• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.2511-2521
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• 2020

The Fukushima accident is characterized by the fact that three reactors at the same site experienced reactor vessel failure and the accident resulted in significant radiological release to the environment, which was about 1/10 of the Chernobyl releases. The safe removal of fuel debris in the reactor vessel and Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) and treatment of huge amount of contaminated water are the major issues for the decommissioning in coming decades. Discussions on the new researches efforts being carried out in the area of investigation of the end state of fuel debris and Boling Water reactor (BWR) specific core melt progression, development of technologies for the mitigation of radiological releases to comply with the strengthened safety requirement set after the Fukushima accident are discussed.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.1-15
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• 2018

Despite of safety issues related to radiological hazards, 31 countries around the world are operating more than 450 nuclear power plants (NPPs). To operate NPPs safely, safety regulations from radiation protection organizations were developed and adopted in many countries. However, many cases of radionuclide releases at foreign NPPs have been reported. Almost all commercial NPPs routinely release radioactive materials to the surrounding environments as liquid and gas phases under control. These releases are called 'planned releases' which are planned, regularly monitored, and well documented. Meanwhile, the releases focused in this review, called 'unplanned releases', are neither planned nor monitored by regulatory and/or protection organizations. NPPs are generally composed of various structures, systems and components (SSCs) for safety. Among them, the SSCs near reactors are closely related to safety of NPPs, and typically fabricated to comply with stringent requirements. However, some non-safety related SSCs such as underground pipes may be constructed only according to commercial standards, causing the leakage of radioactive fluids usually containing tritium ($^3H$). This paper discusses SSCs of NPPs and introduces several cases of unplanned releases at foreign NPPs. The current regulation on the environmental radiological surveillance and assessment around the NPPs in South Korea are also examined.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제28권3호
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• pp.247-254
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• 2003

To prevent the potential health detriment to the public from radioactive effluents, radiological dose assessments due to the operation of nuclear facilities located at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) site has been performed semiannually in compliance with the Minister of Science and Technology (MOST)'s Notice in Korea. Radiological dose assessment based on the new recommendation of the International Committee on Radiation Protection (ICRP-60) has been conducted since 1998. In this manuscript, a serial activities at KAERI site to meet the regulatory standards for routine releases of radioactive effluents are introduced and discussed including technical approaches. It is clear that each nuclear facility has been operated in compliance with regulatory standards. Furthermore, it is identified that the radiation induced health effects for residents around the site are neglectable.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.118-128
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• 1984

1978년(年) 4월(月) 29일(日) 상업운전을 개시한 원자력(原子力) 1 호기(號機)의 방사선관리실태放射線管理實態)를 방사선피폭(放射線被爆), 방사성폐기물(放射性廢棄物) 및 환경관리(環境管理)로 구분고찰(區分考察) 하였다. 그 결과(結果) 방사선피폭(放射線被爆)과 방사성폐기물(放射性廢棄物)은 발전소(發電所) 운전년수(運轉年數)에 따라 점차(漸次) 증가현상(增加現象)을 나타내더니, 1983 및 1982 년도(年度)를 정점(頂點)으로 감소(減少) 또는 안정추세(安定趨勢)를 나타냈다. 그리고 발전소 가동후(稼動後)의 주변환경방사능(周邊環境放射能)도 발전소 가동전(稼動煎)보다 높지 않은것으로 나타났다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권2호
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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.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제44권4호
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• pp.161-165
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• 2019

Background: Not only regulatory framework including radiation protection quantities and regulatory standards, but also methodology for regulatory compliance may be different in each country due to inherent philosophy for radiation protection. Materials and Methods: Based on the Korean regulatory models, off-site radiological dose resulting from the routine releases of gaseous radioactive effluents was calculated by applying the parameter values and assumptions recommended in the Korean and Japanese regulations. Results and Discussion: Effective dose for adult based on the Korean recommendation were 17.5 and 1.6 times higher than those of Japanese recommendation for ¹³¹I and ¹³³I, respectively, for the same atmosphere dispersion and ground deposition factors. Conclusion: It was due to different parameter values and assumptions recommended for the purpose of evaluating compliance with dose criteria for the radiation protection of the public in each country.

• 대한의생명과학회지
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• 제27권3호
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• pp.170-176
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• 2021

Thapsigargin (TG), a sarco/endoplasmic reticulum (ER) Ca²⁺-ATPase (SERCA) inhibitor, has been widely used as an agonist for platelet aggregation for decades. In this study, we investigated the effect of TG on the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) for platelets and elucidated its mechanism. Platelet LDH release and platelet aggregation were increased by TG treatment; 1,000 nM of TG induced the complete lysis of platelets. Other agonists such as collagen (2.5 ㎍/mL), thrombin (0.1 U/mL), and ADP (10 mM) did not induce significant platelet LDH release despite platelet aggregation. Finally, we investigated the effects of pharmacological inhibitors on TG-induced platelet aggregation and LDH release. SP600125, a JNK inhibitor, and LY294002, a PI-3K inhibitor, inhibited TG-induced platelet LDH release but not platelet aggregation. Forskolin, an adenylyl cyclase activator, also inhibited LDH release without affecting platelet aggregation by TG. These results suggest that the TG-induced platelet aggregation was accompanied by LDH release but regulated by a different signaling pathway.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제29권1호
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• pp.41-48
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• 2004

A safety assessment code, called SAGE (Safety Assessment Groundwater Evaluation), has been developed to describe post-closure radionuclide releases and potential radiological doses for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LILW) disposal in an engineered vault facility in Korea. The conceptual model implemented in the code is focused on the release of radionuclide from a gradually degrading engineered barrier system to an underlying unsaturated zone, thence to a saturated groundwater zone. The radionuclide transport equations are solved by spatially discretizing the disposal system into a series of compartments. Mass transfer between compartments is by diffusion/dispersion and advection. In all compartments, radionuclides ate decayed either as a single-member chain or as multi-member chains. The biosphere is represented as a set of steady-state, radionuclide-specific pathway dose conversion factors that are multiplied by the appropriate release rate from the far field for each pathway. The code has the capability to treat input parameters either deterministically or probabilistically. Parameter input is achieved through a user-friendly Graphical User Interface. An application is presented, which is compared against safety assessment results from the other computer codes, to benchmark the reliability of system-level conceptual modeling of the code.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.1-8
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• 2010

Geological disposal is designed to provide safe containment of radioactive waste for very long times, with the containment provided by a combination of engineered and geological barriers. In the extreme long term, after many thousands of years or longer, residual amounts of long-lived radionulides such as Cl-36, but also radionuclides in the natural decay chains, may be released into the environment normally accessed and used by humans, termed here, the biosphere. It is necessary to ensure that any such releases meet radiation protection objectives through the development of a safety case, which will include assessment of radiation doses to humans. The design of such dose calculations over such long timeframes is not straightforward, because of the range of potentially relevant assumptions which could be made, concerning environmental change and changes in human behavior. These conceptual uncertainties are additional to those that more typically arise, for example, in the assessment of present day situations, but which also have to be addressed. The issue has therefore been subject to international cooperation for many years. This paper summarizes the evolution and results of that collaboration leading up to the present day, taking account of developments in international recommendations on radiation protection objectives and the more recent greater focus on preparation of site specific safety cases.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.109-114
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• 1998

모의 및 실폐기물 시험소각 결과를 기준으로 한국원자력연구소 소각시설의 상용운전을 위한 방사학적 위해성을 평가하였다. 연간 정상운전을 통해 배출되는 방사성 물질로 인한 환경영향은 물론 가상된 사고시의 단기(2시간 기준) 배출로 인한 환경적 영향은 무시할 수 있을 것으로 평가되었으나 정상운전시에 배출되는 주배출원인 반휘발성 방사성 세슘의 농도는 공기중 허용농도의 10%를 약간 상회하는 것으로 평가되었다. 비방사능 세슘추적자를 포함하는 모의폐기물의 시험소각을 통하여 포대 여과기의 응축상 세슘성분에 대한 제거특성을 고찰하였다. 포대여과장치를 통과하기전 배기체내에 확산과 관성의 전이영역에 분포하는 입자상 세슘성분은 5%에 불과하였다. 포대여과기의 세슘성분에 대한 총괄제거효율이 99.9% 이상이어서 방사성폐기물 소각설비의 저온 배기체처리계통의 일차 여과장치로서 충분한 제염성능을 가짐을 보였다.