotherapy. We evaluated their linearity and precision using the coefficient of determination (R²) and relative standard deviation (RSD). CZTS showed sufficient RSD values lower than 1.5% of the standard for X-ray dosimetry, whereas CZT's RSD values increased dramatically under some conditions. CZTS exhibited an R² value of 0.9968 at 500 V/cm, whereas CZT has an R² value of 0.9373 under the same conditions. The X-ray response of CZTS maintains its pulse shape at various dose rates, and its properties are improved by adding selenium to the CdTe matrix to lower the defect density and sub-grain boundaries. Thus, we validated that CZTS shows a better response than CZT to high-energy X-rays used for radiotherapy. Further, the applicability of an onboard imager, a high-energy X-ray (>6 MV) image, is presented. The proposed methodology and results can guide future advances in X-ray dose detection.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권8호
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• pp.2927-2934
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• 2023

The influence of the atmospheric radon background on the airborne gamma spectrum can seriously affect researchers' judgement of ground radiation information. However, due to load and endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne gamma-ray spectrometry is difficulty installing upward-looking detectors to monitor atmospheric radon background. In this paper, an advanced spectral-ratio method was used to correct the atmospheric radon background for a UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry in Inner Mongolia, China. By correcting atmospheric radon background, the ratio of the average count rate of U window in the anomalous radon zone (S5) to that in other survey zone decreased from 1.91 to 1.03, and the average uranium content in S5 decreased from 4.65 mg/kg to 3.37 mg/kg. The results show that the advanced spectral-ratio method efficiently eliminated the influence of the atmospheric radon background on the UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry to accurately obtain ground radiation information in uranium exploration. It can also be used for uranium tailings monitoring, and environmental radiation background surveys.

• 한국콘텐츠학회논문지
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• 제15권3호
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• pp.192-198
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• 2015

이동건강 검진차량에서 검진을 받는 환자나 종사자들에 대한 피폭선량이 증가하고 있으나 차량 외부의 누설방사선량에 대한 조사는 아직도 미비하다 할 수 있다. 이에 본 연구에서 실험을 통한 결과는 다음과 같이 나타났다. 누설선량이 가장 많이 발생하는 곳은 출입문에서는 우측으로 $1.14{\pm}1.75mR/h$, X선 발생기가 근접한 측면에서는 상부로 $0.65{\pm}1.25mR/h$, X선 발생기와 떨어진 측면에서는 하부로 $0.91{\pm}1.25mR/h$, 검출기가 인접한 후면에서는 상부가 $96.98{\pm}158.88mR/h$으로 다양한 위치에서 누설선량이 나타났다. 측정 위치별로는 검출기가 인접한 후면에서 $67.48{\pm}97.03mR/h$으로 누설선량이 가장 높았다. 진단용 방사선 발생장치의 안전관리에 관한 규정에는 주당 최대누설선량이 모두 만족하였지만 후면에서의 누설선량은 시간당으로 표시될 때는 무시 못 할 누설선량이 측정되었다. 따라서 이동건강검진차량에서 외부의 누설선량은 우리가 간과해서 아니 되며 관심을 가지고 방사선 방어시설의 방어벽 누설선량 기준을 다시 평가하는 기회가 필요하며, 이동건강검진차량을 이용한 X선 촬영이 증가함에 따라 시간당 선량으로 적절한 기준을 정하기 위한 방안과 노력이 요구된다고 하겠다.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권2호
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• pp.167-171
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• 2016

Background: TlBr is of considerable technological importance for radiation detection applications where detecting high-energy photons such as X-rays and ${\gamma}$-rays are of prime importance. However, there were few reports on investigating optical properties of TlBr itself for deeper understandings of this material and for making better radiation detection devices. Thus, in this paper, we report on the optical characterizations of TlBr single crystals. Spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE) and photoluminescence (PL) measurements at RT were performed for this work. Materials and Methods: A 2-inch TlBr single crystalline ingot was grown by using the vertical Bridgman furnace. SE measurements were performed at RT within the photon energy range from 1.1 to 6.5 eV. PL measurements were performed at RT by using a home-made PL system equipped with a 266 nm-laser and a spectrometer. Results and Discussion: Dielectric responses from SE analysis were shown to be slightly different among the different samples possibly due to the different structural/optical properties. Also from the PL measurements, it was observed that the peak intensities of the middle samples were significantly higher than those of the other two samples. With the given values for permittivity of free space (${\varepsilon}_0=8.854{\times}10^{-12}F{\cdot}m^{-1}$), thickness (d = 1 mm), and area ($A=10{\times}10mm^2$) of the TlBr sample, capacitances of TlBr were 6.9 pF (at $h{\nu}=3eV$) and 4.4 pF (at $h{\nu}=6eV$), respectively. Conclusion: SE and PL measurement and analysis were performed to characterize TlBr samples from the optical perspective. It was observed that dielectric responses of different TlBr samples were slightly different due to the different material properties. PL measurements showed that the middle sample exhibited much stronger PL emission peaks due to the better material quality. From the SE analysis, optical, dielectric constants were extracted, and calculated capacitances were in the few pF range.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.17-23
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• 1977

여러가지 핵분열중성자(核分裂中性子) 스펙트럼에 $^{32}S(n,\;p),\;^{27}Al(n,\;{\alpha})$ 및 $^{115}In(n\;n')$ 여기함수(勵起函數)를 증율(增率)시켜 평균핵반응단면적(平均核反應斷面積)을 전자계산기(電子計算機)로 계산(計算)하였다. 그 결과(結果) 발단(發端)에너지가 높을수록 중성자(中性子)스펙트럼 변화(變化)에 따라 평균(平均) 단면적(斷面積)은 민감(敏感)하게 변화(變化)한다는 것이 판명(判明)되었다. 발단(發端)에너지가 비교적(比較的) 낮은 인디움의 경우(境遇), 핵분열특성(核分裂特性)에 따라 그의 평균(平均) 단면적(斷面積)은 크게 변화(變化)되지 않았는데 중성자(中性子) 산란작용(散亂作用)에 의(依)한 영향(影響)이 배제(排除)될 수만 있다면 인디움은 핵임계사고시(核臨界事故時)에 방출(放出)되는 중성자(中性子)의 적산계(積算計)로서 효과적(效果的)으로 사용(使用)될 수 있을 것 같았다. 더욱이 중성자선량환산인자(中性子線量換算因子)가 핵분열(核分裂) 중성자(中性子)스펙트럼에 거의 무관(無關)하다는 사실(事實)은 인디움을 핵임계사고시(核臨界事故時)의 중성자선량적산계(中性子線量積算計)로 사용할 수 있음을 뒷받침하는 것 같았다.

• 방사성폐기물학회지
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• 제17권3호
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• pp.321-328
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• 2019

본 연구에서는 원자력 사고 또는 방사선 비상 시 지표면에 침적될 수 있는 감마선방출 핵종의 방사능을 신속하게 평가하기 위해 이용될 수 있는 NaI(Tl), $LaBr_3$(Ce) 및 $CeBr_3$ 섬광검출기의 성능을 비교 평가하였다. 검출성능은 최소검출가능방사능(MDA, Minimum Detectable Activity)을 통해 평가하였으며, 각 검출기의 지표면 침적 감마선방출 핵종에 대한 검출효율은 수학적 모델링과 점선원을 이용하여 반실험적으로 산출하였다. MDA 평가를 위한 백그라운드 감마선에너지스펙트럼은 비교적 넓고 평탄한 초지에서 측정되었으며, 원자력 사고 시 방출될 수 있는 주요 핵종에 대한 각 검출기의 MDA를 산출하였다. 그 결과 일반 환경방사능 준위에서 지표면 침적 감마핵종에 대한 각 검출기의 MDA 크기는 대체로"NaI(Tl)> $LaBr_3$(Ce)> $CeBr_3$"로 평가되었으며, 백그라운드 준위가 유사한 에너지 영역에서는 분해능이 가장 우수한 $LaBr_3$(Ce)에서 최소 값을 보였다. 이는 관심 핵종의 감마선에너지 영역에 대한 각 검출기의 자체 및 측정 환경 백그라운드, 측정 효율, 그리고 에너지 분해능 특성을 바탕으로 비교 분석되었다.