• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.87-96
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• 2004

Studies were conducted to select the candidate buffer material for a high-level waste (HLW) repository in Korea. This paper presents the hydraulic properties, the swelling properties, the thermal properties, and the mechanical properties as well as the radionuclide release-retarding capacity of Kyungju bentonite as part of those studies. Experimental results showed that the hydraulic conductivities of the compacted bentonite were very low and less than $10^{-11}$m/s. The values decreased with increasing the dry density of the compacted bentonite. The swelling pressures were in the range of 0.66 MPa to 14.4 ㎫ and they increased with increasing the dry density. The thermal conductivities were in the range of 0.80 ㎉/m $h^{\circ}C$ to 1.52 ㎉/m $h^{\circ}C$. The unconfined compressive strength, Young's modulus and Poison's ratio showed the range of 0.55 ㎫ to 8.83 ㎫, 59 ㎫ to 1275 ㎫, and 0.05 to 0.20, respectively, when the dry densities of the compacted bentonite were 1.4 Ms/㎥ to 1.8 Mg/㎥. The diffusion coefficients in the compacted bentonite were measured under an oxidizing condition. The values were $1.7{\times}10^{-10}$m^2$/s to 3.4{\times}10^{-10}$m^2$/s for electrically neutral tritium (H-3), 8.6{\times}10^{-14}$m^2$/s to 1.3{\times}10^{-12}$m^2$/s for cations (Cs, Sr, Ni), 1.2{\times}10^{-11}$m^2$/s to 9.5{\times}10^{-11}$m^2$/s for anions (I, Tc), and 3.0{\times}10^{-14} $m^2$/s to 1.8{\times}10^{-13}$m^2$/s $for actinides (U, Am), when tile dry densities were in the range of 1.2 Mg/㎥ to 1.8 Mg/㎥. The obtained results will be used in assessing the barrier properties of Kyungju bentonite as a buffer material of a repository in Korea.n Korea.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.281-290
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• 2018

In order to understand the long-term behavior of radionuclides in granite environments, geochemical behavior characteristics of uranium in granitic host rock of KURT (KAERI Underground Research Tunnel) were investigated by dissolution experiment with different reaction time and solutions. In the dissolution experiment, significantly increased dissolution levels of uranium from granite powder samples were identified during the reaction time of 0~10 days for reaction solutions ($UD-CO_3$ and UD-Bg) containing a large amount of $CO_3{^{2-}}$. On the other hand, significantly increased dissolution levels of uranium were also identified for reaction solutions containing Na and Ca after 60 days. Dissolution of uranium continuously increased in reaction solutions of $UD-CO_3$ ($44.61{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$), UD-Bg ($41.01{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$), UD-Na ($26.87{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$), UD-Ca ($20.26{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$), UD-CaSi ($17.03{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$), and UD-Si ($10.47{\mu}g{\cdot}L^{-1}$) in the experimental period of ~270 days. However, after day 270, dissolution of uranium showed a decreasing tendency. This is thought to have occurred because existing uranium in granite samples reached the limit of dissolution by interaction with reaction solutions. Concentrations of dissolved uranium and points of maximum concentration value were found to differ depending on the $CO_3{^{2-}}$ presence in the mixed reaction solution and on the geochemical type of the water. It is estimated that differences in the reaction rate between the granite sample and the reaction solution are due to the influence of dissolved ions in the reaction solution.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.117-131
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• 2006

A coupled T-H-M(Thermo-Hydro-Mechanical) analysis was carried out for KENTEX (KAERI Engineering-scale T-H-M Experiment for Engineered Barrier System), which is a facility for validating the coupled T-H-M behavior in the engineered barrier system of the Korean reference HLW(high-level waste) disposal system. The changes of temperature, water saturation, and stress were estimated based on the coupled T-H-M analysis, and the influence of the types of mechanical constitutive material laws was investigated by using elastic model, poroelastic model, and poroelastic-plastic model. The analysis was done using ABAQUS, which is a commercial finite element code for general purposes. From the analysis, it was observed that the temperature in the bentonite increased sharply for a couple of days after heating the heater and then slowly increased to a constant value. The temperatures at all locations were nearly at a steady state after about 37.5 days. In the steady state, the temperature was maintained at $90^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the heater and the bentonite and at about $70^{\circ}C$ at the interface between the bentonite and the confining cylinder. The variation of the water saturation with time in bentonite was almost same independent of the material laws used in the coupled T-H-M processes. By comparing the saturation change of T-H-M and that of H-M(Hydro-Mechanical) processes using elastic and poroelastic material mod31 respectively, it was found that the degree of saturation near the heater from T-H-M calculation was higher than that from the coupled H-M calculation mainly because of the thermal flux, which seemed to speed up the saturation. The stresses in three cases with different material laws were increased with time. By comparing the stress change in H-M calculation using poroelasetic and poroelasetic-plastic model, it was possible to conclude that the influence of saturation on the stress change is higher than the influence of temperature. It is, therefore, recommended to use a material law, which can model the elastic-plastic behavior of buffer, since the coupled T-H-M processes in buffer is affected by the variation of void ratio, thermal expansion, as well as swelling pressure.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.388-407
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• 1995

This study is (a) to describe the history of Total Quality Management (TQM) generated in the industry, health care service, and nursing society ; (b) to define the concept, total quality management including the definition of quality ; (C) to explain the each principle of TQM theory developed by main theorists, E. Deming, J. Juran, and B. Crosby ; (d) to give the examples related to TQM implementation at the health care organization ; and (e) to mention the extent to which the health care organizations are able to evaluate their cultural organization toward TQM and have had the way to measure the effect of TQM implementation. TQM referred to Continuous Quality Improvement(CQI), Quality Improvement(QI), and Total Quality Improvement(TQI), was not recognized by experts in the United States industry, but by economists in Japan until the end of the 1970's. However, the United States' government led to introduce the principles of TQM to general industry as well as health care service area so that TQM became a main philosophy to manage the organizations in health care service. TQM is a structured, systematic process for creating organization-wide participation in planning and implementing continuous improvement in quality. E. Deming established the "Chain reaction in Quality" and the fourteen point of TQM. The Chain reaction in quality is to describe the relationship among the reduction of waste, rework, and delay, quality improvement, customer satisfaction, and productivity. There are fourteen points to explain the principles of TQM by E. Deming. Juran defined the "Quality Trilogy" to improve the level of quality in any organization. Quality Trilogy has three steps such as quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement for implementing the TQM projects. Crosby describes his TQM theory by establishing "Four Absolutes" and "Fourteen steps in TQM" implementation. Until now, most healthcare organizations have made efforts to organize the TQM task team and to implement TQM principles with various issues. There are three priorities to select the TQM issues : High-volume, High-risk, and Problem-prone. However, there is no absolute, credible measurement yet to evaluate the effects of TQM implementation in health care organization regardless of the classification of health care organizations, geographical background, and social influence. Thus, developing the evaluation way in terms of TQM is the foremost task in health service area. The most important thing for TQM implementation in the organization is to settle up the concept, cultural transformation from traditional management toward quality.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.6 s.84
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• pp.767-776
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• 2004

Polymer concrete shows excellent mechanical properties and chemical resistance compared with conventional normal cement concrete. The polymer concrete is drawing a strong interest as high-performance materials in the construction industry. Resins using recycled PET offer the possibility of a lower source cost of materials for making useful polymer concrete products. Also the recycling of PET in polymer concrete would help solve some of the solid waste problems posed by plastics and save energy. The purposed of this paper is to propose the model for the stress-strain relation of recycled-PET polymer concrete at monotonic uniaxial compression and is to investigate for the stress-strain behavior characteristics of recycled-PET polymer concrete with different variables(strength, resin contents, curing conditions, addition of silane and ages). The maximum stress and strain of recycled-PET polymer concrete was found to increase with an increase in resin content, however, it decreased beyond a particular level of resin content. A ascending and descending branch of stress-strain curve represented more sharply at high temperature curing more than normal temperature curing. Addition of silane increases compressive strength and postpeak ductility. In addition, results show that the proposed model accurately predicts the stress-strain relation of recycled-PET polymer concrete

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.915-921
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• 2001

Phytase improves the bioavailability of phytate phosphorus in plant foods to humans and animals, and reduces the phosphorus pollution of animal waste. In order to express a high level of fungal phytase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, various expression vectors were constructed with different combinations of promoters, translation enhancers, signal peptides, and terminator. Three different promoters fused to the phytase gene (phyA) from Aspergillus niger were tested: a galactokinase (GAL1) promoter, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) promoter, and yeast hybrid ADH2-GPD promoter consisting of alcohol dehydrogenase II (ADH2) and a GPD promoter. The signal peptides of phytase, glucose oxidase (GO), and rice amylase 1A(RAmy1A) were included. Plus, the translation enhancers of the ${\Omega}$ sequence and UTR70 from the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) and spinach, respectively, were also tested. Among the recombinant vectors, pGphyA06 containing the GPD promoter, the ${\Omega}$ sequence, RAmy1A, and GAL7 terminator expressed the highest phytase activity in a culture filtrate, which was estimated at 20 IU/ml. An intracellular localization of the expressed phytase activity in a culture filtrate, which was estimated at 20 IU/ml. An intracellular localization of the expressed phytase was also performed by inserting an endoplasmic reticulum (ER) retention signal, KDEL sequence, into the C-terminus of the phytase within the vector pHphyA-6. It appeared that the KDEL sequence directed most of the early expression of phytase into the intracellular compartment yet more than $60\%$ of the total phytase activity was still retained within the cell even after the prolonged (>3 days) incubation of the transformant. However, the intracellular enzyme activity of the transformant without a KDEL sequence was as high as that of the extracellular one, thereby strongly suggesting that the secretion of phytase in S. cerevisiae appeared to be the rate-limiting step for the expression of a large amount of extracellular recombinant phytase, when compared with other yeasts.

• The Sea:JOURNAL OF THE KOREAN SOCIETY OF OCEANOGRAPHY
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.42-53
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• 2020

In this study, heavy metal in road-deposited sediments (RDS) and marine sediment around Gwangyang Bay area have been investigated to assess the pollution status of metals and to understand the environmental impact of RDS as a potential source of metal pollution. Zn concentration for <63 ㎛ size fraction was the highest (2,982 mg/kg), followed by Cr, Ni, Pb, Cu, As, Cd, and Hg. Metal concentrations in RDS increased with decreasing particle size and relatively higher concentrations were observed around the metal waste and recycling facilities. For particle size in RDS smaller than 125 ㎛, EF values indicated that Zn was very high enrichment and Cr, Cd, Pb were significant enrichment. The concentrations of metals in marine sediments were mostly below the TEL value of sediment quality guidelines of Korea. However, the Zn concentrations has increased by 30~40% compared to 2010 year. The amounts of Zn, Cd and Pb in less than 125 ㎛ fraction where heavy metals can be easily transported by stormwater runoff accounted for 54% of the total RDS. The study area was greatly affected by Zn pollution due to corrosion of Zn plating materials by traffic activity as well as artificial activities related to the container logistics at Gwangyang container terminal. The fine particles of RDS are not only easily resuspended by wind and vehicle movement, but are also transported to the surrounding environments by runoff. Therefore, further research is needed on the adverse effects on the environment and ecosystem.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.575-593
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• 2012

This paper briefly introduces the scope and objectives of SKB Task 8, which is an international cooperative research project. In addition, the hydraulic behaviors of bentonite buffer focusing on the interactions between bentonite and a rock mass with a joint were investigated using TOUGH2 code as part of a sub-mission of Task 8a. The effects of a rock joint and high capillary pressure of bentonite on the re-saturation properties and pressure distribution in a buffer were identified and successfully incorporated in the TOUGH2 code. Based on the numerical results, it was found that the speed of re-saturation in bentonite surrounded by a rock mass with a joint is 2.5 to 12 times faster than that in a condition without a rock joint, while the degree of saturation in the lower part of the buffer material is generally higher than in the upper part in both the cases of with and without a joint. It can be anticipated that the results obtained from this study can be applied to an estimation of the full saturation time and a determination of optimum thickness with regard to the design of the bentonite buffer in a high level waste disposal system.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2002

Ce-pyrochlore (CaCe $Ti_2 $O_7)was synthesized to study its properties and phase relations in CaO-Ce $O_2$-Ti $O_2$ system because Ce-pyrochlore was known as a promising material for the immobilization of radioactive actinide. The samples were prepared from the high purity starling materials under the pressure of 200~400 kg/$\textrm{cm}^2$ at room temperature, and annealed at 1000~ 150$0^{\circ}C$. The Synthesized samples were analysed and indentified with XRD and SEM/EDS methods. The optimal formation condition of Ce-pyrochlore was at 130$0^{\circ}C$ under $O_2$ atmosphere and the chemical composition of it wasCa$Ca_{1-x}Ti_{2-y}O_{7-x-2y}$(x=0.03-0.05, y=0.02~0.04) At temperature between 130$0^{\circ}C$ 140$0^{\circ}C$, Ce-pyrochlore underwent rapidly the incongruent decomposition to perovskite. Ce-perovskite, a partial solid solution between perovskite and loparite (C $e_{0.66}$Ti $O_3$), was observed as a major phase above 140$0^{\circ}C$.>.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.43-52
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• 2024

Currently, there are no interim storage facilities and permanent disposal facilities in Korea, so all spent nuclear fuels are temporarily stored. However, the temporary storage facility is approaching saturation, and as a measure to this, the 2nd Basic Plan for the Management of High-Level Radioactive Waste presented an operation plan for dry interim storage facilities and dry temporary storage facilities on the NPP on-site. The dry storage can be operated in various ways, and to select the optimal dry storage method, the reduction of exposure for workers must be considered. Accordingly, it is necessary to develop a worker exposure scenario according to the dry storage method and evaluate and compare the radiological impact for each method. The purpose of this study is to develop an exposure scenario for workers transporting spent nuclear fuel by dry storage method. To this end, first, the operation procedure of the foreign commercial spent nuclear fuel dry storage system was analyzed based on the Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR). 1) the concrete overpack-based system, 2) the metal overpack-based system, and 3) the vertical storage module-based system were selected for analysis. Factors were assumed that could affect the type of work (working distance, working hours, number of workers, etc.) during transportation work. Finally, the work type of the processes involved in transporting spent nuclear fuel by dry storage method was set, and an exposure scenario was developed accordingly. The concrete overpack method, the metal overpack method, and the vertical storage module method were classified into a total of 31, 9, and 23 processes, respectively. The work distance, work time, and number of workers for each process were set. The product of working hours and number of workers (Man-hour) was set high in the order of concrete overpack method, vertical storage module method, and metal overpack method, and short-range work (10 cm) was most often applied to the concrete overpack method. The results of this study are expected to be used as basic data for performing radiological comparisons of transport workers by dry storage method of spent nuclear fuel.