• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.395-401
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• 2016

Background: Liquid scintillation counters (LSCs) are commonly used as an analytical method for detecting $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater because they involve a simple sample pretreatment and allow high throughout with an autosampler. The Quantulus 1220 is the best-selling LSC in Korea, but its production was stopped. Recently, a new type of LSC, the 300SL, was introduced. In this study, the 300SL was compared with the Quantulus 1220 in order to evaluate the ability of each apparatus to detect $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater. Materials and Methods: The Quantulus 1220 and 300SL were used to detect the presence of $^{222}Rn$. Radon gas was extracted from a groundwater sample using a water-immiscible cocktail in a LSC vial. The optimal analytical conditions for each LSC were determined using a $^{222}Rn$ calibration source prepared with a $^{226}Ra$ source. Results and Discussion: The optimal pulse shape analysis level for alpha and beta separation was 80 for the Quantulus 1220, and the corresponding pulse length index was 12 in the 300SL. The counting efficiency of the Quantulus 1220 for alpha emissions was similar to that of the 300SL, but the background count rate of the Quantulus 1220 was 10 times lower than that of the 300SL. The minimum detectable activity of the Quantulus 1220 was $0.08Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$, while that of the 300SL was $0.20Bq{\cdot}L^{-1}$. The analytical results regarding $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater were less than 10% different between these LSCs. Conclusion: The 300SL is an LSC that is comparable to the Quantulus 1220 for detecting $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater. Both LSCs can be applied to determine the levels of $^{222}Rn$ in groundwater under the management of the Ministry of Environment.

• 한국태양에너지학회 논문집
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• 제31권2호
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• pp.89-98
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• 2011

This study examined the energy performance according to the main design parameters of a solar water heating system for an office building using the life cycle cost (LCC) optimization simulations. The LCC optimization simulations of the system were conducted with TRNSYS and GenOpt employing the Hooke-Jeeves algorithm for cases where water temperature was $60^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$. The results showed that for water temperature at $60^{\circ}C$ and $50^{\circ}C$ the global radiation incident on the collector could be decreased by 16.98% and 28.52%, collector useful energy gain could be decreased by 15.04% and 22.59%, energy to load from storage tank could be decreased by 10.86% and 18.06% and AH energy to load could be increased by 16.86% and 38.50% respectively compared to a non-optimized system. The annual average collection efficiency of the collector was increased by 0.88% for $60^{\circ}C$ and 2.78% for $50^{\circ}C$ because of increase of collector slope and decrease of the mass flow rate per collector area. The annual average efficiency of the system was increased by 1.74% and 3.47% compared to the basis system. However, the annual solar fraction of the system was decreased by 6.68% for $60^{\circ}C$ and 11.26% for $50^{\circ}C$ due to decrease of collector area and storage tank volume.

• Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.317-328
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• 2017

This paper presents design and specific absorption rate analysis of a 2.4 GHz wearable patch antenna on a conventional and electromagnetic bandgap (EBG) ground planes, under normal and bent conditions. Wearable materials are used in the design of the antenna and EBG surfaces. A woven fabric (Zelt) is used as a conductive material and a 3 mm thicker Wash Cotton is used as a substrate. The dielectric constant and tangent loss of the substrate are 1.51 and 0.02 respectively. The volume of the proposed antenna is $113{\times}96.4{\times}3mm^3$. The metamaterial surface is used as a high impedance surface which shields the body from the hazards of electromagnetic radiations to reduce the Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). For on-body analysis a three layer model (containing skin, fats and muscles) of human arm is used. Antenna employing the EBG ground plane gives safe value of SAR (i.e. 1.77W/kg<2W/kg), when worn on human arm. This value is obtained using the safe limit of 2 W/kg, averaged over 10g of tissue, specified by the International Commission of Non Ionization Radiation Protection (ICNIRP). The SAR is reduced by 83.82 % as compare to the conventional antenna (8.16 W/kg>2W/kg). The efficiency of the EBG based antenna is improved from 52 to 74 %, relative to the conventional counterpart. The proposed antenna can be used in wearable electronics and smart clothing.

• 한국정밀공학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.271-277
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• 2016

For a stable electric power supply in the space, nuclear batteries have been used as the main power source in a spacecraft owing to their long lifetime and high reliability. In accordance with the plan for lunar mission in Korea, nuclear batteries will supply electricity to the rover that needs to be developed. According to the information about the estimated payload, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute started with the conceptual design based on the previous studies in USA and Russia. Because a nuclear battery converts the decay heat of the radioisotope into electricity, thermal design, radiation shield, and shock protection need to be considered. In this study, two types of nuclear batteries, radial type and axial type, were designed according to the alignment of the thermoelectric module. Heat transfer analyses were performed to compare their thermoelectric efficiency, and test mockups were fabricated to evaluate their performances.

• 한국전자통신학회논문지
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• 제12권6호
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• pp.1219-1226
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• 2017

본 논문에서는 다용도로 사용 가능한 UV LED 바의 최적설계를 하였다. UV LED는 자외선을 방출하기 때문에 사용목적상 일정하게 자외선을 방출하는 것이 중요하다. 일정한 자외선이 방출되기 위해서는 동작 가능 입력 전압 범위 내에서 정전류원으로 구동되어야 하고 자외선 활용 특성 상 자외선 방출 유지 시간이 길기 때문에 방열이 특히 중요하다. 따라서 소비전력이 최소화 되도록 설계해야 한다. 또한 인체 보호가 필수적이기 때문에 거리 감지 센서와 블루투스를 이용해 인체 감지 여부에 따라 동작할 수 있게 알고리즘을 구성하였다. 자외선 UVA를 방출하기 위해 365nm UV LED 3개가 직렬로 사용되었으며 입력 전압 12V와 정전류 500mA에서 동작하며 효율은 87.5%, 소비전력은 6.006W이다. 그리고 자외선 조사량은 루트론 계측기로 측정하였을 경우 10cm 거리에서 $5.35mW/cm^2$으로 측정 되었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권1호
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• pp.147-159
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• 2024

Plutonium-238 has always been considered as the one of the promising radioisotopes for space nuclear power supply, which has long half-life, low radiation protection level, high power density, and stable fuel form at high temperatures. The industrial-scale production of ²³⁸Pu mainly depends on irradiating solid ²³⁷NpO₂ target in high flux reactors, however the production process faces problems such as large fission loss and high requirements for product quality control. In this paper, a conceptual design study of producing ²³⁸Pu in a multi-purpose high flux reactor was evaluated and analyzed, which includes a sensitivity analysis on ²³⁸Pu production and a further study on the irradiation scheme. It demonstrated that the target structure and its location in the reactor, as well as the operation scheme has an impact on ²³⁸Pu amount and product quality. Furthermore, the production efficiency could be improved by optimizing target material concentration, target locations in the core and reflector. This work provides technical support for irradiation production of ²³⁸Pu in high flux reactors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2740-2747
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• 2024

The sintering process acquired ferromagnetic copper ferrite ceramic material with a small concentration of Ni ion at 1100 ℃ for 1 h. Previously, copper ferrite with Ni proportions powder was acquired by the wet chemical process according to the relation CuFe_2-xNi_xO₄ where x takes values 0.0, 0.015, 0.03, 0.04, and 0.05. The role of Ni ion in the copper ferrite structure was investigated by X-ray analysis, Scanning electron microscope, EDX analysis, and density measurements. The gamma-ray shielding properties for the fabricated CuFeNiO ceramics samples were evaluated using the Monte Carlo simulation method. The obtained results show an enhancement in the linear attenuation coefficient for the fabricated ceramics with increasing the insertions of Ni ions within the fabricated samples, where increasing the Ni ions concentration between 0 and 1.19 wt% increases the linear attenuation by between 1.581 and 1.771 cm^-1 (at 0.103 MeV), 0.304-0.338 cm^-1 (at 0.662 MeV), and 0.160-0.178 cm^-1 (at 2.506 MeV), respectively. Simultaneously, the radiation protection efficiency for a 1 cm thickness of the fabricated samples increased between 14.8 and 16.3% with increasing the Ni ions between 0 and 1.19 wt%. Although the Ni doping concentration does not exceed 1.5 wt% of the total composition of the fabricated ceramics, the shielding capacity of the fabricated ceramics was enhanced by more than 11%, along the studied energy interval. Therefore, the fabricated samples can be used in gamma-ray shielding applications.

• 대한방사선기술학회지:방사선기술과학
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• 제40권1호
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• pp.41-47
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• 2017

본 연구는 영상의학과에서 사용하는 Χ선용 납 앞치마를 핵의학과에서도 사용하고 있는 점에 착안하여 방사성동위원소의 종류 즉, ${\gamma}$선 에너지에 따라 납 앞치마의 차폐율을 평가하여 방호효과를 알아보고자 하였다. 실험에 사용된 방사성동위원소는 이용통계 중 상위 5개 핵종인 $^{99}mTc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$, $^{123}I$, $^{201}Tl$을 사용하였고, 납 앞치마는 실제 핵의학과에서 사용 중인 납 당량 0.35 mmPb의 납 앞치마를 이용하였다. 실험결과 납 앞치마의 평균 차폐율은 $^{99}mTc$이 31.59%, $^{201}Tl$은 68.42%, $^{123}I$이 76.63%로 나타났다. $^{131}I$의 차폐율은 납 앞치마를 사용했을 경우가 오히려 선량률이 평균 33.72%가 증가되어 나타났고, $^{18}F$의 경우 평균 차폐율이 -0.315%로 나타나 차폐효과가 거의 없는 것으로 나타났다. 결과적으로 납 앞치마의 차폐율이 높은 방사성동위원소의 순서는 $^{123}I$, $^{201}Tl$, $^{99}mTc$, $^{18}F$, $^{131}I$ 순이었다. 현재 핵의학 검사실에서 사용하고 있는 납 앞치마는 일반 Χ선용 납 앞치마로 ${\gamma}$선을 이용하는 핵의학 환경에서는 적절치 않은 것으로 생각된다. 따라서 방사선작업종사자들의 효과적인 방사선 방호와 작업능률을 고려하여 방사성동위원소의 특성에 맞는 핵의학 전용 납 앞치마의개발이 요구된다.