• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.9-18
• /
• 2003

Rice plants at different seed-developing stages were exposed to HTO vapor in an exposure box for 1 h during daytime and nighttime to investigate the levels of tissue free water $^3H$ (TFWT) and organically bound $^3H$ (OBT) in different plant parts. In the daytime experiment, TFWT concentrations in leaves at the end of exposure $(h_0)$ were around 100% of the 1 hour mean HTO concentrations in air moisture whereas in the nighttime experiment, they were as low as $30{\sim}40%$ of the air concentration. TFWT concentrations in both experiments decreased very rapidly in the beginning but much mote slowly later and those at harvest were hundreds to hundred thousands times lower than those at $h_0$. OBT concentrations varied with time in different manners depending on plant parts and exposure times and differed between at $h_0$ and at harvest by factors of less than 10 on the whole. Even during nighttime exposures, OBT was produced at about a third the rate for daytime exposures. The degree of the conversion of airborne HTO into OBT in mature rice seeds, being several times higher in the daytime experiment than in the nighttime experiment, was highest after the exposure peformed at the most actively seed-developing stage for both experiments. It is estimated that OBT would contribute much more to the ingestion radiation dose than TFWT if rice plants are exposed to HTO vapor for the seed-developing period.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.25-35
• /
• 1992

To evaluate tritium level in some environmental samples, tissue-free water tritium (TFWT) and tissue-bound tritium (TBT) were analyzed in rices, chinese cabbages and pine needles collected at 12 locations in Korea. The TFWT was recovered by freeze-drying of the samples and the TBT was obtained in the form of water by combustion of the dried samples. Tritium was measured by liquid scintillation counter. The concentrations of TFWT were in the range of $0.96{\sim}3.96 Bq/1,\; 0.83{\sim}3.40 Bq/1\;and\;1.02{\sim}3.01 Bq/1$ in rices, chinese cabbages and pine needles, respectively. The mean specific activity ratios (TBT/TFWT) were 0.94, 1.71 and 1.39 in rices, chinese cabbages and pine needles, respectiviely. This excess TBT in the samples may be attributed to the fact that the residence time of TBT in the plant is longer than that of TFWT. The specific activity ratio depends on the plant species, the exposed time to tritiated atmosphere, atmospheric moisture, temperature and diffusion factor.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.29 no.4
• /
• pp.213-219
• /
• 2004

Soybean plants were exposed to HTO vapor in an exposure box for 1 hour at different growth stages. Relative concentrations of TFWT at the end of exposure (percent ratios of TFWT concentrations to mean HTO concentrations in air moisture in the box during exposure) decreased on the whole in the order of leaf > shell > seed > stem with the highest values of 40.2% and 6.4% for leaf and stem, respectively. TFWT concentrations reduced by factors of several thousands to several hundred-thousands from the end of exposure till the harvest. The reduction factor decreased in the order of leaf > shell > seed > stem. Relative OBT concentrations at harvest (ratios of the OBT concentration in the dry plant part at harvest to the initial leaf TFWT concentration, ml $g^{-1}$) were in the range of $2.2{\times}10^{-5}{\sim}9.5{\times}10^{-3}$ for seeds being the highest when the exposure was performed at the actively seed-developing stage. The exposure time-dependent variation in the OBT concentration was much greater in seeds and shells than in leaves and stems. It was indicated that OBT would contribute to almost all the radiation dose due to the consumption of soybean seeds in most cases after an acute exposure of growing plants to HTO vapor. Present results are applicable to establishing and validating soybean $^3H$ models for an acute accidental release of HTO.

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 2001.10a
• /
• pp.309.1-309
• /
• 2001

• Proceedings of the Korean Nuclear Society Conference
• /
• 2003.05a
• /
• pp.333.2-333.2
• /
• 2003

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.51-57
• /
• 2003

To assess the internal dose by $^3H\;&\;^{14}C$ in total diet of inhabitants near Wolsung Nuclear Power Plants, TFWT, OBT and $^{14}C$ concentration in total diet was analyzed for collection region and time. TFWT, OBT and $^{14}C$ concentrations were in the range of 3.19-42.2 Bq/L, 1.00-39.4 Bq/L, and 0.230-0.855 Bq/gC, respectively. The calculated annual effective dose with TFWT, OBT and $^{14}C$ is $6.10{\times}10^{-5}mSv/y,\;3.71{\times}10^{-5}mSv/y\;and\;7.08{\times}10^{-3}mSv/y$, respectively. And then annual internal dose with total diet for inhabitants near Wolsung NPPs is about $7.18{\times}10^{-3}mSv/y$, which is about 0.72% of annual effective dose limit 1 mSv/y.

• Journal of Animal Science and Technology
• /
• v.50 no.3
• /
• pp.373-380
• /
• 2008

This study was undertaken to investigate the effects of feed withdrawal time(FWT) before transport in farm(<2 hrs, 2~4 hrs, 4~6 hrs) and total feed withdrawal time(TFWT) before slaughter(<8 hrs, 8~12 hrs, >12 hrs) on carcass defects, grades and meat quality of broilers. FWT of 2~4 hrs before transport in the farm showed lower incidences of dead-on-arrival chicks(p<0.05) and bruising chicks, and a little higher incidences of 1st or 2nd carcass grade compared to shorter than 2 hrs or 4~6 hrs of FWT in the farm. In the meat quality of breast meat, FWT of 2~4 hrs in the farm tended to show higher pH and water holding capacity(WHC), and lower drip loss, cooking loss and shear force values compared to shorter than 2 hrs or 4~6 hrs of FWT in the farm. In the total microbial counts of breast meat during 7 days of cooler storage, FWT of 2~4 hrs in the farm showed significantly lower value than shorter than 2 hrs of FWT in the farm. In the carcass defects and grades by TFWT before slaughter, TFWT shorter than 8hrs showed lower(p<0.05) incidences of dead-on-arrival chicks and bruising chicks, and higher(p<0.05) incidences of 1st carcass grade than TFWT longer than 12 hrs before slaughter. In the meat quality of broiler breast meat, TFWT longer than 12hrs before slaughter showed lower(p<0.05) pH and WHC values, and a little higher drip loss, cooking loss and shear force values compared to TFWT shorter than 8 hrs or 8~12 hrs before slaughter. In the total microbial counts of broiler breast meat during 7 days of cooler storage, TFWT longer than 12 hrs before slaughter tended to show higher value than TFWT shorter than 8 hrs or 8~12 hrs before slaughter. As a result, 2~4 hrs of feed withdrawal time before transport in the farm and total feed withdrawal time shorter than 8hrs or 8~12hrs before slaughter could be recommended for the production of high quality broiler meat.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.1
• /
• pp.303-309
• /
• 2019

Tritium is an important nuclide that must be monitored for radiation safety management. In this study, HTO was orally administered to rats at the level of 37 kBq ($1{\mu}Ci$) or 370 kBq ($10{\mu}Ci$) to examine tissue distribution and excretion levels. After sacrifice, wet and dry tissue samples were weighed and analyzed for tissue free-water tritium (TFWT) and organically bound tritium (OBT). The mean tissue concentrations of TFWT (OBT) were 30.9 (17.8) and 4.4 (8.1) Bq/g on days 7 and 13 at the 37 kBq level and 30.8 (64.6) Bq/g on day 17 at the 370 kBq level. To assess the cytogenetic damage due to tritium exposure, a cytokinesis-blocked micronucleus (MN) assay was performed in blood samples from rats exposed to HTO for 14 and 21 days after oral administration. There was no significant difference in the MN frequencies between the control and exposed rats.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
• /
• v.3 no.4
• /
• pp.319-328
• /
• 2005

This paper describes a compartment dynamic model for evaluating the contamination level of kritium in agricultural plants exposed by accidentally released tritium. The present model uses a time-dependent growth equation of plant so that it can predict the effect of growth stage of plant during the exposure time. The model including atmosphere, soil and plant compartments is described by a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations, and is able to predict time-dependent concentrations of tritium in the compartments. To validate the model, a series of exposure experiments of HTO vapor on Chinese cabbage and radish was carried out at the different growth stage of each plant. At the end of exposure, the tissue free water(TFWT) and the organically bound tritium(OBT) were measured. The measured concentrations were agreed well with model predictions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.30 no.1
• /
• pp.45-54
• /
• 2005

A dynamic compartment model was developed to appraise the level of the contamination of agricultural plants by accidentally released tritium from nuclear facility. The model consists of a set of inter-connected compartments representing atmosphere, soil and plant. In the model three categories of plant are considered: leafy vegetables, grain plants and tuber plants, of which each is modeled separately to account for the different transport pathways of tritium. The predictive accuracy of the model was tested through the analysis of the tritium exposure experiments for rice-plants. The predicted TFWT(tissue free water tritium) concentration of the rice ear at harvest was greatly affected by the absolute humidity of air, the ratio of root uptake, and the rate of rainfall, while its OBT(organically bound tritium) concentration the stowing period of the ear, the absolute humidity of air and the content of hydrogen in the organic phase. There was a good agreement between the model prediction and the experimental results lot the OBT concentration of the ear.