• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.12
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• pp.4698-4707
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• 2022

As part of the ICRP Task Group 103 project, we developed ten thyroid models for the pediatric mesh-type reference computational phantoms (MRCPs). The thyroid is not only a radiosensitive target organ needed for effective dose calculation but an important source region particularly for radioactive iodines. The thyroid models for the pediatric MRCPs were constructed by converting those of the pediatric voxel-type reference computational phantoms (VRCPs) in ICRP Publication 143 to a high-quality mesh format, faithfully maintaining their original topology. At the same time, we improved several anatomical parameters of the thyroid models for the pediatric MRCPs, including the mass, overlying tissue thickness, location, and isthmus dimensions. Absorbed doses to the thyroid for the pediatric MRCPs for photon external exposures were calculated and compared with those of the pediatric VRCPs, finding that the differences between the MRCPs and VRCPs were not significant except for very low energies (<0.03 MeV). Specific absorbed fractions (target ⟵ thyroid) for photon internal exposures were also compared, where significant differences were frequently observed especially for the target organs/tissues close to the thyroid (e.g., a factor of ~1.2-~327 for the thymus as a target) due mainly to anatomical improvement of the MRCP thyroid models.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.2
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• pp.696-706
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• 2023

Consequences of an anticipated Beyond Design Basis Accident (BDBA) Long-Term Station Blackout (LTSBO) event with complete loss of grid power in the VVER-1200 reactor of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) of Unit-1 are assessed using the RASCAL 4.3 code. This study estimated the released radionuclides, received public radiological dose, and ground surface concentration considering 3 accident scenarios of International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) level 7 and two meteorological conditions. Atmospheric transport, dispersion, and deposition processes of released radionuclides are simulated using a straight-line trajectory Gaussian plume model for short distances and a Gaussian puff model for long distances. Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE) to the public within 40 km and radionuclides contribution for three-dose pathways of inhalation, cloudshine, and groundshine owing to airborne releases are evaluated considering with and without passive safety Emergency Core Cooling System (ECCS) in dry (winter) and wet (monsoon) seasons. Source term and their release rates are varied with the functional duration of passive safety ECCS. In three accident scenarios, the TEDE of 10 mSv and above are confined to 8 km and 2 km for the wet and dry seasons, respectively in the downwind direction. The groundshine dose is the most dominating in the wet season while the inhalation dose is in the dry season. Total received doses and surface concentration in the wet season near the plant are higher than those in the dry season due to the deposition effect of rain on the radioactive substances.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.55.2-56
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• 2021

The progenitor of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is mainly believed to be a close binary system of acarbon-oxygen white dwarf (CO WD) and non-degenerate companion (single degenerate) or another WD (double degenerate). However, it is unclear which system is more prevalent. Here, we present a high cadence optical/Near-IR light curve of normal but slightly faint type Ia SN 2019ein from IMSNG project. We fit the early light curve (t <+8.3 days from the first detection) with various models to find the shock-heated cooling emission from SN ejecta-companion interaction. No significant shock-heated cooling emission is found, from which we constrain the progenitor star size as the following. The upper limit (R_upper,*) of the companion size in R-band is ~0.2R_⊙ when forcing the first light time (t_fl) to have one value and ~0.9R_⊙ when using the mean value of tfl from the fitting in each band. Assuming the source of the I-band curve is almost powered from the radioactive decay, we obtained R_upper,*~1.2R_⊙. The early B-V color curve is in agreement with the model color curve of the 2M_⊙ main sequence companion. These results allow us to at least rule out large stars like red giants as a companion star of the binary progenitor system of this supernova. B-R and V-R color do not show any significant signs of a red bump, which shows a thin helium shell (MHe<0.1M_⊙) for the sub-Mch WD (double detonation model). In addition, we estimated the distance to NGC 5353 as 37.098±0.028Mpc.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.45 no.1
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• pp.36.1-36.1
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• 2020

The progenitor of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) is mainly believed to be a carbon/oxygen white dwarf (WD) with non-degenerate (single degenerate) or another WD companion (double degenerate). However, there is little observational evidence of their progenitor system. Recent studies suggest that shock-breakout cooling emission after the explosion can constrain the size of the progenitor system. To do so, we obtained a optical/Near-IR light curve of SN 2019ein, a normal but slightly sub-luminous type Ia supernova, from the very early phase using our high-cadence observation of Intensive Monitoring Survey of Nearby Galaxies (IMSNG). Assuming the expanding fireball model, the simple power-law fitting of the early part of the light curve gives power indices of 1.91 (B) and 2.09 (R) implying radioactive decay of 56Ni is the dominant energy source. By comparison with the expected light curve of the cooling emission, the early observation provides us an upper limit of the companion size of R∗≤1R⊙. This result suggests that we can exclude a large companion such as red giants, which is consistent with the previous study.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.333-338
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• 2013

Generally, it's known fact that intensity of radioactivity satisfies inverse-square law. However, the law was dissatisfied with practical experiment because of limited shape of scintillation detector. Especially, in the case of near distance between the surface of detector and the radioactive source, the difference grows larger. In the present study, reason of this difference was confirmed by experiment with $2^{{\prime}{\prime}}{\times}2^{{\prime}{\prime}}{\phi}$ NaI(Tl) scintillation detector and $^{60}Co$(1.174 MeV, 1.333 MeV)and $^{137}Cs$(0.662 MeV) gamma ray sources. From the experiment, the correction coefficient was obtained with gamma ray detection efficiency and geometrical volume. In the result of the present study, the efficiency difference of the detector was corrected with the coefficient. In the present result, we obtained that the inverse-square law experiment have to consider the efficiency and geometrical value of the detector.

• Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.299-306
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• 1991

When $[U-^{14}C]$ 3,3', 4,4'-tetrachloroazobenzene$([U-^{14}C]\;TCAB)$ was added to the $MM_2$ medium as a sole carbon source for the isolated microorganisms and incubated, some radioactive metabolites were detected by autoradiography. No $^{14}CO_2$ was evolved from $[U-^{14}C]\;TCAB$ which was added as a sole carbon source to an organic matter-free soil inoculated by the isolates, wetted with the $MM_2$ salt medium, and incubated at $30^{\circ}C$. One of the metabolites in pure culture of Achromobacter group VD, which was isolated and identified, was tentatively identified as a compound of m/z 250 by means of GC/MS. The possible pathways for its formation are thought to include dechlorination from the TCAB structure, hydroxylation, ortho fission of the two benzene rings, and reduction of the resulting carboxyl group.

• Journal of Biomedical Engineering Research
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.267-272
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• 1997

he scintillation detector having $BaF^2$ crystal with 3.6cm dia${\times}$2.0 cm thick was provided. The energy and timing characteristics were measured and compared with NaI(Tl) scintillation detectors, which widely used in unclear medicine. In order to measure the energy spectrum, the radioactive sources used were $^{22}Na,\;^{54}Mn,\;^{57}Co,\;^{137}Cs$ and the source to detector distance was 7cm. For the timing characteristic, NaI(Tl)(1" ${\times}$ 1")-$BaF^2$ and NaI(Tl)(3" ${\times}$ 3")-$BaF^2$ timing coincidence systems were prepared and the used source was $^{22}Na$ emitting 511keV annihilation photons. For the 511keV gamma-ray emitted from $^{22}Na$, It was revealed that the timing response of the $BaF^2$ detector was faster than NaI(Tl)(1" ${\times}$ 1") and NaI(Tl)(3" ${\times}$ 3") detector used in this experimental investigation. The energy characteristics of the $BaF^2$ detector had a good values for about 500keV energy range.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.789-794
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• 2021

Brachytherapy is a treatment in which radioactive isotopes are placed inside the body to intensively irradiate the tumor with radiation. Because brachytherapy uses a radioisotope source with a high dose rate, it is very important to know the exact location and dose of the source. However, in clinical practice, it is evaluated inaccurately with the naked eye through rulers and autoradiographs. Therefore, in this study, a dosimeter that can be used for brachytherapy was developed using a lead(II) iodide (PbI₂) material, and the applicability was evaluated by analyzing the reproducibility, linearity, and PID items. As a result of reproducibility evaluation, the RSD value was 1.41%, satisfying the evaluation criteria of 1.5%. As a result of the linearity evaluation, the R² value was 0.9993, which satisfies the evaluation criterion of 0.9990. As a result of PID evaluation, it showed only a difference of 0.06 cm compared with the theoretical value of the inverse square law of distance at the 50% dose reduction point. The dosimeter manufactured in this experiment shows results that satisfy the standard in all evaluations, so it is judged that the possibility of applying the dosimeter in the radiation brachytherapy area is sufficient.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine Technology
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.10-16
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• 2009

Purpose: As the number of patients has increased since the installation of a PET/CT, we are now examining about 2500-3000 annually. We have realized that if we properly adjust a pitch under the same condition of a CT during a PET/CT exam, radiation quantity that reaches the patient can change. In order to reduce the exposure dose of a patient, the research examines a method of reducing the exposure dose of a patient by controlling the pitch during a PET/CT exam, viewing whether the adjustment of the pitch influences CT image and PET SUV. Methods: The equipment used is a Biograph Positron Emission Tomography (PET) Scanner (CT type: TRCT-240-130 (WCT-240-130)) of Siemens company. For the evaluation of exposure dose of a patient, we measured radiation quantities using a PTW-DIADOS 11003/1383, which is a CT radiation measurement instrument used by Siemens. We measured and analyzed the space resolutions of CT images caused by the change of pitches using an AAPM Standard Phantom in order to see how the adjustment of pitches influenced the CT images. In addition, in order to obtain SUVs caused by each change of pitches using a PET source made with a solid radioactive cylinder phantom, we confirmed whether the SUVs changed in the PET/CT images by calculating the SUVs of the fusion images caused by the change of pitches after obtaining CT and PET images and finishing the test. Results: 2slice CT scanner showed that radiation quantities largely dropped when pitches ranged from 0.7 to 1.3 and that the reduction of radiation quantities were smaller when pitches ranged from 1.5 to 1.9. That is, we found that the bigger pitch values are the smaller the radiation quantities of a patient are. Moreover, we realized that there is no change of SUVs caused by the increase of pitches and that pitch values do not influence PET SUVs and the quality of CT images. It is judged that using 1.5 as a pitch value contributes to the reduction of exposure dose of a patient as long as there is no problem in the quality of an image. Conclusions: When seeing the result of the research, hospital using a PET/CT should make an effort to reduce the exposure dose of a patient seeking pitch values appropriate for their hospital within the range in which there is no image distortion and PET SUVs are not influenced from pitches. We think that the research can apply to all multi-detectors having a CT scanner and that such a research will be needed for other equipments in the future.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.375-387
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• 2019

In this study, the radiation dose rates for the design basis fuel of 360 assemblies CANDU spent nuclear fuel transportation cask were evaluated, by measuring radiation source terms for the design basis fuel of a pressurized heavy water reactor. Additionally, radiological safety evaluation was carried out and the validity of the results was determined by radiological technical standards. To select the design basis fuel, which was the radiation source term for the spent fuel transportation cask, the design basis fuels from two spent fuel storage facilities were stored in a spent fuel transportation cask operating in Wolsung NPP. The design basis fuel for each transportation and storage system was based on the burnup of spent fuel, minimum cooling period, and time of transportation to the intermediate storage facility. A burnup of 7,800 MWD/MTU and a minimum cooling period of 6 years were set as the design basis fuel. The radiation source terms of the design basis fuel were evaluated using the ORIGEN-ARP computer module of SCALE computer code. The radiation shielding of the cask was evaluated using the MCNP6 computer code. In addition, the evaluation of the radiation dose rate outside the transport cask required by the technical standard was classified into normal and accident conditions. Thus, the maximum radiation dose rates calculated at the surface of the cask and at a point 2 m from the surface of the cask under normal transportation conditions were respectively 0.330 mSv·h^-1 and 0.065 mSv·h^-1. The maximum radiation dose rate 1 m from the surface of the cask under accident conditions was calculated as 0.321 mSv·h^-1. Thus, it was confirmed that the spent fuel cask of the large capacity heavy water reactor had secured the radiation safety.