• Journal of the Mineralogical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.165-173
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• 2007

The KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) located in KAERI (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) was recently constructed following the site investigation in 2003. Its dimension is 180 m in length, 6 m in width, and 6 m in height, and it has a horseshoe-like cross-sec-lion and is located in the ground to the depth of 90 m. When the tunnel was dug into the ground with 100 m in length, fresh rocks, weathered rocks and fracture-filling materials were taken and examined by mineralogical and chemical analyses. There are phyllosilicate minerals such as illite, smectite and chlorite including calcite, which are filling some faults and cracks of the KURT rock. The illite and smectite usually coexist in the fracture, where their content ratio is different according to which mineral is predominant. There are high concentrations of U and Th in the rocks coated with iron-oxides and filled with secondary materials as compared with those in the fresh rocks. It seems that the radionuclides, which are slowly leached from the parent rocks or exist as a dissolved form in the groundwater and hydrothermal solution, may have been migrated along the fractures and thereafter selectively sorbed and coprecipitated on the iron-oxides and the fracture-filling materials. These results will be very useful far the evaluation of environmental factors affecting the nuclides migration and retardation when long-term safety is considered to the geological disposal of high-level radioactive wastes in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.462-469
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• 2000

Positron Emission Tomography(PET) is a new diagnostic method that can create functional images of the distribution of positron emitting radionuclides, which when administered intravenously in the body, makes possible anatomical and functional analysis by quantity of biochemical and physiological process. After genetic and biochemical changes in initial stage, malignant tumor undergoes functional changes before undergoing anatomical changes. So, early diagnosis of malignant tumors by functional analysis with PET can be achieved, replacing traditional anatomical analysis, such as computed tomography(CT) and magnetic resonance image(MRI), etc. Similarly, PET can identify malignant tumor without confusion with scar and fibrosis in follow up check. In the Korea Cancer Center Hospital(KCCH) from October 1997 to September 1999, clinical study was performed in 79 cases that underwent 89 times PET evaluation with [18F]-Fluorodeoxyglucose for diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial tumors, and the data was analysed by Bayesian $2{\times}2$ Classification Table. The results were as follows : Evaluation for initial diagnosis with FDG-PET (P<0.005) 1. Agreement rate or accuracy rate is 88.9%. 2. Sensitivity is 95.2%, and specificity 66.7%. 3. Positive predictive rate is 90.9%, and negative predictive rate 80.0%. 4. In consideration of tumor stage, diagnostic rate in less than stage II was 90% and in greater than stage III 100%. 5. In consideration of tumor size, diagnostic rate in less than T2 was 92.3% and in greater than T3 100%. After primary treatment, evaluation for follow up check with FDG-PET (P < 0.001) 1. Agreement rate or accuracy rate is 85.4%. 2. Sensitivity is 87.5%, and specificity 82.4%. 3. Positive predictive rate is 87.5%, and negative predictive rate 82.4%. 4. In 24 recurred cases, 6 had distant metastasis, and 5 of them were diagnosed with FDG-PET, resulting in diagnostic rate of FDG-PET of 83.3%. From the above results, Positron Emission Tomography with [18F]- Fluorodeoxyglucose appears to be more sensitive and accurate for detecting the presence of oral and maxillofacial tumors, and has various clinical applications such as early diagnosis of tumor in initial and follow up check and detection of distant metastasis.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.219-227
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• 1998

A solution containing $^{85}Sr$, $^{103}Ru$ and $^{134}Cs$ was applied to Chinese cabbage in a greenhouse via foliar spraying at 5 different times during its growth. Interception of the applied activity by plant showed no difference among radionuclides and increased with decreasing time interval between application and harvest. The maximum interception factor observed was 0.87. Percentages of the intercepted activity remaining in the whole leaves at harvest varied $16{\sim}58%$ for $^{85}Sr$, $15{\sim}73%$ for $^{103}Ru$ and $33{\sim}64%$ for $^{134}Cs$, with application time and those for the inner leaves (without 6 outmost leaves) varied $2{\sim}35%$, $0.4{\sim}46%$ and $14{\sim}40%$, respectively. It was demonstrated that rain plays an important role in weathering loss of the activity. Tying the upper end of the plant prior to the last application lowered interception and remaining activity in the inner leaves by factors of $3{\sim}4$. Present results can be referred to in predicting the radionuclide concentration in Chinese cabbage and deciding counter-measures at the time of an accidental release from the nuclear installation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.128-148
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• 2019

Massive environmental monitoring has been conducted continuously since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power accident in March of 2011 by different monitoring methods that have different features together with migration studies of radiocesium in diverse environments. These results have clarified the characteristics of radiological environments and their temporal change around the Fukushima site. At three months after the accident, multiple radionuclides including radiostrontium and plutonium were detected in many locations; and it was confirmed that radiocesium was most important from the viewpoint of long-term exposure. Radiation levels around the Fukushima site have decreased greatly over time. The decreasing trend was found to change variously according to local conditions. The air dose rates in environments related to human living have decreased faster than expected from radioactive decay by a factor of 2-3 on average; those in pure forest have decreased more closely to physical decay. The main causes of air dose rate reduction were judged to be radioactive decay, movement of radiocesium in vertical and horizontal directions, and decontamination. Land-use categories and human activities have significantly affected the reduction tendency. Difference in the air dose rate reduction trends can be explained qualitatively according to the knowledge obtained in radiocesium migration studies; whereas, the quantitative explanation for individual sites is an important future challenge. The ecological half-lives of air dose rates have been evaluated by several researchers, and a short-term half-life within 1 year was commonly observed in the studies. An empirical model for predicting air dose rate distribution was developed based on statistical analysis of an extensive car-borne survey dataset, which enabled the prediction with confidence intervals. Different types of contamination maps were integrated to better quantify the spatial data. The obtained data were used for extended studies such as for identifying the main reactor that caused the contamination of arbitrary regions and developing standard procedures for environmental measurement and sampling. Annual external exposure doses for residents who intended to return to their homes were estimated as within a few millisieverts. Different forms of environmental data and knowledge have been provided for wide spectrum of people. Diverse aspects of lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, including practical ones, must be passed on to future generations.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.27-39
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• 1996

The change in spent fuel characteristics by DUPIC fuel cycle(burnup of spent PWR fuel again in CANDU) is examined with time elapse since discharge. Major characteristics examined include isotopic concentration, radioactivity, decay heat radiotoxicity and radiation source-term of spent fuel material, which is existing in a type of spent PWR and DUPIC fuel. Behaviors of major nuclides contributing to such changes are also analyzed in terms of radionuclide concentration. From the analysis, the change in radionuclide concentration by DUPIC shows approximately 2% decrease in actinides concentration and 20% increase in fission products concentration. Radioactivity and decay heat of spent DUPIC fuel does not depend upon radionuclides concentrations, which is a unique in sence of general characteristics of spent fuel. In terms of gamma spectrum, spent DUPIC fuel shows lower values than that of spent PWR fuel by 40 to 50% in the range of $0.01{\sim}0.575$ MeV but much higher over 3.5MeV. Neutron Intensities of both spent fuels are mainly determined by $({\alpha},\;n)$ reaction and spontaneous fission reaction of actinides. Of them, especially, the spontaneous fission reaction Is a major neutron source-term, which causes that neutron intensities of spent DUPIC fuel $having{\sim}3.3$ times higher Cm-244 concentration are ${\sim}4$ times higher than that of spent PWR fuel.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.503-510
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• 2020

Concrete is one of the most widely used materials as the shielding structures of a nuclear facilities. It is also the most generated radioactive waste in quantity while dismantling facilities. Since the concrete captures neutrons and generates various radionuclides, radiation measurement and analysis of the sample was fulfilled prior to dismantle facilities. An HPGe detector is used in general for the radiation measurement, and effective correction factors such as geometrical correction factor, self-absorption correction, and absolute detector efficiency have to be applied to the measured data to decide exact radioactivity of the sample. Correction factors are obtained by measuring data using a standard source with the same geometry and chemical states as the sample under the same measurement conditions. However, it is very difficult to prepare standard concrete sources because concrete is limited in pretreatment due to various constituent materials and high density. In addition, the concrete sample obtained by core drill is a volumetric source, which requires geometric correction for sample diameter and self absorption correction for sample density. Therefore in recent years, many researchers are working on the calculation of effective correction factors using Monte carlo simulation instead of measuring them using a standard source. In this study we calculated, using Geant4, one of the Monte carlo codes, the correction factors for the various diameter and density of the concrete core sample at the gamma ray energy emitted from the nuclides ¹⁵²Eu and ⁶⁰Co, which are the most generated in radioactive concrete.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.53-64
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• 2009

Wetlands can remove organic contaminants, metals and radionuclides from wastewater through various biogeochemical mechanisms. In this study, a mathematical model was developed for simulating the fate and transport of chemical species in marsh wetland sediments. The proposed model is a one-dimensional vertical saturated model which is incorporated advection, hydrodynamic dispersion, biodegradation, oxidative/reductive chemical reactions and the effects from external environments such as the growth of plants and the fluctuation of water level due to periodic tides. The tidal effects causes periodic changes of porewater flow in the sediments and the evapotranspiration and oxygen supply by plant roots affect the porewater flow and redox condition on in the rhizosphere along with seasonal variation. A series of numerical experiments under hypothetical conditions were performed for simulating the temporal and spatial distribution of chemical species of interests using the proposed model. The fate and transport of a trace metal pollutant, chromium, in marsh sediments were also simulated. Results of numerical simulations show that plant roots and tides significantly affect the chemical profiles of different electron acceptors, their reduced species and trace metals in marsh sediments.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.245-253
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• 1995

The effects of a simultaneous application of KCl and lime on the root uptake of $^{54}Mn,\;^{60}Co,\;^{85}Sr\;and\;^{137}Cs$ by rice, soybean, Chinese cabbage and radish were investigated through 2 years' greenhouse experiments. At their early growth stages, a mixed solution of the radionuclides was applied to the water or soil surfaces of the culture boxes filled with an acidic loamy-sandy soil for the upper 20cm and $83g/m^2$ of fertilizer KCl and $200g/m^2$ of slake lime were applied to the surfaces. Distribution of radioactivities among plant parts and change in uptake pattern with plant species were not, on the whole, significantly affected by the application. It reduced effectively soil-to-plant transfer factors of $^{85}Sr\;and\;^{137}Cs$ for rice, of all for Chinese cabbage and of $^{54}Mn,\;^{60}Co,\;and\;^{137}Cs$ for radish without their growth inhibition. In rice, $^{85}Sr$ showed the highest decrease $({\sim}60%)$ while, in Chinese cabbage and radish, $^{54}Mn$ did $({\sim}80%)$. The exprimental results can become valuable reference data to establish countermeasures against a radioactive contamination of farm-land during plant growth.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.90-96
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• 1984

Estimated dose rates in spent fuel pool storage with the extended fuel cycle core management were reviewed and compared with design limit after calculation with the aid of DLC-23/CASK(22 n, 18 g) nuclear data and ANISN code. Radioactivity and gamma spectrum within spent fuel assemblies were calculated with ORIGEN code by extended fuel cycle model. In the calculation of dose rate, the fuel pool geometry was assumed to be infinite slab. Also, composition materials and radiation source within assemblies which are being stored in pool storage were assumed to be uniformly distributed throughout all the assemblies. As a result of culculation of dose rate from stored assemblies and waterborne radionuclides in pool water, the calculated dose rates appear to be lower than design basis limit under normal condition as well as abnormal condition.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.299-309
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• 2003

In an accidental release of radioactive materials to the environment the contaminative influence of animal products due to the inhalation of air and the ingestion of soil of livestock, both of which are dealt with as minor contaminative pathways in most radioecological models but may not be neglected, was investigated with the improvement of the Korean dynamic food chain model DYNACON Although mathematical models for both contaminative pathways have been established for considering all animal products and incorporated into the model, investigation was limited to milk. As a result, it was found that both pathways are influential in the contamination of milk in the case of an accidental release during the non-grazing period of dairy cows. In the case of an accidental release during the non-grazing period, the inhalation of air was more influential than the ingestion of soil in the early days following an accidental release. While, it was the opposite with the lapse of time. If precipitation is encountered during an accidental release, contaminative influence due to the ingestion of soil was greater compared with the cases of no precipitation, in general, because of a stealer deposition of radionuclides onto the ground. Precipitation during an accidental release was a less influential factor in $^{131}I$ (elemental iodine) contamination compared with the $^{137}Cs\;and\;^{90}Sr$ contaminations. In the case of an accidental release during the grazing period of dairy cows, the contaminative influence due to the inhalation of air was negligible.