• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2010.05a
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• pp.367-368
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• 2010

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.79-90
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• 2023

The study is to estimate the social costs of premature deaths due to nuclear power plant(NPP) accidents, by resorting to the contingent valuation method(CVM) which is used to estimate the value of a statistical life(VSL). The VSL estimate is about 3.55 billion won, which is multiplied by some 1.8 million premature deaths due to the accidents in world history of NPP, to get a maximum social cost of 1,952 trillion won. This estimate is equivalent to the 2022 real GDP of Korea. The annual average number of premature deaths and the resulting average social cost is 26,000 and 28 trillion won, respectively. The social cost of premature deaths due not only to accidents, but also the air pollutants from fired power plants(FPP) during 1987~2021 is estimated to be 26,919 trillion won. This is equivalent to 2021 US GDP, and is about 3,000 times higher than that for NPP of 9 trillion won. In 2021, the estimated social costs of FPP and NPP are 1,075 trillion won and 292 billion won, respectively. For South Korea, the study suggests to adapt an energy mix of increased share of electricity production for NPP relative to FPP, given that the 2050 carbon neutrality strategy of Korea is expected to lead to an increased share of renewable energy in electricity production. The study emphasizes accumulating the number of CVM-based VSL studies to ensure efficient energy policies.

• Environmental Analysis Health and Toxicology
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• v.30 no.sup
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• pp.5.1-5.5
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• 2015

Objectives To protect public health from risk, the Minister of Environment in Korea legislated an act concerning the registration and evaluation of chemical substances. In this study, we estimated the value of a statistical life (VSL) of carcinogenic chemicals to evaluate the socioeconomic analysis in Korea. Methods The estimation of the health benefit can be calculated through an individual's VSL and willingness to pay (WTP). To estimate the VSL and WTP, we used a contingent valuation method through a web-based survey. Results The survey is conducted with 1434 people living in Seoul and six large cities. An analysis of the survey is essential to review the distribution of the characteristics of the target population. The statistically significant variables affecting the WTP are location, age, household income, quality of life. Through the review of data, we secured statistical validity. The WTP was estimated as 41205 Korean won (KRW)/person, and the estimated VSL appeared as 796 million KRW/person. Conclusions There is a case in which the amount of statistical life value is estimated in connection with domestic environmental policy, fine dust, etc. However, there are no cases of evaluation for chemical. The utilization of this result is possible for conducting other study with chemicals.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.429-436
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• 2022

Investigations of retrospective dosimetry have shown that components of mobile phones are suitable as emergency dosimeters in case of radiological incidents. For physical dosimetry, components can be read out using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), thermoluminescence (TL) and phototransferred thermoluminescence (PTTL) methods to determine the absorbed dose. This paper deals with a feasibility study of display glass from modern mobile phones that are measured by thermally assisted (Ta) optically stimulated luminescence. Violet (VSL, 405 nm) and infrared (IRSL, 850 nm) LEDs were used for optical stimulation and two protocols (Ta-VSL and Ta-IRSL) were tested. The aim was to systematically investigate the luminescence properties, compare the results to blue stimulated Ta-BSL protocol (458 nm) and to develop a robust measurement protocol for the usage as an emergency dosimeter after an incident with ionizing radiation. First, the native signals were measured to calculate the zero dose signal. Next, the reproducibility and dose response of the luminescence signals were analyzed. Finally, the signal stability was tested after the storage of irradiated samples at room temperature. In general, the developed Ta-IRSL and Ta-VSL protocols indicate usability, however, further research is needed to test the potential of a new protocol for physical retrospective dosimetry.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.7-14
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• 2005

The feasibility of hydrogen production with a raw seed sludge through direct acclimation of feedstock was investigated at acidogenic stage, and methane was harvested at followed methanogenic stage in an anaerobic two-stage process. Hydrogen content was higher than 57% at all tested organic loading rates (OLRs) and the yield of hydrogen ranged from 1.5 to 2.4 mol H2/mol hexose consumed and peaked at 6 gVSl-1day-1. Normal butyrate and acetate were main volatile fatty acids (VFAs), whereas the concentration of propionate was insignificant. The hydrogen-producing bacteria, Clostridium thermosaccharolyticum, was detected with strong intensity at all tested organic loading rates (OLRs) by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. From COD balance in the process, the fraction of the feed-COD converted to the hydrogen-COD at acidogenic stage ranged from 7.9% to 9.3% and peaked at 6 gVSl-1day-1, whereas the fraction of feed-COD converted to the methane-COD at methanogenic stage ranged from 66.2% to 72.3% and peaked at 3 gVSl-1day-1.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.57-70
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• 2012

Variable speed limit(VSL) is a useful speed management tool for alleviating traffic congestion and enhancing traffic safety. The purpose of this study is to identify promising freeway segments for safety enhancement through VSL operations. An ordered probit model was adopted to capture factors affecting freeway crash severity that can be used to support decision making for selecting the promising segments. Pseudo elasticity and marginal effects, which are outcomes of the ordered probit analysis, were used to determine priority of promising segments for traffic safety. The results of this study would be useful in installing VSL systems and developing traffic control and operations strategies in practice.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.111-121
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• 2008

Using variable speed limits (VSL) is a key strategy for preventing traffic accidents and alleviating traffic congestion. This study proposes an algorithm to operate VSLs on freeways for traffic safety. The proposed algorithm consists of two components based on accident likelihood estimation and analysis of safe stopping distance under various environmental conditions. A binary logistic regression technique is used for estimating accident likelihood. It is expected that the proposed algorithm would be successfully applied in practice in support of an integrated traffic and environmental condition monitoring system. Technical issues associated with the field implementation are also discussed.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.230-238
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• 2003

Objectives : To estimate the value of statistical life (VSL) and health damage cost on theoretical mortality estimates due to environmental pollution. Methods : We assessed the health risk on three environmental problems and eight sub-problems. Willingness to pay (WTP) was elucidated from a questionnaire survey with dichotomous contingent valuation method and VSL (which is the division of WTP by the change of risk reduction) calculated from WTP. Damage costs were estimated by multiplying VSL by the theoretical mortality estimates. Results : VSLs from death caused by air pollution, indoor air pollution and drinking water contamination were about 0.3, 0.5 and 0.3 billion won, respectively. Damage costs of particulate matters ($PM_{10}$) and radon were higher in the sub-problems and were above 100 billion won. Because damage cost depends on theoretical mortality estimate and WTP, its uncertainty is reduced in the estimating process. Conclusion : Health damage cost or risk benefit should be considered as one scientific criterion for decision making in environmental policy.

• Environmental and Resource Economics Review
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.505-529
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• 2022

Radon is a radioactive gas that causes lung cancer deaths. The contingent valuation method (CVM) is used to estimate the value of a statistical life(VSL) of 2.054 billion won for the death due to residential radon in Korea. Residential radon is assumed to have caused 2,330 deaths in 2020, of which the estimated social cost is 4.78 trillion won. When a national compulsory standard of 200Bq/m³ is set for residential radon concentration, the number of lives saved is estimated to be 691, leading to a social benefit of 1.42 billion won. This study reports the origin, characteristics and health risk of residential radon, and emphasizes the importance of a dramatic increase in the budget for residential radon reduction policies.

• Journal of computational fluids engineering
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.123-141
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• 1996

In this paper the upwind flux difference splitting Navier-Stokes method has been applied to study the perfect gas and the equilibrium chemically reacting hypersonic flow over an axisymmetric sphere-cone(5°) geometry. The effective gamma(γ), enthalpy to internal energy ratio was used to couple chemistry with the fluid mechanics for equilibrium chemically reacting air. The test case condition was at altitude(30km) and Mach number(15). The equilibrium shock thickness over the blunt body region was much thinner than that of perfect gas shock. The pressure difference between perfect gas and equilibrium gas was about 3 ∼ 5 percent. The heat transfer coefficient were also calculated. The results were compared with VSL results in order to validate the current numerical analysis. The results from current method were compared well VSL results ; however, not well at near nose. The proper boundary condition and grid system will be studied to improve the solution quality.