• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제22권1호
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• pp.33-40
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• 2017

Identification of radon in soil provides information on the areas at risk for high radon exposure. In this study, we measured uranium-238 and radon-222 concentrations in soil to assess their approximate levels in Seoul. A total of 246 soil samples were taken to analyze uranium with ICP-MS, and 120 measurements of radon in soil were conducted with an in-situ radon detector, Rad7 at a depth of 1-1.5 m. The data were statistically analyzed and mapped, layered with geological classification. The range of uranium in soil was from 0.0 to 8.5 mg/kg with a mean value of 2.2 mg/kg, and the range of radon in soil was from 1,887 to $87,320Bq/m^3$ with a mean value of $18,271Bq/m^3$. The geology had a distinctive relationship to the uranium and radon levels in soil, with the uranium and radon concentrations in soils overlying granite more than double those of soils overlying metamorphic rocks.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제16권6호
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• pp.143-149
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• 2011

In order to figure out the characteristics of radionuclides concentrations of nine provinces, we analyzed uranium and radon in 681 samples of groundwater. Most of uranium concentrations in each province were less than $10{\mu}g/L$, and Gyeongnam, Jeonnam, Jeju provinces did not have groundwaters exceeding the US EPA drinking water MCL ($30{\mu}g/L$) of uranium. The ratio of radon values exceeding US EPA drinking water AMCL (4,000 pCi/L) was 22.6% (154/681) and Gyeongnam and Jeju provinces had no groundwaters exceeding the AMCL (alternative maximum contaminant level). Uranium and radon concentrations in groundwaters of Gyeonggi, Chungbuk, Jeonbuk, Chungnam mainly composed of the Mesozoic granite and the Precambrian gneiss were relatively high, but the concentrations of Gyeongnam and Jeju widely comprised of the sedimentary rock and the volcanic rock were relatively low. A week correlation between uranium and radon values showed in Gangwon, Chungbuk, Gyeonggi provinces.

• 한국환경보건학회지
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.86-95
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• 2022

Background: As high concentrations of uranium and radon have been detected in some areas in Korea, it is considered necessary to investigate natural radioactive materials in the Gwangju area. Objectives: This study aimed to identify the hydrochemical characteristics of groundwater in Gwangju and investigate the distribution characteristics of uranium and radon, which are naturally radioactive substances. Methods: To determine the uranium and radon concentrations in groundwater according to the geology of the Gwangju area, we measured 62 groundwater wells. A geological distribution map of uranium and radon content was prepared for this study. Results: The groundwater type, defined using a Piper diagram, was mainly Ca-HCO₃. The concentration of uranium in the groundwater ranged from 0 to 29.3 ㎍/L, with a mean of 3.3 ㎍/L and a median of 0.9 ㎍/L. The median concentration of uranium in groundwater was highest in alluvium, granitic gneiss, and biotite granite (classified by geological unit), in that order. The concentration of radon in the groundwater ranged from 4.8 to 313.2 Bq/L, with a mean of 75.6 Bq/L and a median of 59.6 Bq/L. The median concentration of radon in groundwater was highest in biotite granite, alluvium, and granitic gneiss, in that order. As a result of the correlation analysis of groundwater in the study area, there was no significant correlation between uranium and radon. Conclusions: In this study area, uranium was shown to be far below the concentrations allowed by drinking water quality standards, but radon concentrations exceeded drinking water quality monitoring standards in 11% of the samples. It was judged that appropriate measures, such as the installation of radon reduction facilities, will be required after a thorough review of high-concentration radon detection sites of in the research area.

• 한국환경과학회지
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• 제27권8호
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• pp.651-663
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• 2018

The hydrochemistry of groundwater from 47 wells in the Chungwon area, Korea was analyzed to examine the occurrence of natural radionuclides like uranium and radon. The range of Electrical Conductivity (EC) value in the study area was $67{\sim}1,404{\mu}S/cm$. In addition to the high EC value, the content of cations and anions also tends to increase. Uranium concentrations ranged from $ND{\sim}178{\mu}g/L$ (median value, $0.8{\mu}g/L$) and radon concentrations ranged from 80~12,900 pCi/L (median value, 1,250 pCi/L). Uranium concentrations in one well, that is 2.8% of the samples, exceeded $30{\mu}g/L$, which is the Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) proposed by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), based on the chemical toxicity of uranium. Radon concentrations in three wells, that is 6% of the samples, and one well, that is 2.8% of the samples, exceeded 4,000 pCi/L (AMCL of the US EPA) and 8,100 pCi/L (Finland's guideline level), respectively. Concentrations of uranium and radon related to geology of the study area show the highest values in the groundwater of the granite area. The uranium and radon contents in the groundwater were found to be low compared to those of other countries with similar geological settings. It is likely that the measured value was lower than the actual content due to the inflow of shallow groundwater by the lack of casing and grouting.

• 지질공학
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• 제27권4호
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• pp.501-511
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• 2017

이 연구에서는 전라남도 지역의 지하수 170개 소를 대상으로 자연방사성물질인 우라늄, 라돈을 분석하였으며, 지질별로 구분하여 이들의 함량특성을 지구화학적, 통계적으로 고찰하였다. 또한 우라늄과 라돈의 함량을 지질도에 표기하여 이들의 함량분포도를 작성하였다. 우라늄과 라돈의 함량범위는 넓지만 일부 시료를 제외하면 낮은 값을 보인다. 요인분석 결과에 의하면 전남지역의 지하수에서 우라늄과 라돈간의 상관계수는 낮아서, 이 두 성분은 서로 다른 거동특성을 가지는 것으로 판단된다. 서로 거의 무관한 거동특성을 보여주는 이러한 결과는 국내 대부분의 지하수중 우라늄, 라돈 연구결과와도 일치한다. 이들을 제외하면 주요 수질항목들 간에는 높은 상관계수가 나타나는데, 이들은 일반적인 물-암석반응의 결과임을 지시한다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권3호
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• pp.453-461
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• 2018

Shaft stations of underground uranium mines in China are not only utilized as waiting space for loaded mine-cars queuing to be hoisted but also as the principal channel for fresh air taken to working places. Therefore, assessment of how mine-car queuing processes affect shaft station radon concentration was carried out. Queuing network of mine-cars has been analyzed in an underground uranium mine, located in Quzhou, Zhejiang province of Eastern China. On the basis of mathematical analysis of the queue network, a MATLAB-based quasi-random number generating program utilizing Monte-Carlo methods was worked out. Extensive simulations were then implemented via MATALB operating on a DELL PC. Thereafter, theoretical calculations and field measurements of shaft station radon concentrations for several working conditions were performed. The queuing performance measures of interest, like average queuing length and waiting time, were found to be significantly affected by the utilization rate (positively correlated). However, even with respect to the "worst case", the shaft station radon concentration was always lower than $200Bq/m^3$. The model predictions were compared with the measuring results, and a satisfactory agreement was noted. Under current working conditions, queuing-induced variations of shaft station radon concentration of the study mine are not remarkable.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.9-16
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• 2010

Groundwater sampling was performed at 38 wells where they are located in the areas with high uranium and radon (marked as A and B, respectively) concentrations, which were based on the previous research results. In-situ parameters (temperature, pH, EC, Eh, DO) and natural radionuclides (uranium and radon) were analyzed to figure out the characteristics of groundwater environments. In-situ data did not show any relations to natural radionuclide data, which could be caused by groundwater mixing, depths of wells, and geological settings, etc. But the highest radon well presented relatively low temperature value and the highest uranium well presented relatively low pH values The highest uranium concentration ranging $1.14{\sim}188.19{\mu}g/L$ showed in the area of A region consisted of Jurassic two-mica granite. The areas of Jurassic biotite granite and Cretaceous granite in the A region have the uranium concentrations ranging $0.10{\sim}49.78{\mu}g/L$ and $0.36{\sim}3.01{\mu}g/L$, respectively. The uranium values from between wells of community water systems (CWSs) penetrating fractured bed-rock aquifers and personal boreholes settled in shallow aquifers near the wells of CWSs show big differences. It implies that the groundwaters of the two areas have evolved from different water-rock interaction paths that may caused by various types of wells having different aquifers. High radon activities in the area of B region composed of Precambrian gneiss showed ranging from 6,770 to 64,688 pCi/L. Even though the wells are located in the same geological settings, their rodon concentration presented different according to depth and distance.

• 한국지하수토양환경학회지:지하수토양환경
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• 제18권3호
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• pp.82-92
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• 2013

This study has investigated naturally occurring radioactive materials (N.O.R.M; $^{238}U$, $^{222}Rn$) for 353 drinking groundwater wells in metamorphic rock areas in Korea. Uranium concentrations ranged from N.D (not detected) to 563.56 ${\mu}g/L$ (median value, 0.68 ${\mu}g/L$) and radon concentrations ranged from 108 to 11,612 pCi/L (median value, 1,400 pCi/L). Uranium and radon concentrations in the groundwater generally are similar to USA with similar geological setting. Uranium concentrations in 9 wells (2.6%) exceeded 30 ${\mu}g/L$, which is the maximum contaminant level (MCL) by the US environmental protection agency (EPA), radon concentrations in 46 wells (13%) exceeded 4,000 pCi/L, which is the Alternative MCL (AMCL) by the US.EPA. The log-log correlation coefficient between uranium and radon was 0.32. The correlation coefficient between uranium and pH was 0.12 and the correlation coefficient between radon and temperature was -0.01. The correlation coefficient between uranium and $HCO_3$ was 0.09 and the correlation coefficient between uranium and Ca was 0.11. The median value of uranium was high Chung-Buk (1.78 ${\mu}g/L$), Gyeong-Buk (1.37 ${\mu}g/L$), In-Cheon (1.06 ${\mu}g/L$) for each province. On the other hand, the median value of radon was high In-Cheon (2,962 pCi/L), Chung-Buk (2,339 pCi/L), Jeon-Buk (2,165 pCi/L) for each province. Jeon-Buk for log-log correlation coefficient is the highest (0.63) among provinces.

• 지질공학
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.261-276
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• 2016

본 연구에서는 용인지역 ○○마을 지하수내 우라늄 및 라돈-222와 같은 자연방사성물질의 산출과 이와 관련된 수리지화학 특성 및 지질과의 상관성을 알아보고자 하였다. 이를 위하여 지하수 19점, 지표수 5점을 2회에 걸쳐 채취하였다. 연구결과 지하수의 pH는 5.81~7.79의 범위를 보이며, 지하수의 화학적 유형은 Ca(Na)-HCO₃에서 Ca(Na)-NO₃(Cl)-HCO₃ 유형에 걸쳐 분포한다. 우라늄과 라돈-222의 함량은 각각 0.06~411 μg/L의 범위와 5.56~903 Bq/L의 범위를 보인다. 마을 공용음용수로 사용되었던 암반지하수 2점은 우라늄과 라돈-222의 함량이 미국 EPA 권고치를 초과하였으며, 마을 내 생활용수로 사용하는 지하수중 우라늄과 라돈-222가 각각 3점과 12점에서 미국 EPA 권고치를 초과하였다. 초과한 지하수의 분포지역 지질은 중생대 쥬라기의 편마암상 각섬석-흑운모화강암이다. 우라늄과 라돈의 고함량 산출의 상관성을 보인 지하수는 마을 음용수로 사용되어온 심부지하수 2점에 국한되며, 다른 지하수에서는 특별한 상관성을 보이지 않는다. 지하수내 고함량 우라늄의 영향 범위는 지하수공 주변 수십 m 이내로 한정되는 것으로 보이며, 불활성 기체인 라돈의 고함량 범위는 보다 넓은 범위이므로 우라늄과 기원이 서로 상이하거나, 만약 동일한 기원이라면 암반의 단열대 등을 통한 확산이 비교적 넓게 진행된 것으로 보아야 할 것이다. 지표방사능 세기와 우라늄의 산출의 상관성도 대체로 일치함을 보여, 주변 최대 200 m 정도까지 고함량 우라늄의 영향범위로 추정된다. 암석 내 우라늄과 토륨은 토라이트와 모나자이트 광물에서 높은 검출을 보인다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권8호
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• pp.2927-2934
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• 2023

The influence of the atmospheric radon background on the airborne gamma spectrum can seriously affect researchers' judgement of ground radiation information. However, due to load and endurance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-borne gamma-ray spectrometry is difficulty installing upward-looking detectors to monitor atmospheric radon background. In this paper, an advanced spectral-ratio method was used to correct the atmospheric radon background for a UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry in Inner Mongolia, China. By correcting atmospheric radon background, the ratio of the average count rate of U window in the anomalous radon zone (S5) to that in other survey zone decreased from 1.91 to 1.03, and the average uranium content in S5 decreased from 4.65 mg/kg to 3.37 mg/kg. The results show that the advanced spectral-ratio method efficiently eliminated the influence of the atmospheric radon background on the UAV-borne gamma-ray spectrometry to accurately obtain ground radiation information in uranium exploration. It can also be used for uranium tailings monitoring, and environmental radiation background surveys.