• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.222-228
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• 2017

Background: On June 18, 2017, Korea's first commercial nuclear reactor, the Kori Nuclear Power Plant No. 1, was permanently suspended, and the capacity of nuclear power generation facilities will be adjusted according to the governments denuclearization policy. In these circumstances, it is necessary to assess the quality of radiation safety management in nuclear power plants in Korea by evaluating the radiation dose associated with them. Materials and Methods: The average annual radiation dose per unit, the annual radiation dose per person, and the annual dose distribution were analyzed using the radiation dose database of nuclear reactors for the last 5 years. The results of our analysis were compared to the specifications of the Nuclear Safety Act and Medical Law in Korea. Results and Discussion: The annual average per unit radiation dose of global major nuclear power generation was 720 man-mSv, while that of Korea's nuclear power plants was 374 manmSv. No workers exceeded 50 mSv per year or 100 mSv in 5 years. The individual radiation dose according to occupational exposure was 0.59 mSv for nuclear workers, 1.77 mSv for non-destructive workers, and 0.8 mSv for diagnostic radiologists. Conclusion: The radiation safety management of nuclear power plants in Korea has achieved the best outcomes worldwide, which is considered to be the result of the as-low-as-reasonably-achievable (ALARA) approach and strict radiation safety management. Moreover, the occupational exposures were also very low.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.5
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• pp.379-385
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• 2019

Radiation is used for various purposes such as cancer therapy, research of industrial and drugs. However, in case of radiation accidents such as terrorism, collapsing nuclear plant by natural disasters like Fukushima in 2011, very high radiation does expose to human and could lead to death. For this reason, many people are concerning about radiation exposures. Therefore, assessment and research of retrospective radiation dose to human by various path is an necessary task to be continuously developed. Radiation exposure for workers in radiation fields can be generally measured using a personal exposure dosimeter such as TLD, OSLD. However, general people can't be measured radiation doses when they are exposed to radiation. And even if radiation fields workers, when they do not in possession personal dosimeter, they also can't be measured exposure dose immediately. In this study, we conduct retrospective research on reconstruction of dose after exposure by using smart chip card of personal items through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). The OSL signal of smart chip card shows linear response from 0.06 Gy to 15 Gy and results of fading rate 45 %, 48% for 24 and 48 hours due to the natural emission of radiation in sample, respectively. The minimum detectable limit (MDD) was 0.38 mGy. This values are expected to use as correction values for reconstruction of exposure dose.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.205-211
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• 2017

Background: Radiation is used in a variety of areas, but it also poses potential risks. Although radiation is often used with great effectiveness in many applications, people perceive potential risks associated with radiation and feel anxious about the possibility of radiation exposure. Various methods of measuring radiation doses have been developed, but there is no way for the general public to measure their doses with ease. Currently, many people use smartphones, which provide information about the location of an individual phone through network connections. If a smartphone application could be developed for measuring radiation dosage, it would be a very effective way to measure individuals' radiation doses. Thus, we conducted a survey study to assess the social acceptance of such a technology by the general public and their intent to use that technology to measure radiation doses, as well as to investigate whether such an intention is correlated with anxiety and attitudes toward the use of radiation. Materials and Methods: A nationwide online survey was conducted among 355 Koreans who were 20 years old or older. Results and Discussion: Significant differences were found between the genders in attitudes, perceptions of radiation risk, and fears of exposure to radiation. However, a significant difference according to age was observed only in the intent to use a smartphone dose measurement application. Attitudes towards the use of radiation exerted a negative effect on radiation risk perception and exposure anxiety, whereas attitudes towards the use of radiation, risk perception, and anxiety about exposure were found to have a positive impact on the intent to use a smartphone application for dose measurements. Conclusion: A survey-based study was conducted to investigate how the general public perceives radiation and to examine the acceptability of a smartphone application as a personal dose monitoring device. If such an application is developed, it could be used not only to monitor an individual's dose, but also to contribute to radiation safety information infrastructure by mapping radiation in different areas, which could be utilized as a useful basis for radiation research.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.725-733
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• 2023

The Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences has started a radiation epidemiological study, titled "Korean Radiation Worker Study," to evaluate the health effects of occupational exposure to radiation. As a part of this study, we investigated the methodologies and results of reconstructing organ-specific absorbed doses based on personal dose equivalent, H_p(10), reported from 1984 to 2019 for 20,605 Korean radiation workers. For the organ dose reconstruction, representative exposure scenarios (i.e., radiation energy and exposure geometry) were first determined according to occupational groups, and dose coefficients for converting H_p(10) to organ absorbed doses were then appropriately taken based on the exposure scenarios. Individual annual doses and individual cumulative doses were reconstructed for 27 organs, and the highest values were observed in the thyroid doses (on average 0.77 mGy/y and 10.47 mGy, respectively). Mean values of individual cumulative absorbed doses for the red bone marrow, colon, and lungs were 7.83, 8.78, and 8.43 mSv, respectively. Most of the organ doses were maximum for industrial radiographers, followed by nuclear power plant workers, medical workers, and other facility workers. The organ dose database established in this study will be utilized for organ-specific risk estimation in the Korean Radiation Worker Study.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.38 no.5
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• pp.256-263
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• 2017

By using the buildup characteristics of the radiophotoluminescence glass dosimeter(RPLGD), it is aimed to help the measurement of the accurate dose by measuring the radiation dose according to the time of the glass element. Five glass elements were arranged on the table and the source to image receptor distance(SID) was set to 100 cm for the build-up radiation dose measurement of the fluorescent glass dosimeter glass element(GD-352M). Radiation doses and saturation rates were measured over time according to irradiation time, with the tube voltage (30, 60, 90 kVp) and tube current (50, 100 mAs) Repeatability test was repeated ten times to measure the coefficient of variation. The radiation dose increased from 0.182 mGy to 12.902 mGy and the saturation rate increased from 58.3% with increasing exposure condition and time. The coefficient of variation of the glass elements of the fluorescent glass dosimeter was ranged from 0.2 to 0.77 according to the X - ray exposure conditions. X - ray exposure showed that the radiation dose and saturation rate were increased with buildup characteristics, and degeneration of glass elements was not observed. The reproducibility of the variation coefficient of the radiation generator was included within the error range and the reproducibility of the radiation dose was excellent.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.933-943
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• 2021

Objective : Percutaneous pedicle screw (PPS) fixation is a needle based procedure that requires fluoroscopic image guidance. Consequently, radiation exposure is inevitable for patients, surgeons, and operation room staff. We hypothesize that reducing the production of radiation emission will result in reduced radiation exposure for everyone in the operation room. Research was performed to evaluate reduction of radiation exposure by modifying imaging manner and mode of radiation source. Methods : A total of 170 patients (680 screws) who underwent fusion surgery with PPS fixation from September 2019 to March 2020 were analyzed in this study. Personal dosimeters (Polimaster Ltd.) were worn at the collar outside a lead apron to measure radiation exposure. Patients were assigned to four groups based on imaging manner of fluoroscopy and radiation modification (pulse mode with reduced dose) : continuous use without radiation modification (group 1, n=34), intermittent use without radiation modification (group 2, n=54), continuous use with radiation modification (group 3, n=26), and intermittent use with radiation modification (group 4, n=56). Post hoc Tukey Honest significant difference test was used for individual comparisons of radiation exposure/screw and fluoroscopic time/screw. Results : The average radiation exposure/screw was 71.45±45.75 µSv/screw for group 1, 18.77±11.51 µSv/screw for group 2, 19.58±7.00 µSv/screw for group 3, and 4.26±2.89 µSv/screw for group 4. By changing imaging manner from continuous multiple shot to intermittent single shot, 73.7% radiation reduction was achieved in the no radiation modification groups (groups 1, 2), and 78.2% radiation reduction was achieved in the radiation modification groups (groups 3, 4). Radiation source modification from continuous mode with standard dose to pulse mode with reduced dose resulted in 72.6% radiation reduction in continuous imaging groups (groups 1, 3) and 77.3% radiation reduction in intermittent imaging groups (groups 2, 4). The average radiation exposure/screw was reduced 94.1% by changing imaging manner and modifying radiation source from continuous imaging with standard fluoroscopy setting (group 1) to intermittent imaging with modified fluoroscopy setting (group 4). A total of 680 screws were reviewed postoperatively, and 99.3% (675) were evaluated as pedicle breach grade 0 (<2 mm). Conclusion : The average radiation exposure/screw for a spinal surgeon can be reduced 94.1% by changing imaging manner and modifying radiation source from real-time imaging with standard dose to intermittent imaging with modified dose. These modifications can be instantly applied to any procedure using fluoroscopic guidance and may reduce the overall radiation exposure of spine surgeons.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.17-25
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• 2005

Since the safety of nuclear power plant has been becoming a big social issue the exposure dose of radiation for workers has been one of the important factors concerning the safety problem. The existing calculation methods of radiation dose used in the planning of radiation work assume that dose rate does not depend on the location within a work space thus the variation of exposure dose by different work path is not considered. In this study, a modified numerical method was presented to estimate the exposure dose during radiation work in radwaste storage considering the effects of the distance between a worker and sources. And a new numerical algorithm was suggested to search the optimal work path minimizing the exposure dose in pre-defined work space with given radiation sources. Finally, a virtual work simulation program was developed to visualize the exposure dose of radiation doting radiation works in radwaste storage and provide the capability of simulation for work planning. As a numerical example, a test radiation work was simulated under given space and two radiation sources, and the suggested optimal work path was compared with three predefined work paths. The optimal work path obtained in the study could reduce the exposure dose for the given test work. Based on the results, tile developed numerical method and simulation program could be useful tools in the planning of radiation work.

• Journal of Environmental Health Sciences
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.88-99
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• 1998

This study was undertaken to find out the bio-effects due to be a radiation fractionated exposure. The experimental animals were divided into the control group and the radiation exposure groups of 20cGy, 40cGy and 80cGy with 220 male Sprague-Dawley rats at 6 weeks old. The radiation exposure groups were fractionated exposed from each 20cGy, 40cGy and 80cGy for every 5 days. The chromosome aberrations, the frequency of SCE, the changes of body weight, hematological values and enzyme activities were investigated for the fractionating exposure times and the time after fractionated exposure. The results were summarized as follows 1. The body weight of the radiation exposure groups were significantly decreased compared with control group according to the increasing fractionated exposure times, and it was the lowest values at the immediately after the end of the fractionating exposed, but it was recovered with the level of control group at 3rd weeks gradually increased 1st week after fractionated exposure. 2. The values of WBC, RBC, Hb and Hct in the radiation exposure groups were significantly decreased than those the control group, but the values of GOT, GPT, ALP, and LDH in the radiation exposure groups were significantly increased than those of the control group. 3. The frequency of chromosomal aberration were increased according to the increasing fractionated exposure dose, and it showed the highest at 5th days after fractionated exposed. The types of chromosomal aberration were occurred such as a numerical abnormality, deletion, break and duplication, it was not recovered immediately and maintained high frequency than the control group. 4. The frequency of SCE were significantly increased according to the increasing fractionated exposure dose in 20cGy, 40cGy and 80cGy groups. But it was recovered the level of control group at 7th days after fractionated exposure. According to the above results, this study could confirm that the frequency of chromosomal aberration and SCE were increased with fractionated exposure dose, the other hand, the changes of body weight, hematological values and enzyme activity values were significantly affected according to the increasing fractionated exposure dose.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.23-33
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• 2024

This study was conducted to analyze the characteristics of three high-exposure tasks performed by radiation workers in Korean pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and to identify factors that reduce their exposure during work. Three high-exposure tasks were selected based on a previous study. In this previous study, nozzle dam installation and removal, eddy current testing, and manway opening and closing were determined as high-exposure tasks through normalization (radiation dose per unit time). Based on the analysis of the characteristics of the high-exposure tasks in this study, the high-exposure tasks were steam generator-related tasks performed inside and outside the water chamber. This study analyzed the reduction factors for high-exposure tasks and suggested improvements in terms of time, distance, and shielding. The use of the characteristics of high-exposure tasks and their dose reduction factors enables Korean PWRs to optimize radiation protection for workers who receive relatively high doses.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.109-115
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• 2015

In case of a CT examinations, there is a difference in the distribution of radiation dose from that of general X-ray equipments, and it has been known to cause a great radiation exposure during the examinations. However, owing to its high reliability on the accuracy of a examinations result, its use has increased continuously. In consideration of such a circumstance, the CT equipment, radiation dose during CT examinations, diagnostic reference level, and solutions to reduce radiation dose were mentioned on the basis of previously reported data.