• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.17 no.1
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2019

The accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) resulted in the deposition of large quantities of radionuclides over parts of eastern Japan. Radioactive contaminants have been observed over a large area including forests, cities, rivers and lakes. Due to the strong adsorption of radioactive cesium by soil particles, radioactive cesium migrates with the eroded soil, follows the surface flow paths, and is delivered downstream of population-rich regions and eventually to coastal areas. In this study, we developed a model to simulate the transport of contaminated sediment in a watershed hydrological system and this model was compared with observation data from eroded soil observation instruments located at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. Two methods were applied to analyze the soil particle size distribution of the collected soil samples, including standardized sieve analysis and image analysis methods. Numerical models were developed to simulate the movement of soil along with actual rainfall considering initial saturation, rainfall infiltration, multilayer and rain splash. In the 2019 study, a numerical model will be used to add rainfall shield effect by trees, evaporation effect and shield effects of surface water. An eroded soil observation instrument has been installed near the Wolsong nuclear power plant since 2018 and observation data are being continuously collected. Based on these observations data, we will develop the numerical model to analyze long-term behavior of radionuclides on land as they move from land to rivers, lakes and coastal areas.

• Journal of Korea Water Resources Association
• /
• v.51 no.8
• /
• pp.665-676
• /
• 2018

Interrill erosion on a hillslope results from the combined action of the detachment of soil particles by raindrop impact and the sediment transport of surface runoff. This study newly defined the rainfall power which detaches soil particles and the sheet-flow power contributed to sediment transport in terms of energy expenditure rate of soil erosion and presented the effective power equation for interrill erosion by rainfall-induced sheet flow. The rainfall and sheet-flow power was evaluated by factors related with rainfall, slope, and runoff and coefficients of the power equation were analyzed based on references. Futhermore it was confirmed that the relative scales between the rainfall power and the sheet-flow power according to rainfall intensity reflect on the hydrological response and physical process of interrill erosion. From application of the field data for surface runoff and soil erosion it was verified that the rainfall and sheet-flow power is an appropriate equation to estimate a interrill erosion.

• Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.497-506
• /
• 2010

Severe muddy water problem has been the hot issue in Korea. Because of increased nonpoint source pollutions at Kangwon province, best soil erosion management system is required to reduce inflow of nonpoint source pollutions into the waterbodies. The USLE-based SATEEC system have been developed and enhanced for soil erosion and sediment yield estimation. However, the SATEEC cannot estimate soil depositions depending on topography in the watershed, while the USPED estimates soil erosion and deposition using sediment transport capacity of the surface runoff. In this study, the SATEEC and USPED were used to determine soil erosion hot spot subbasins. For this, 54 subbasins were delineated. In general, soil erosion hot spot subbasins were identified similarly with SATEEC and USPED. However, depending on erosion and deposition patterns in each subbasin. USPED estimated soil erosion hot spot subbasins didn't match those estimated with SATEEC. For some subbasins, much deposition was expected than erosion. This indicates that SATEEC estimated soil erosion values may be overestimated for these subbasins. Thus, care should be taken when understanding soil erosion status in the watershed based on USLE-based SATEEC results. In addition, the USPED results could be used to identify the site-specific soil erosion best management practices. If the USPED and USLE-based SATEEC are combined, it would help determining soil erosion hot spot subwatersheds in economic and environmental perspectives.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.44 no.3
• /
• pp.517-526
• /
• 2011

Soil structure plays an important role in ecological system, since it controls transport and storage of air, gas, nutrients and solutions. The study of soil structure requires an understanding of the interrelations and interactions between the diverse soil components at various levels of organization. Investigations of the spatial distribution of pore/particle arrangements and the geometry of soil pore space can provide important information regarding ecological or crop system. Because of conveniences in image analyses and accuracy, these investigations have been thrived for a long time. Image analyses from soil sections through impregnated blocks of undisturbed soil (2 dimensional image analyses) or from 3 dimensional scanned soils by computer tomography allow quantitative assessment of the pore space. Image analysis techniques can be used to classify pore types and quantify pore structure without inaccurate or hard labor in laboratory. In this paper, the last 50 years of the soil image analyses have been presented and measurements on various soil scales were introduced, as well. In addition to history of image analyses, a couple of examples for soil image analyses were displayed. The discussion was made on the applications of image analyses and techniques to quantify pore/soil structure.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.13 no.1_2
• /
• pp.49-54
• /
• 1997

PCBs are classified as B2 (Probable human carcinogen) based on the induction of hepatocellular carcinomas in rats and mice from IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System). About 20 years ago, PCBs were phased out for electrical use in Korea, but PCBs were continuously used in the other field. Lately, there has been increasing concern on possible effects of contaminated soil to the other environment and human health. The purpose of this study is to determine PCBs level in soil at some site and to assess the human exposure doses according to exposure routes for people living within sites which expected to be exposed to PCBs. Pollution level of PCBs on the site was monitored using gas liquid chromatography. To assess the transport of PCBs in soil to plant and to air, various transfer factors(diffusion coefficient, bioconcentration factor etc.) were considered in simple calculations. To calculate the residential exposure doses by routes, some equations were considered using assumption value, which define inhalation, ingestion (soil, plant) and derreal uptake pathway. Computated results will be used as risk assessment information for human health evaluation on contaminated soil.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
• /
• v.57 no.3
• /
• pp.87-92
• /
• 2015

Cultivation on reclaimed tidal land is often difficult in the problem such as high salinity of soil, bad drainage because of high level of groundwater. Many researches have been made efforts to solve these problems, but effect of improvement is low and practicality is insufficient. In this study, through numerical analysis of the transport properties of salt and water, we suggested underground drainage of the reclaimed land and the desalination promotion methods in the soil. The results of characteristic of desalination and seepage analysis of underdrain show that underdrain is able to increase twice of the underground seepage amount when installing perforated pipe with horizontal filter (width 50cm) more than installing only the perforated pipe. For soil which coefficient of permeability is below $1{\times}10^{-4}cm/s$ that desalination with pond water is not possible, a method to increase the permeability of the soil is necessary. Therefore, it was concluded that application of underdrain using perforated pipe with horizontal filter would be low-cost and practical.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.45 no.5
• /
• pp.717-724
• /
• 2012

Salt accumulated soil should be reclaimed to lower salt level for crop production. This study was carried out to investigate the characteristics of water flow and transport of mono and divalent solutes on salt accumulated soils with different head pressures. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was measured by constant and falling head methods with maintaining different head pressures. Saturated hydraulic conductivity was influenced by bulk density and organic matter contents in soils, but it had different elusion patterns between saline and sodic soil. While the quantity of water necessary for reclamation could be varies with soil type, it was considered that the supply of one pore volume of water was affordable and economic. Additional head pressure significantly increased the volume of leachate at a given time and it was more effective at low organic matter soils. The results indicate that additional head pressure would be one of the best irrigation practices on desalination method for salt accumulated soils.

• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
• /
• v.44 no.4
• /
• pp.657-661
• /
• 2011

The chlorinated dioxins and furans have attracted considerable scientific and public concern because of their environmental persistence and super-toxicity through the foodchain. Recent dioxin scandals in several military bases have also contributed to a higher awareness on the side of food consumers as well as foodwaste combustion. However, there is continuing uncertainty over the relative importance of different sources of dioxins and furans to the soil environment. In difference to those awareness there is a main influence of potential soil contamination on the dioxin contents in groundwater. It is, therefore, important to provide a sound scientific framework and basis by which to evaluate the significance of the presence of dioxin in soils. Consequently, we have to identify the characteristics and nature of dioxin released into the soil environment, especially in agricultural aspect.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.30 no.5
• /
• pp.437-448
• /
• 2022

Alluvial soil is challenging to work with due to its high compressibility. Thus, consolidation settlement of this type of soil should be accurately estimated. Accurate estimation of the consolidation settlement of alluvial soil requires accurate prediction of compressibility parameters. Geotechnical engineers usually use empirical correlations to estimate these compressibility parameters. However, no attempts have been made to develop correlations to estimate compressibility parameters of alluvial soil. Thus, this paper aims to develop new models to predict the compression and recompression indices (Cc and Cr) of alluvial soils. As part of the study, geotechnical laboratory tests have been conducted on large number of undisturbed samples of local alluvial soil. The obtained results from these tests in addition to available results from the literature from different parts in the world have been compiled to form the database of this study. This database is then employed to examine the accuracy of the available empirical correlations of the compressibility parameters and to develop the new models to estimate the compressibility parameters using the nonlinear regression analysis. The accuracy of the new models has been accessed using mean absolute error, root mean square error, mean, percentage of predictions with error range of ±20%, percentage of predictions with error range of ±30%, and coefficient of determination. It was found that the new models outperform the available correlations. Thus, these models can be used by geotechnical engineers with more confidence to predict Cc and Cr.

• Membrane and Water Treatment
• /
• v.14 no.2
• /
• pp.95-106
• /
• 2023

In the developing country like India, groundwater is the main sources for household, irrigation and industrial use. Its contamination poses hydro-geological and environmental concern. The hazardous waste sites such as landfills can lead to contamination of ground water. The contaminants existing at such sites can eventually find ingress down through the soil and into the groundwater in case of leakage. It is necessary to understand the process of migration of pollutants through sub-surface porous medium for avoiding health risks. On this backdrop, the present paper investigates the behavior of pollutants' migration through porous media. The laboratory experiments were carried out on a soil-column model that represents porous media. Two different types of soils (standard sand and red soil) were considered as the media. Further, two different solutes, i.e., non-reactive and reactive, were used. The experimental results are simulated through numerical modeling. The percentage variation in the experimental and numerical results is found to be in the range of 0.75- 11.23 % and 0.84 - 1.26% in case of standard sand and red soil, respectively. While a close agreement is observed in most of the breakthrough curves obtained experimentally and numerically, good agreement is seen in either result in one case.