• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.6
• /
• pp.141-149
• /
• 2018

The perception of risk that firefighters have is closely related to their performance and emergency preparedness in nuclear power plant accidents. This study investigated the unique risk perception among firefighters working in nuclear power plants (NPPs) using a concept mapping method. Thirty three firefighters in NPPs participated in this study. Two core axes, "fear and control" and "coping resource", emerged in the firefighters' risk perception. In particular, the risk perception consisted of six clusters: fear of radiation exposure and low controllability; anxiety caused by the lack of control and authority; lack of trust and cooperation; lack of authority and professionals; lack of equipment, manual, and information; and lack of knowledge and training. Catastrophic expectation and a low sense of control caused by the lack of responsive resources were the main factors that increase the risk perception. The theoretical and practical contributions of this study were discussed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.144-156
• /
• 2018

Level 3 Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA) is performed for the risk assessment that calculates radioactive material dispersion to the environment. This risk assessment is performed with a tool of MELCOR Accident Consequence Code System (MACCS2 or WinMACCS). For the off-site consequence analysis of multi-unit nuclear power plant (NPP) accident, the single location (Center Of Mass, COM) method has been usually adopted with the assumption that all the NPPs in the nuclear site are located at the same COM point. It was well known that this COM calculation can lead to underestimated or overestimated radionuclide concentration. In order to overcome this underestimation or overestimation of radionuclide concentrations in the COM method, Multiple Location (ML) method was developed in this study. The radionuclide concentrations for the individual NPPs are separately calculated, and they are summed at every location in the nuclear site by the post-processing of radionuclide concentrations that is based on two-dimensional Gaussian Plume equations. In order to demonstrate the efficiency of the ML method, radionuclide concentrations were calculated for the six-unit NPP site, radionuclide concentrations of the ML method were compared with those by COM method. This comparison was performed for conditions of constant weather, yearly weather in Korea, and four seasons, and the results were discussed. This new ML method (1) improves accuracy of radionuclide concentrations when multi-unit NPP accident occurs, (2) calculates realistic atmospheric dispersion of radionuclides under various weather conditions, and finally (3) supports off-site emergency plan optimization. It is recommended that this new method be applied to the risk assessment of multi-unit NPP accident. This new method drastically improves the accuracy of radionuclide concentrations at the locations adjacent to or very close to NPPs. This ML method has a great strength over the COM method when people live near nuclear site, since it provides accurate radionuclide concentrations or radiation doses.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.46 no.1
• /
• pp.9-14
• /
• 2023

When measuring cerebrovascular with 3D rotational angiography, the accuracy was verified by comparing the actual size and measurement size, respectively. It is intended to help select therapeutic materials and instruments during cerebrovascular intervention by comparing the average error rates for measured values in the 3DRA and CTA methods by examining with protocols such as brain CTA, which are always performed in emergency situations. The mean error rate between the groups of measurers was ±3.655% for radiation technologist and ±3.331% for university students, and the mean error rate of the student group was within tolerance (±10%), and the independent sample T-test result t =0.879, p=0.394 (p>0.05) showed no statistically difference between the two. In addition, the average error rate measured by both groups by 3DRA was measured below ±5% within the tolerance error rate (±10%), and most of CTA was measured within the tolerance range (±10%), but showed an average error rate of up to 5.65%, and the independent sample T-test result was statistically more accurate than 3DRA. Both the 3DRA method and the brain CTA method for measuring cerebrovascular size could be accurately measured within tolerance, but it would be better to measure cerebrovascular blood vessels using a more accurate 3DRA method during cerebrovascular intervention.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.1935-1945
• /
• 2023

The radiological safety of workers in a newly developed microwave-based spent resin treatment facility was assessed based on work location and operational scenarios. The results show that the remote-operation room worker was exposed to maximum annual dose of 3.19E+00 mSv, which is 15.9% of the dose limit, thereby confirming radiological safety. Inside the pathway, annual doses in the range of 7.87E-02-2.07E-01 mSv were measured initially at the mock-up tank and later at the point between the spent resin separation and treatment parts. The dose of emergency maintenance workers was below the dose limit (4.08E-03-4.99E+00 mSv); however, before treatment (separation and microwave), the dose of maintenance and repair workers exceeded the dose limit. The doses of the effluent removal workers at the zeolite and activated carbon storage tank and spent resin storage tank were the lowest at 2.79E-01-2.87E-01 mSv and 9.27E-01 mSv in "1 h" and "4-5 h of operation", respectively. The immediately lower and upper layers of the facility room exhibited the highest annual doses of 1.84E+00 and 3.22E+00 mSv, respectively. Through this study, a scenario that can minimize the dose considering the movement of spent resin through the facility can be developed.

• Journal of The Korea Institute of Healthcare Architecture
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.35-46
• /
• 2024

Purpose: It is the responsibility of public healthcare to respond quickly to infectious disease outbreaks and disasters such as MERS, COVID-19, the Syrian earthquake, and the Miryang Sejong Hospital fire accident. It is very important to secure safe medical facilities and protect lives through emergency medical support and disaster response systems. The purpose of this study is to investigate the safety status of regional medical facilities that play a central role in the event of a disaster. Methods: The target was 41 local public hospitals, including 35 regional medical centers and 6 Red Cross hospitals nationwide. We delivered a questionnaire to 41 medical facilities and collected data from 32 regional public hospitals that received responses. Results: In order to respond to safety accidents, a survey was conducted on infections, falls, patient identification, and incorrect connections for medical accidents, and for in-hospital accidents, a survey was conducted on entrapment, collision, water leaks, falling objects, and crime prevention. For natural disasters, we investigated the response environment for typhoons, floods, and snow damage, and for social disasters, we investigated the response environment for fire, power outages, and radiation damage. Implications: We hope that it will be used as basic data for developing standards and creating hospital facilities and environments that are safe for everyone to respond to various disasters and prevent patient safety accidents in the future.

• Journal of IKEEE
• /
• v.23 no.4
• /
• pp.1461-1464
• /
• 2019

In this paper, we propose the development of embedded board for integrated radiation exposure protection fireman's life-saving alarm capable of location tracking and radiation measurement. The proposed techniques consist of signal processing unit, communication unit, power unit, main control unit. Signal processing units apply shielding design, noise reduction technology and electromagnetic wave subtraction technology. The communication unit is designed to communicate using the wifi method. In the main control unit, power consumption is reduced to a minimum, and a high performance system is formed through small, high density and low heat generation. The proposed techniques are equipment operated by exposure to poor conditions, such as disaster and fire sites, so they are designed and manufactured for external appearance considering waterproof and thermal endurance. The proposed techniques were tested by an authorized testing agency to determine the effectiveness of embedded board. The waterproof grade has achieved the IP67 rating, which can maintain stable performance even when flooded with water at the disaster site due to the nature of the fireman's equipment. The operating temperature was measured in the range of -10℃ to 50℃ to cope with a wide range of environmental changes at the disaster site. The battery life was measured to be available 144 hours after a single charge to cope with emergency disasters such as a collapse accident. The maximum communication distance, including the PCB, was measured to operate at 54.2 meters, a range wider than the existing 50 meters, at a straight line with the command-and-control vehicle in the event of a disaster. Therefore, the effectiveness of embedded board for embedded board for integrated radiation exposure protection fireman's life-saving alarm has been demonstrated.

• 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.

• Progress in Medical Physics
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.144-148
• /
• 2007

Current digital radiography systems are rapidly glowing in clinical applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of a mobile digital radiographic system. The performance of the mobile DR system was evaluated by measuring the modulation transfer function (MTF), noise power spectrum (NPS), and detective quantum efficiency (DQE). Measurements were made on a LISTEM Mobix-1000 generator and a Teleoptic PRA Alpha-R4000 detector. Imaging characteristics were measured for these two systems using the IEC-61267 defined RQA5 (kVp: 74, additional filtration: 21 mmAl) radiographic condition. The MTF at 10% was measured as 2.4 cycles/mm and the DQE(0) values for radiation exposure 0.19, 0.5, and 1.3 mR were measured as 54%, 55%, and 76%, respectively. The NPS curves gradually decreased at high spatial frequencies. This high DQE at low frequencies, may be useful for low frequency information. The results suggested that mobile DR system could be integrated with emergency ambulance system in teleradiologic imaging applications.

• Proceedings of the Materials Research Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2011.05a
• /
• pp.15-15
• /
• 2011

As you know, boron compounds, borax ($Na_2B_4O_5(OH)_4{\cdot}8H_2O$) etc. were known thousands of years ago. As for natural boron, it has two naturally occurring and stable isotopes, boron 11 ($^{11}B$) and boron 10 ($^{10}B$). The neutron absorption $^{10}B$ is included about 19~20% with 80~81% $^{11}B$. Boron is similar to carbon in its capability to form stable covalently bonded molecular networks. The mass difference results in a wide range of ${\beta}$ values between the $^{11}B$ and $^{10}B$. The $^{10}B$ isotope, stable with 5 neutrons is excellent at capturing thermal neutrons. For example, it is possible to decrease a thermal neutron required for the nuclear reaction of uranium 235 ($^{235}U$). If $^{10}B$ absorbs a neutron ($^1n$), it will change to $^7Li+^1{\alpha}$ (${\alpha}$ ray, like $^4He$) with prompt ${\gamma}$ ray from $^{11}B$ $^{11}B$ (equation 1). $$^{10}B+^1n\;{\rightarrow}\;^{11}B\;{\rightarrow}\; prompt \;{\gamma}\;ray (478 keV), \;^7Li+4{\alpha}\;(4He)\;\;\;\;{\cdots}\; (1)$$ If about 1% boron is added to stainless steel, it is known that a neutron shielding effect will be 3 times the boron free steel. Enriched boron or $^{10}B$ is used in both radiation shielding and in boron neutron capture therapy. Then, $^{10}B$ is used for reactivity control and in emergency shutdown systems in nuclear reactors. Furthermore, boron carbide, $B_4C$, is used as the charge of a nuclear fission reaction control rod material and neutron cover material for nuclear reactors. The $B_4C$ powder of natural B composition is used as a charge of a control material of a boiling water reactor (BWR) which occupies commercial power reactors in nuclear power generation. The $B_4C$ sintered body which adjusted $^{10}B$ concentration is used as a charge of a control material of the fast breeder reactor (FBR) currently developed aiming at establishment of a nuclear fuel cycle. In this study for new boron compound, silicon boride ceramics for capturing thermal neutrons, preparation and characterization of both silicon tetraboride ($SiB_4$) and silicon hexaboride ($SiB_6$) and ceramics produced by sintering were investigated in order to determine the suitability of this material for nuclear power generation. The relative density increased with increasing sintering temperature. With a sintering temperature of 1,923 K, a sintered body having a relative density of more than 99% was obtained. The Vickers hardness increased with increasing sintering temperature. The best result was a Vickers hardness of 28 GPa for the $SiB_6$ sintered at 1,923K for 1 h. The high temperature Vickers hardness of the $SiB_6$ sintered body changed from 28 to 12 GPa in the temperature range of room temperature to 1,273 K. The thermal conductivity of the SiB6 sintered body changed from 9.1 to 2.4 W/mK in the range of room temperature to 1,273 K.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.8 no.7
• /
• pp.401-408
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study is confirmed to usefulness between division exam and combine exam of chest and abdomen according to comparing chest and abdomen radiation dose of division exam and combine exam in CT exam method. This study was conducted on patients who were admitted to the E hospital from July 2013 to March 2014 underwent CT studies for the diagnosis of chest and abdomen disease. In study result, male dose were more higher than female dose according to gender analysis of exposure dose that combine exam effective dose were male $33.10{\pm}2.75mSv$, female $31.66{\pm}3.12mSv$ and chest exam effective dose were male $9.07{\pm}2.62mSv$, female $8.30{\pm}2.18mSv$(p<0.05). And, division exam dose and combine exam dose were similar in gender comparison (p>0.05). And, combine exam effective dose, only chest exam effective dose, only abdomen exam effective dose were more higher than DRL(Diagnostic Reference Level) in comparison of patient exposure dose with DRL (p<0.05). In conclusion, chest-abdomen combine exam dose and division exam dose were similar. The chest-abdomen combine study can be used as follow-up and emergency trauma patients. That study will be reduce exam time and the occurrence risk of side effect of the contrast medium.