• Title/Summary/Keyword: Radiation exposure management

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Web-based Personal Dose Management System for Data Recording on Dosimeter Usage: A Case of Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission

  • Mseke, Angela;Ngatunga, John Ben;Sam, Anael;Nyambo, Devotha G.
    • International Journal of Computer Science & Network Security
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    • v.22 no.2
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    • pp.15-22
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    • 2022
  • Modern technology drives the world, increasing performance while reducing labor and time expenses. Tanzania Atomic Energy Commission (TAEC) tracks employee's levels of exposure to radiation sources using dosimeters. According to legal compliance, workers wear dosimeters for three months and one month at the workplace. However, TAEC has problems in tracking, issuing and returning dosimeters because the existing tracking is done manually. The study intended to develop a Personal Dose Management System (PDMS) that processes and manages the data collected by dosimeters for easy and accurate records. During the requirements elicitation process, the study looked at the existing system. PDMS' requirement gathering included document reviews, user interviews, and focused group discussions. Development and testing of the system were implemented by applying the evolutionary prototyping technique. The system provides a login interface for system administrators, radiation officers, and Occupational Exposed Workers. The PDMS grants TAEC Staff access to monitor individual exposed workers, prints individual and institutional reports and manages workers' information. The system reminds the users when to return dosimeters to TAEC, generate reports, and facilitates dispatching and receiving dosimeters effectively. PDMS increases efficiency and effectiveness while minimizing workload, paperwork, and inaccurate records. Therefore, based on the results obtained from the system, it is recommended to use the system to improve dosimeter data management at the institution.

Review of Shielding Evaluation Methodology for Facilities Using kV Energy Radiation Generating Devices Based on the NCRP-49 Report

  • Na Hye Kwon;Hye Sung Park;Taehwan Kim;Sang Rok Kim;Kum Bae Kim;Jin Sung Kim;Sang Hyoun Choi;Dong Wook Kim
    • Progress in Medical Physics
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    • v.33 no.4
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    • pp.53-62
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    • 2022
  • In this study, we have investigated the shielding evaluation methodology for facilities using kV energy generators. We have collected and analysis of safety evaluation criteria and methodology for overseas facilities using radiation generators. And we investigated the current status of shielding evaluation of domestic industrial radiation generators. According to the statistical data from the Radiation Safety Information System, as of 2022, a total of 7,679 organizations are using radiation generating devices. Among them, 6,299 facilities use these devices for industrial purposes, which accounts for a considerable portion of radiation. The organizations that use these devices evaluate whether the exposure dose for workers and frequent visitors is suitable as per the limit regulated by the Nuclear Safety Act. Moreover, during this process, the safety shields are evaluated at the facilities that use the radiation generating devices. However, the facilities that use radiating devices having energy less than or equal to 6 MV for industrial purposes are still mostly evaluated and analyzed according to the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements 49 (NCRP 49) report published in 1976. We have investigated the technical standards of safety management, including the maximum permissible dose and parameters assessment criteria for facilities using radiation generating devices, based on the NCRP 49 and the American National Standards Institute/Health Physics Society N.43.3 reports, which are the representative reports related to radiation shielding management cases overseas.

Classification of Radiation Work in Korean Nuclear Power Plants

  • Changju Song;Tae Young Kong;Seongjun Kim;Jinho Son;Hwapyoung Kim;Jiung Kim;Hee Geun Kim
    • Journal of Radiation Industry
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    • v.17 no.3
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    • pp.239-256
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    • 2023
  • The classification of the radiation work performed in Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs) must be understood to provide workers with more comprehensive radiation protection. This study used annual reports on occupational exposure to investigate and analyze the similarities and differences in the radiation work performed in Korean NPPs with pressurized water reactors (PWRs) and pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). The results showed that the radiation work performed in Korean NPPs could be classified into three categories. Category 1 contains work at the highest level. This work can be divided into individual tasks belonging to Category 2, which enables the evaluation of the radiation dose during the work. The work in Category 2 consists of tasks from Category 3, which contains basic detailed tasks that are not further subdivided. This study emphasized the need for the systematic management of the radiation work performed in both Korean PWRs and PHWRs, such as the tasks in Category 3, which are similar, with similar working conditions, for PWRs and PHWRs. It also suggested the need to establish a list of radiation work for decommissioning because Kori Unit 1 and Wolsong Unit 1 are currently in permanent shutdown and preparations are being made for their decommissioning.

Individual Doses to the Public after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

  • Ishikawa, Tetsuo
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.45 no.2
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    • pp.53-68
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    • 2020
  • Background: International organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reported public exposure doses due to radionuclides released in the Fukushima nuclear accident a few years after the event. However, the reported doses were generally overestimated due to conservative assumptions such as a longer stay in deliberate areas designated for evacuation than the actual stay. After these reports had been published, more realistic dose values were reported by Japanese scientists. Materials and Methods: The present paper reviews those reports, including the most recently published articles; and summarizes estimated effective doses (external and internal) and issues related to their estimation. Results and Discussion: External dose estimation can be categorized as taking two approaches-estimation from ambient dose rate and peoples' behavior patterns-and measurements using personal dosimeters. The former approach was useful for estimating external doses in an early stage after the accident. The first 4-month doses were less than 2 mSv for most (94%) study subjects. Later on, individual doses came to be monitored by personal dosimeter measurements. On the basis of these measurements, the estimated median annual external dose was reported to be < 1 mSv in 2011 for 22 municipalities of Fukushima Prefecture. Internal dose estimation also can be categorized as taking two approaches: estimation from whole-body counting and estimation from monitoring of environmental samples such as radioactivity concentrations in food and drinking water. According to results by the former approach, committed effective dose due to 134Cs and 137Cs could be less than 0.1 mSv for most residents including those from evacuated areas. Conclusion: Realistic doses estimated by Japanese scientists indicated that the doses reported by WHO and UNSCEAR were generally overestimated. Average values for the first-year effective doses for residents in two affected areas (Namie Town and Iitate Village) were not likely to reach 10 mSv, the lower end of the doses estimated by WHO.

Assessment of Occupational Dose to the Staff of Interventional Radiology Using Monte Carlo Simulations (몬테카를로 방법을 이용한 중재방사선시술자에 대한 선량평가)

  • Lim, Young-Khi
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.39 no.4
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    • pp.213-217
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    • 2014
  • Medical operations and diagnosis using interventional radiology techniques have been increased. The management and monitoring of occupational radiation exposure to the staff of interventional radiology become important, specially because they stand in close proximity to the patient. The operational radiation protection quantity, Hp(10) which can be obtained from personal dosimeter do not always represent the effective dose to the staff. So, in this study, to estimate the critical organ doses to the staff of interventional radiology, Monte Carlo calculations with mathematical human phantom and dose measurements with personal dosimeters were carried out for the major interventional radiology procedures using C-arm. Results showed that the values of Hp(10) measured by personal dosimeters were higher than critical organ doses which were calculated. And the calculated dose to thyroids was much higher than those of other critical organ doses. For the proper radiation protection of the medical staff of interventional radiology, additional radiation protection for thyroids as well as for whole body shielding like wearing a lead apron should be considered.

Radionuclide-Specific Exposure Pathway Analysis of Kori Unit 1 Containment Building Surface

  • Byon, Jihyang;Park, Sangjune;Ahn, Seokyoung
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.18 no.3
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    • pp.347-354
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    • 2020
  • Site characterization for decommissioning Kori Unit 1 is ongoing in South Korea after 40 years of successful operation. Kori Unit 1's containment building is assumed to be mostly radioactively contaminated, and therefore radiation exposure management and detailed contamination investigation are required for decommissioning and dismantling it safely. In this study, site-specific Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) were derived using the residual radioactivity risk evaluation tool, RESRAD-BUILD code. A conceptual model of containment building for Kori Unit 1 was set up and limited occupational worker building inspection scenario was applied. Depending on the source location, the maximum contribution source and exposure pathway of each radionuclide were analyzed. The contribution of radionuclides to dose and exposure pathways, by source location, is expected to serve as basic data in the assessment criteria of survey areas and classification of impact areas during further decommissioning and decontamination of sites.

A Method for Operational Safety Assessment of a Deep Geological Repository for Spent Fuels

  • Jeong, Jongtae;Cho, Dong-Keun
    • Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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    • v.18 no.spc
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    • pp.63-74
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    • 2020
  • The operational safety assessment is an important part of a safety case for the deep geological repository of spent fuels. It consists of different stages such as the identification of initiating events, event tree analysis, fault tree analysis, and evaluation of exposure doses to the public and radiation workers. This study develops a probabilistic safety assessment method for the operational safety assessment and establishes an assessment framework. For the event and fault tree analyses, we propose the advanced information management system for probabilistic safety assessment (AIMS-PSA Manager). In addition, we propose the Radiological Safety Analysis Computer (RSAC) program to evaluate exposure doses to the public and radiation workers. Furthermore, we check the applicability of the assessment framework with respect to drop accidents of a spent fuel assembly arising out of crane failure, at the surface facility of the KRS+ (KAERI Reference disposal System for SNFs). The methods and tools established through this study can be used for the development of a safety case for the KRS+ system as well as for the design modification and the operational safety assessment of the KRS+ system.

General Radiography Usage and Exposure Dose of Korean Elderly: Based on Data from Aged Patients in 2016 (한국 노인의 일반촬영 이용량 및 피폭선량: 2016년 고령환자데이터 기반)

  • Gil, Jong-Won;Yoo, Se-Jong;Lee, Won-Jeong
    • Journal of radiological science and technology
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    • v.44 no.5
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    • pp.495-502
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    • 2021
  • This study aims to provide basic data for elderly health insurance policy and medical radiation safety management by analyzing the general radiography usage and exposure dose of the elderly in Korea. The effective dose for each general radiography was calculated using the ALARA-GR program for 260 general radiography codes selected from 'National Health Insurance Care Benefit Cost'. The usage of general radiography was analyzed in the 2016 elderly patient data of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and the effective dose for each general radiography was applied. The general radiography usage and exposure dose per person aged 65 years and over was 6.47 cases and 0.56 mSv. Females showed higher value than males as 7.15 cases and 0.66 mSv(p<.001). By age, those between 75 and 79 showed the highest number as 6.97 cases and 0.62 mSv(p<.001). Those who were supported by Medical Aid showed higher value than those who were insured by National Health Insurance as 8.82 cases and 0.76 mSv(p<.001). In addition, the ratio by radiography was in the order of Chest 20.85%, Knee Joint 15.58%, and L-spine 14.67%, and the exposure dose was L-spine 29.40%, Chest 15.82%, Abdomen 7.97%, and Entire Spine 7.20%. General radiography, which is widely used due to the high frequency of diseases in the elderly population should be taken into consideration when establishing health insurance policies. In addition, it is necessary to check whether the general radiography with high exposure dose is performed as a routine examination without considering medical necessity.

Remote Nozzle Blocking Device of RCS Pipe during Mid-Loop Operation in Nuclear Power Plants

  • Kang, Ki-Sig;Lee, Se-Yub;Chi, Ham-Chung
    • Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
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    • 1996.05a
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    • pp.571-576
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    • 1996
  • Currently most nuclear power plants(NPPs) are adopted the mid-loop operation to minimize the overhaul period and save the operating cost. For mid-loop operation it is essential to install nozzle dam between RCS pipe and steam generator(SG). Because SG remains more highly contaminated with radioactive material than any other parts of the NPPs, the repairmen are very reluctant to carry out installing nozzle dam inside the SG. Until now, unfortunately, it appears that no practically applicable device was developed to provide the longstanding demand. Also the accidents have been reported by licenser event report during this operation mode due to loss of residual heat removal(RHR). The purpose of this paper is to conduct remotely blocking and disintegration of nozzle of a SG which has the highest radiation exposure during the maintenance in NPPs. The remote nozzle blocking device of a SG includes three bladders, hubs, air controller provisions to supply and contact air pressure into the bladders. This remote nozzle block device will give the larger operation margin to prevent the loss of RHR and minimize the radiation exposure dose to the repairman and shorten the overhaul periods.

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Observation Systems of Cherenkov Radiation from Water Phantom Irradiated with Co-60 Gamma-rays

  • Tabushi, Katsuyoshi;Koyama, Shuji;Homma, Mitsuhiko;Tamiya, Tadashi;Yajima, Mihoko;Imai, Kuniharu;Obata, Yasunori
    • Proceedings of the Korean Society of Medical Physics Conference
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    • 2002.09a
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    • pp.123-125
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    • 2002
  • Blue light of Cherenkov radiation generated by electrons in transparent substances such as water and acrylic resin is well known generally. If students can easily observe the blue light at school, they may be impressed by the fascinating radiation. Four years ago, management of the Co-60 unit for radiotherapy was transferred to Nagoya University School of Health Sciences from a related hospital. We have examined whether or not the Cherenkov radiation in water from secondary electrons generated by Co-60 gamma-rays can be safely observed by eyes and photographs. First, the Cherenkov radiation in the water tank was led to the corridor outside the irradiation room by a mirror, and observed directly without any effect of the radiation exposure. Second, photographs of the Cherenkov radiation were taken under the conditions consisted of several irradiation fields and pass lengths of gamma-rays in water.

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