• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.47-54
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• 2017

Compared to other occupations, there is a greater risk of exposure to radiation due to the use of radioisotopes in nuclear medicine for diagnostic evaluations and therapy. To consider ways to reduce exposure dose for those in nuclear medicine involved in injection work and elution work among radiation workers as well as for sanitation workers and trainees among frequent workers an investigation into exposure dose and situational analysis from changes in yearly exposure dose evaluations, changes in work environment and changes in forms of inspection were conducted. Exposure dose measurements were taken by using EPD MK2 worn during working hours for one injection worker, one elution worker, two sanitation workers, and one trainee at a general hospital in the Seoul area for three days from July 18th to 20th 2016. Radiation from radioisotopes which are a part of nuclear medicine can significantly affect not only radiation workers who deal with radioisotopes directly but also frequency works as well. According to this study the annual dose limit for elution workers and injection workers were considered safe as the amount of exposure was not large enough to have a significant effect. The limits of this study consist in the duration of this study and the quantity of participants. Also there was a limitation of the measurement device involving accumulated exposure, where the EPD MK2 cannot check the changes in exposure according to a particular activity.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.511-521
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• 2022

Decommissioning of nuclear power plants generates a large amount of radioactive waste in a short period. Moreover, Radioactive waste has various forms including a large volumes of metal, concrete, and solid waste. The disposal of decommissioning waste using 200 L drums is inefficient in terms of economics, work efficiency, and radiation safety. Therefore, The Korea Radioactive Waste Agency is developing large containers for the packaging, transportation, and disposal of decommissioning waste. Assessing disposability considering the characteristics of the radioactive waste and facility, convenience of operation, and safety of workers is necessary. In this study, the exposure dose rate of workers during the disposal of new containers was evaluated using Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport code. Six normal and four abnormal scenarios were derived for the assessment of the dose rate in a near surface disposal facility operation. The results showed that the calculated dose rates in all normal scenarios were lower than the direct exposure dose limitation of workers in the safety analysis report. In abnormal scenarios, the work hours with dose rates below 20 mSv·y^-1 were calculated. The results of this study will be useful in establishing the optimal radiation work conditions.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.5
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• pp.1781-1788
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• 2022

The containment building Kori Unit 1 may require sequential steps for full decommissioning. This study assumes that the containment building is to be used as an auxiliary building that handles nuclear power systems and materials during decommissioning before conversion into a greenfield. Through the derivation of guidelines and dose evaluation, it was confirmed whether the radiation workers were satisfied with the ALARA decision. The specific modeling of the external radiation exposure was performed based on the facility investigation procedures. The external radiation specific derived concentration guideline levels (DCGLs) for radiation workers in containment building were obtained using the RESRAD-BUILD code and were applied to the VISIPLAN 3D ALARA Planning Tool code to calculate the working dose and check worker safety. The derivation of site-specific and realistic DCGLs and dose evaluation via 3D modeling can contribute to the scenario development for the decommission and remediation of containment building.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.223-226
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• 2024

It is essential to precisely evaluate the expected dose (collective dose) before performing high-exposure tasks in nuclear power plants because those have a high potential to cause significant radiation exposure to workers. A dose evaluation method is to design the scenarios of high-exposure tasks using computational codes, which allows for the calculation of the expected collective dose. Although these computational scenarios are useful for estimating the expected radiation dose and establishing radiation protection plans, the calculated doses may not perfectly match the actual doses that workers receive during tasks due to differences between the scenario and the actual circumstances in the radiation fields. Therefore, this study presents a methodology for calculating correction factors to improve the accuracy of dose predictions from computational scenarios. This approach aims to make the predicted collective dose before the task closer to the actual dose received by workers, thereby enhancing radiation safety for personnel performing high-exposure tasks. Additionally, these correction factors will help accurately predict doses under various working conditions in the future, contributing to minimizing radiation exposure risks for nuclear power plant workers.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30
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• pp.5.1-5.8
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• 2015

Objectives We aimed to assess the radiation exposure for epidemiologic investigation in residents exposed to radiation from roads that were accidentally found to be contaminated with radioactive cesium-137 ($^{137}Cs$) in Seoul. Methods Using information regarding the frequency and duration of passing via the $^{137}Cs$ contaminated roads or residing/working near the roads from the questionnaires that were obtained from 8875 residents and the measured radiation doses reported by the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission, we calculated the total cumulative dose of radiation exposure for each person. Results Sixty-three percent of the residents who responded to the questionnaire were considered as ever-exposed and 1% of them had a total cumulative dose of more than 10 mSv. The mean (minimum, maximum) duration of radiation exposure was 4.75 years (0.08, 11.98) and the geometric mean (minimum, maximum) of the total cumulative dose was 0.049 mSv (<0.001, 35.35) in the exposed. Conclusions An individual exposure assessment was performed for an epidemiological study to estimate the health risk among residents living in the vicinity of $^{137}Cs$ contaminated roads. The average exposure dose in the exposed people was less than 5% of the current guideline.

• The Journal of Korean Society for Radiation Therapy
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2012

Purpose: Unlike the existing linear accelerator with photon, proton therapy produces a number of second radiation due to the kinds of nuclide including neutron that is produced from the interaction with matter, and more attention must be paid on the exposure level of radiation workers for this reason. Therefore, thermoluminescence dosimeter (TLD) that is being widely used to measure radiation was utilized to analyze the exposure level of the radiation workers and propose a basic data about the radiation exposure level during the proton therapy. Materials and Methods: The subjects were radiation workers who worked at the proton therapy center of National Cancer Center and TLD Badge was used to compare the measured data of exposure level. In order to check the dispersion of exposure dose on body parts from the second radiation coming out surrounding the beam line of proton, TLD (width and length: 3 mm each) was attached to on the body spots (lateral canthi, neck, nipples, umbilicus, back, wrists) and retained them for 8 working hours, and the average data was obtained after measuring them for 80 hours. Moreover, in order to look into the dispersion of spatial exposure in the treatment room, TLD was attached on the snout, PPS (Patient Positioning System), Pendant, block closet, DIPS (Digital Image Positioning System), Console, doors and measured its exposure dose level during the working hours per day. Results: As a result of measuring exposure level of TLD Badge of radiation workers, quarterly average was 0.174 mSv, yearly average was 0.543 mSv, and after measuring the exposure level of body spots, it showed that the highest exposed body spot was neck and the lowest exposed body spot was back (the middle point of a line connecting both scapula superior angles). Investigation into the spatial exposure according to the workers' movement revealed that the exposure level was highest near the snout and as the distance becomes distant, it went lower. Conclusion: Even a small amount of exposure will eventually increase cumulative dose and exposure dose on a specific body part can bring health risks if one works in a same location for a long period. Therefore, radiation workers must thoroughly manage exposure dose and try their best to minimize it according to ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) as the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) recommends.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.145-154
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• 2003

By optimizing the radiation protection the collective dose and individual dose could be reduced during YGN #4 $5^{th}$ outage in 2001. The collective doses for the two high radiation jobs decreased to 85% and 65% of expected doses. The proportion of workers with low dose (below 1mSv) exposure increased 4% while the proportion of workers with over 3mSv and 5mSv exposure are decreased to 2%, 1% respectively. But none is exposed over 8mSv for the annual dose. To aid decision of utilizing the robot, cost- benefit analysis was performed and reasonable point was proposed to use the robot. For the first time job, repeated ALARA meeting and mock up training were implemented to set up working procedure by identifying the trouble. To easily set up standard procedure, mockup process was videotaped and reviewed during ALARA meeting. Monitoring is a good approach to chase radiological working condition such as working time, dose rate. behavior of workers, especially for high radiation work. Those data were estimated and adjusted from the stage of work planning to mock up. At the stage of actual work the monitoring data were compared to the estimation and recorded to database. This database will not only be used as a powerful tool for dose optimization at the following outage but also as a guideline to dose constraint set up for optimization for each specific situation.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.17-29
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• 2015

Purpose For nuclear medicine technologists, it is difficult to stay away from or to separate from radiation sources comparing with workers who are using radiation generating devices. Nuclear medicine technologists work is recognized as an optimized way when they are familiar with work practices. The aims of this study are to measure radiation exposure of technologists working in PET and to evaluate the occupational radiation dose after implementation of strategies to lower exposure. Materials and Methods We divided into four working types by QC for PET, injection, scan and etc. in PET scan procedure. In QC of PET, we compared the radiation exposure controlling next to $^{68}Ge$ cylinder phantom directly to controlling the table in console room remotely. In injection, we compared the radiation exposure guiding patient in waiting room before injection to after injection. In scan procedure of PET, we compared the radiation exposure moving the table using the control button located next to the patient to moving the table using the control button located in the far distance. PERSONAL ELECTRONIC DOSEMETER (PED), Tracerco$^{TM}$ was used for measuring exposed radiation doses. Results The average doses of exposed radiation were $0.27{\pm}0.04{\mu}Sv$ when controlling the table directly and $0.13{\pm}0.14{\mu}Sv$ when controlling the table remotely while performing QC. The average doses of exposed radiation were $0.97{\pm}0.36{\mu}Sv$ when guiding patient after injection and $0.62{\pm}0.17{\mu}Sv$ when guiding patient before injection. The average doses of exposed radiation were $1.33{\pm}0.54{\mu}Sv$ when using the control button located next to the patient and $0.94{\pm}0.50{\mu}Sv$ when using the control button located in far distance while acquiring image. As a result, there were statistically significant differences(P<0.05). Conclusion: From this study, we found that how much radiation doses technologists are exposed on average at each step of PET procedure while working in PET center and how we can reduce the occupational radiation dose after implementation of strategies to lower exposure. And if we make effort to seek any other methods to reduce technologist occupational radiation, we can minimize and optimize exposed radiation doses in department of nuclear medicine. Conclusion From this study, we found that how much radiation doses technologists are exposed on average at each step of PET procedure while working in PET center and how we can reduce the occupational radiation dose after implementation of strategies to lower exposure. And if we make effort to seek any other methods to reduce technologist occupational radiation, we can minimize and optimize exposed radiation doses in department of nuclear medicine.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.259-269
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• 2019

Objective: This study was conducted to prepare fundamental data and assess the relationship between level of exposure to airborne respirable dust, chest radiation findings, and the results of pulmonary function tests among workers in a cloth manufacturing factory. Methods: The number of total subjects was 144 (124 female and 20 male) workers in a cloth manufacturing factory in the city of Busan. This study measured the concentration of airborne respirable dust by gravimetric analysis and performed pulmonary function testing, and got chest radiation findings from December 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017. Collected data was analyzed using the IBM SPSS statistical package program (ver. 24.0). Results: The mean concentration of respirable dust was the highest in the cutting process. The effecting factors on $FEV_1/FVC$ were age, sex, and working process. The effecting factors on chest radiation findings were doing no exercise and concentration of respirable dust. Conclusions: Based on the above results, the authors consider there to be a need to secure sufficient working space and improve the engineering systems, for example the overall or local ventilation, in order to minimize the exposure to respirable dust. Health education and health promotion activities should also be improved in order to maintain optimal health status. The authors expect further studies to be performed on pulmonary function testing, chest radiation findings, and symptoms related to pulmonary function, including continuous observation, among workers in a cloth manufacturing factory.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.209-225
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• 2016

In this study, radiation workers who work in nuclear medicine department were analyzed to find the cause of differences of radiation exposure from General Characteristic, Knowledge, Recognition and Conduct, especially females working on nuclear medicine radiation, in order to pave the way for positive defense against radiation exposure. The subjects were 106 radiation workers who were divided into two groups of sixty-four males and forty-two females answered questions about their General Characteristic, Knowledge, Recognition, Conduct, and radiation exposure dose which was measured by TLD (Thermo Luminescence Dosimeter). The results of the analysis revealed that as the higher score of knowledge and conduct was shown, the radiation exposure decreased in female groups, and as the higher score of conduct was shown, the radiation exposure decreased in male groups. In the correlation analysis of female groups, the non-experienced in pregnancy showed decreasing amount of radiation exposure as the score of knowledge and conduct was higher and the experienced in pregnancy showed decreasing amount of radiation exposure as the score of recognition and conduct was higher. In the regression analysis on related factors of radiation exposure dose of nuclear medicine radiation workers, the gender caused the meaningful result and the amount of radiation exposure of female groups compared to male groups. In the regression analysis on related factors of radiation exposure dose of female groups, the factor of conduct showed a meaningful result and the amount of radiation exposure of the experienced in pregnancy was lower compared to the non-experienced. The conclusion of this study revealed that radiation exposure of female groups was lower than that of male groups. Therefore, male groups need to more actively defend themselves against radiation exposure. Among the female groups, the experienced in pregnancy who have an active defense tendency showed a lower radiation exposure. Thus, those who have never been pregnant need to have a more active defensive conduct for the future possibility of pregnancy.