• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.59-67
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• 2023

Background: This study aims to reevaluate natural radiation exposure, following up on our previous study conducted in 2019, and to assess the associated risk of lung cancer to the public residing in the gold mining areas of Betare-Oya, east Cameroon, and its vicinity. Materials and Methods: Gamma-ray spectra collected using a 7.62 cm×7.62 cm in NaI(Tl) scintillation spectrometer during a car-borne survey, in situ measurements and laboratory measurements performed in previous studies were used to determine the outdoor absorbed dose rate in air to evaluate the annual external dose inhaled by the public. For determining internal exposure, radon gas concentrations were measured and used to estimate the inhalation dose while considering the inhalation of radon and its decay products. Results and Discussion: The mean value of the laboratory-measured outdoor gamma dose rate was 47 nGy/hr, which agrees with our previous results (44 nGy/hr) recorded through direct measurements (in situ and car-borne survey). The resulting annual external dose (0.29±0.09 mSv/yr) obtained is similar to that of the previous study (0.33±0.03 mSv/yr). The total inhalation dose resulting from radon isotopes and their decay products ranged between 1.96 and 9.63 mSv/yr with an arithmetic mean of 3.95±1.65 mSv/yr. The resulting excess lung cancer risk was estimated; it ranged from 62 to 216 excess deaths per million persons per year (MPY), 81 to 243 excess deaths per MPY, or 135 excess deaths per MPY, based on whether risk factors reported by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation, or International Commission on Radiological Protection were used, respectively. These values are more than double the world average values reported by the same agencies. Conclusion: There is an elevated level of risk of lung cancer from indoor radon in locations close to the Betare-Oya gold mining region in east Cameroon. Therefore, educating the public on the harmful effects of radon exposure and considering some remedial actions for protection against radon and its progenies is necessary.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.11
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• pp.3985-3995
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• 2022

The emergence of new nanoscale technologies has imposed significant challenges to designing reliable electronic systems in radiation environments. A few types of radiation like Total Ionizing Dose (TID) can cause permanent damages on such nanoscale electronic devices, and current state-of-the-art technologies to tackle TID make use of expensive radiation-hardened devices. This paper focuses on a novel and different approach: using machine learning algorithms on consumer electronic level Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) to tackle TID effects and monitor them to replace before they stop working. This condition has a research challenge to anticipate when the board results in a total failure due to TID effects. We observed internal measurements of FPGA boards under gamma radiation and used three different anomaly detection machine learning (ML) algorithms to detect anomalies in the sensor measurements in a gamma-radiated environment. The statistical results show a highly significant relationship between the gamma radiation exposure levels and the board measurements. Moreover, our anomaly detection results have shown that a One-Class SVM with Radial Basis Function Kernel has an average recall score of 0.95. Also, all anomalies can be detected before the boards are entirely inoperative, i.e. voltages drop to zero and confirmed with a sanity check.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.12
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• pp.4659-4663
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• 2023

The use of iodine S values derived using the International Commission Radiological Protection (ICRP) phantoms may introduce significant bias in internal dosimetry for Koreans due to anatomical variability. In the current study, we produced an extensive dataset of Korean S values for selected five iodine radioisotopes (I-125, I-129, I131, I-133, and I-134) for use in radiation protection. To calculate S values, we implemented Monte Carlo simulations using the Mesh-type Reference Korean Phantoms (MRKPs), developed in a high-quality/fidelity mesh format. Noticeable differences were observed in S value comparisons between the Korean and ICRP reference phantoms with ratios (Korean/ICRP) widely ranging from 0.16 to 6.2. The majority of S value ratios were lower than the unity in Korean phantoms (interquartile range = 0.47-1.28; mean = 0.96; median = 0.69). The S values provided in the current study will be extensively utilized in iodine internal dosimetry for Koreans.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2606-2613
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• 2022

Spent resin often exceeds radiation limits for safe disposal, creating a need for commercial-scale treatment techniques to reduce resin radioactivity. In this study, the radiological safety of a commercialized spent resin treatment device with a treatment capacity of 1 ton/day was evaluated. The results confirm that the device is radiologically safe in the event of an accident. This device desorbs ¹⁴C from the spent resin, allowing disposal as low-level waste instead of intermediate-level waste. The device also reduces overall waste by recycling the extracted ¹⁴C. Potential accident scenarios were explored to enable dose assessments for both internal and external exposure while preventing further spillage of the device and processing the spilled resin. The scenarios involved the development of a surface fracture on the resin mixture separator and microwave systems, which were operated under pressure and temperature of 0-6 bar and 0-150 ℃, respectively. In the case of accidents with separator and microwave device, the maximum allowable working time of worker were derived, respectively, considering external and internal exposures. When wearing the respirator corresponding to APF 50, in the case of the microwave device accident scenario, the radiological safety was confirmed when the maximum worker worked within 132.1 h.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.343-349
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• 1995

Background : For biological dosimetry of radiation exposure, both observing hematologic change and calculating Ydr by chromosomal analysis as biological indicators are widely used. However, due to the lack of studies on biological dosimetry of radiation dose absorbed in the body such as in the cases of radioactive iodine therapy, the maximal and safe dose is not well known, nor is the extent to which the body can safely endure radiation exposure. Purpose : To investegate the practical applicability of hematologic changes and Ydr as an indicator for estimating radiation exposure, to patients with thyroid diseases after doses of radioactive iodine. Material and Methods : 5 patients with hyperthyroidism and 35 patients who have had thyroid cancer operation were under treatment with radioactive iodine, changes in number of lymphocytes were tracked and Ydr was calculated for more than 2 months by chromosomal analysis in peripheral lymphocytes. Results ; 1) The number of lymphocytes began to decrease 2 weeks after doses of radioactive iodine, and reached the nadir after 6 and 8 weeks, then gradually recovered. 2) The nadir count of lymphocytes was reversely correlated with the administered dosage of radioactive iodine. 3) Ydr was generally stable between 2 and 8 weeks. 4) The maximal value of Ydr was correlated with the administered dosage of radioactive iodine. 5) Ydr value at the 2nd week increased with augmented dosage of radioactive iodine. 6) Ydr value at the 2nd week was correlated with fall of lymphocyte count. Conclusion : Patients must be closely observed, because temporary bone marrow suppression and slight chromosomal aberration can be produced by even generally used dosages of radioactive iodine for diagnosis and therapy. Maximal percent fall of lymphocyte count, Ydr at the 2 week interval and maximal Ydr can be used as the biological predictor of administered dosage of radioactive iodine.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2050-2056
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• 2024

Handling of radioisotopes may cause external and internal contamination to occupational workers while using radiation for medical purposes. This research aims to monitor the internal hazard of occupational workers who handle ¹³¹I. Two methods are used: in vivo or direct method and in vitro or indirect method. The in vivo or direct method was performed by assessing thyroid intake with a thyroid uptake monitoring machine. The in vitro or indirect method was performed by assessing urine samples with the help of a gamma-ray spectroscopy practice using a High-Purity Germanium (HPGe) Detector. In this study, fifty-nine thyroid counts and fifty-nine urine samples were collected from seven occupational workers who were in charge of ¹³¹I at the National Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (NINMAS), Dhaka. The result showed that the average annual effective dose of seven workforces from thyroid counts were 0.0208 mSv/y, 0.0180 mSv/y, 0.0135 mSv/y, 0.0169 m Sv/y, 0.0072 mSv/y, 0.0181 mSv/y, 0.0164 mSv/y and in urine samples 0.0832 mSv/y, 0.0770 mSv/y, 0.0732 mSv/y, 0.0693 mSv/y, 0.0715 mSv/y, 0.0662 mSv/y, 0.0708 mSv/y.The total annual effective dose (in vivo and in vitro method) was found among seven workers in average 0.1039 mSv/y, 0.0950 mSv/y, 0.0868 mSv/y, 0.0862 mSv/y, 0.0787 mSv/y, 0.0843 mSv/y, 0.0872 mSv/y. Following the rules of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the annual limit of effective dose for occupational exposure is 20 mSv per year and the finding values from this research work are lesser than this safety boundary.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.184-189
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• 2009

In pressurized heavy water reactors, workers who enter radiation controlled areas must submit their urine samples to health physicists after radiation work; these samples are then used to monitor internal radiation exposure from tritium intake. This procedure assumes that the samples submitted represent tritium concentration inside the body at equilibrium. According to both technical reports from the International Commission on Radiological Protection and experimental results from Canadian nuclear utilities, tritium inside the body generally reaches equilibrium concentration after approximately 2-3 hours of intake. In practice, urine samples can be submitted either before the 2 hours mark or after several hours of radiation work because of the numerous tasks that workers must perform and their frequent entries during nuclear power plant maintenance. In this paper, tritium concentration in workers' urine samples was measured as a function of time submitted after radiation work. Based on the measurement results, changes in the tritium concentration inside the body and its effect on internal dose assessment were then analyzed. As a result, it was found that tritium concentration reaches equilibrium concentration before the 2 hours mark for most workers' urine samples.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1757-1762
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• 2023

Radiological hazards from external exposure of naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) scales residues, generated during the extraction process of oil and gas production in southern Algeria, are evaluated. The activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were measured using high-purity gamma-ray spectrometry (GeHP). Mean activity concentration of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, found in scale samples are 4082 ± 41, 1060 ± 38 and 568 ± 36 Bq kg^-1, respectively. Radiological hazard parameters, such as radium equivalent (Ra_eq), external and internal hazard indices (H_ex, H_in), and gamma index (I_γ) are also evaluated. All hazard parameter values were greater than the permissible and recommended limits and the average annual effective dose value exceeded the dose constraint (0.3 mSv y^-1). However, for occasionally exposed workers, the dose rate of 0.65 ± 0.02 mSv y^-1 is lower than recommended limit of 1 mSv y^-1 for public.

• Journal of Radiation Industry
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.147-153
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• 2024

Radioactive liquid waste generated during operation and overhaul is collected and reused through the radioactive liquid waste treatment system and continuous monitoring system in the nuclear power plant or discharged to the outside if it satisfies the limit within the control and monitoring. However, there are concerns about boric acid management, which controls the power output of nuclear power plants in radioactive liquid waste. Due to the behavior of boric acid, it is difficult to remove it in the existing liquid radwaste system, and the concentration of boric acid water discharged tends to be higher than the natural state of 5 ppm, so additional facilities should be considered. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the radiological effects of radioactive waste treatment facilities that are under development and use them as a basis for managing worker exposure and evaluating the safety of facilities in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.329-334
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• 2018

Radon which is natural component of air is a colorless and odorless radioactive gas. Radon exposure can also occur from some building materials if they are made from radon-containing substances by breathing. In this study, The radiation dose of radon concentration was detected at 8 buildings of the A university during 3-month from June. 2017 to August. 2017. We detected indoor radon exposure at 8 building of the university and estimated annual effective dose. The radon concentration of Hall G and Hall F of the A university represented 81 and $14Bq/m^3$ respectively and average indoor radon concentration represented $41.63Bq/m^3$. Average effective dose was estimated 0.40 mSv/y, maximum effective dose was 0.78 mSv/y and minimum effective dose was 0.13 mSv/y respectively. University is the place that students spend the almost whole time. We suggest ventilation and appropriate management of a building, which could reduce the natural radiation exposure by radon concentration.