• 대한핵의학회지
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• 제32권6호
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• pp.471-481
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• 1998

The goals of developments in nuclear medicine instrumentation are to offer a higher-quality image and to aid diagnosis, prognosis assessment or treatment planning and monitoring. It is necessary for physicists and engineers to improve or design new instrumentation and techniques, and to implement, validate, and apply these new approaches in the practice of nuclear medicine. The researches in physical properties of detectors and crystal materials and advances in image analysis technology have improved quantitative and diagnostic accuracy of nuclear medicine images. This review article presents recent developments in nuclear medicine instrumentation, including scatter and attenuation correction, new detector technology, tomographic image reconstruction methods, 511 keV imaging, dual modality imaging device, small gamma camera, PET developments, image display and analysis methods.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권5호
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• pp.1718-1733
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• 2023

The virtual Frisch-grid method for room-temperature radiation detectors has been widely used because of its simplicity and high performance. Recently, side electrodes were separately attached to each surface of the detectors instead of covering the entire detector surface with a single electrode. The side-electrode structure enables the measurement of the three-dimensional (3D) gamma-ray interaction in the detector. The positional information of the interaction can then be utilized to precisely calibrate the response of the detector for gamma-ray spectroscopy and imaging. In this study, we developed a 3D position-sensitive 5 × 5 × 12 mm³ cadmium-zinc-telluride (CZT) detector and applied a flattening method to correct detector responses. Collimated gamma-rays incident on the surface of the detector were scanned to evaluate the positional accuracy of the detection system. Positional distributions of the radiation interactions with the detector were imaged for quantitative and qualitative evaluation. The energy spectra of various radioisotopes were measured and improved by the detector response calibration according to the calculated positional information. The energy spectra ranged from 59.5 keV (emitted by ²⁴¹Am) to 1332 keV (emitted by ⁶⁰Co). The best energy resolution was 1.06% at 662 keV when the CZT detector was voxelized to 20 × 20 × 10.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.575-600
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• 2024

During an earthquake on December 29th 2020, the Krško NPP automatically shutdown due to the trigger of the negative neutron flux rate signal on the power range nuclear instrumentation. From the time course of the detector signal, it can be concluded that the fluctuation in the detector signal may have been caused by the mechanical movement of the ex-core neutron detectors or the pressure vessel components rather than the actual change in reactor power. The objective of the analysis was to evaluate the sensitivity of the neutron flux at the ex-core detector position, if the detector is moved in the radial or axial direction. In addition, the effect of the core barrel movement and core inside the baffle movement in the radial direction were analysed. The analysis is complemented by the calculation of the thermal and total neutron flux gradient in radial, axial and azimuthal directions. The Monte Carlo particle transport code MCNP was used to study the changes in the response of the ex-core detector for the above-mentioned scenarios. Power and intermediate-range detectors were analysed separately, because they are designed differently, positioned at different locations, and have different response characteristics. It was found that the movement of the power range ex-core detector has a negligible effect on the value of the thermal neutron flux in the active part of the detector. However, the radial movement of the intermediate-range detector by 5 cm results in 7%-8% change in the thermal neutron flux in the active part of the intermediate-range detector. The analysis continued with an evaluation of the effects of moving the entire core barrel on the ex-core detector response. It was estimated that the 2 mm core barrel radial oscillation results in ~4% deviation in the power and intermediate-range detector signal. The movement of the reactor core inside baffle can contribute ~6% deviation in the ex-core neutron detector signal. The analysis showed that the mechanical movement of ex-core neutron detectors cannot explain the fluctuations in the ex-core detector signal. However, combined core barrel and reactor core inside baffle oscillations could be a probable reason for the observed fluctuations in the ex-core detector signal during an earthquake.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제50권1호
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• pp.203-210
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• 2018

As the modernization of the nuclear instrumentation system progresses, research reactors have adopted digital wide-range neutron power measurement (DWRNPM) systems. These systems typically monitor the neutron flux across a range of over 10 decades. Because neutron detectors only measure the local neutron flux at their position, the local neutron flux must be converted to total reactor power through calibration, which involves mapping the local neutron flux level to a reference reactor power. Conventionally, the neutron power range is divided into smaller subranges because the neutron detector signal characteristics and the reference reactor power estimation methods are different for each subrange. Therefore, many factors should be considered when preparing the calibration procedure for DWRNPM channels. The main purpose of this work is to serve as a reference for performing the calibration of DWRNPM systems in research reactors. This work provides a comprehensive overview of the calibration of DWRNPM channels by describing the configuration of the DWRNPM system and by summarizing the theories of operation and the reference power estimation methods with their associated calibration procedure. The calibration procedure was actually performed during the commissioning of an open-pool type research reactor, and the results and experience are documented herein.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4080-4092
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• 2021

In this study, the performance of sequence tracking methods for multiple interaction events in specific CdZnTe Compton imagers was evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations. The Compton imager consisted of a 6 × 6 array of virtual Frisch-grid CZT crystals, where the dimensions of each crystal were 5 × 5 × 12 mm³. The sequence tracking methods for another Compton imager that consists of two identical CZT crystals arrays were also evaluated. When 662 keV radiation was incident on the detectors, the percentages of the correct sequences determined by the simple comparison and deterministic methods for two sequential interactions were identical (~80%), while those evaluated using the minimum squared difference method (55-59%) and Three Compton method (45-55%) for three sequential interactions, differed from each other. The reconstructed images of a 662 keV point source detected using single and double arrays were evaluated based on their angular resolution and signal-to-noise ratio, and the results showed that the double arrays outperformed single arrays.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.253-264
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• 1988

본 논문에서는 불란서에서 건설한 900 MWe급 가압경수형 원자로의 중성자 잡음해석 결과를 제시하였다. 중성자 잡음해석이란 노심내의 반응도 변화 및 노심의 수평운동으로 인한 노외검출기 신호의 변화를 해석하는 기법을 의미한다 이러한 방법은 Deterministic Dynamic Testing 기법중에서도 발전소의 정상운전 조건을 유지시키며 기존의 발전소 계측설비를 이용할 수 있다는 장점을 지니고 있다. 본 논문에 사용된 잡음신호는 울진 1호기 원자로의 시운전 시험기간에 구하였으며 이를 통계적 기술함수인 에너지 밀도함수(PSD), 검출기간의 상관함수 (CF)및 위상차(Phase Difference)로 나타내었다. 실험결과, 원자로 용기내의 냉각수 흐름 및 압력맥동 등에 의해 유도되는 Core Support Barrel(CSB)의 진동 주파수가 8Hz 근처임을 규명하였다.

• 천문학논총
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• 제26권2호
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• pp.71-87
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• 2011

Gravitational waves are predicted by the Einstein's theory of General Relativity. The direct detection of gravitational waves is one of the most challenging tasks in modern science and engineering due to the 'weak' nature of gravity. Recent development of the laser interferometer technology, however, makes it possible to build a detector on Earth that is sensitive up to 100-1000 Mpc for strong sources. It implies an expected detection rate of neutron star mergers, which are one of the most important targets for ground-based detectors, ranges between a few to a few hundred per year. Therefore, we expect that the gravitational-wave observation will be routine within several years. Strongest gravitational-wave sources include tight binaries composed of compact objects, supernova explosions, gamma-ray bursts, mergers of supermassive black holes, etc. Together with the electromagnetic waves, the gravitational wave observation will allow us to explore the most exotic nature of astrophysical objects as well as the very early evolution of the universe. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the theory of gravitational waves, principles of detections, gravitational-wave detectors, astrophysical sources of gravitational waves, and future prospects.

• 대한전자공학회논문지SD
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• 제45권5호
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• pp.82-87
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• 2008

본 논문은 고속 위상 고정이 가능한 새로운 듀얼 슬로프 위상고정루프를 제안한다. 기존의 듀얼 슬로프 위상고정루프는 각각 2개의 전하펌프와 위상 주파수 검출기로 구성되었다. 본 논문에서는 위상차에 따라 전하펌프의 전류를 조절해 하나의 전하펌프와 위상 주파수 검출기만으로 듀얼 슬로프 위상고정루프를 구현하였다. 제안된 회로는 $0.35{\mu}m$ CMOS 공정 파라미터 값으로 HSPICE 시뮬레이션을 수행하여 회로의 동작을 검증하였다. 제안된 듀얼 슬로프 위상고정루프의 위상 고정 시간은 $2.2{\mu}s$로 단일 슬로프 위상고정루프의 위상 고정 시간인 $7{\mu}s$보다 개선된 결과를 얻었다.

• 한국정보통신학회논문지
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• 제18권12호
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• pp.2982-2988
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• 2014

에지 검출은 영상 분할, 영상 인식 등의 전처리 과정이며, 국내외에서 많은 관련 연구가 진행되고 있다. 대표적인 에지 검출 방법에는 소벨(Sobel), 프리윗(Prewitt), 라플라시안(Laplacian), 로버츠(Roberts), 케니(Canny) 에지 검출기 등이 있으며, 이러한 기존의 방법들은 비잡음 영상에서 에지를 검출할 경우 에지를 우수하게 검출이 가능하나 salt-and-pepper 잡음에 훼손된 영상에서는 잡음의 영향에 의해 에지 검출 특성이 미흡하게 나타난다. 따라서 본 논문은 salt-and-pepper 잡음에 훼손된 영상에서 우수한 에지 검출 특성을 얻기 위하여, 먼저 마스크의 중심 화소를 기준으로 상, 하, 좌, 우 방향으로 영역을 구분한다. 그리고 각 영역의 대표 화소값의 잡음 여부를 판단하여 그 결과에 따라 추정 마스크의 요소를 구한 후, 여기에 방향성 마스크를 적용하여 최종 에지를 검출하는 알고리즘을 제안하였다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.745-752
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• 2024

A method for gamma/neutron event classification based on frequency-domain analysis for mixed radiation environments is proposed. In contrast to the traditional charge comparison method for pulse-shape discrimination, which requires baseline removal and pulse alignment, our method does not need any preprocessing of the digitized data, apart from removing saturated traces in sporadic pile-up scenarios. It also features the identification of neutron events in the detector's full energy range with a single device, from thermal neutrons to fast neutrons, including low-energy pulses, and still provides a superior figure-of-merit for classification. The proposed frequency-domain analysis consists of computing the fast Fourier transform of a triggered trace and integrating it through a simplified version of the transform magnitude components that distinguish the neutron features from those of the gamma photons. Owing to this simplification, the proposed method may be easily ported to a real-time embedded deployment based on Field-Programmable Gate Arrays or Digital Signal Processors. We target an off-the-shelf detector based on a small CLYC (Cs2LiYCl6:Ce) crystal coupled to a silicon photomultiplier with an integrated bias and preamplifier, aiming at lightweight embedded mixed radiation monitors and dosimeter applications.