• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.8-20
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• 1988

The annual individual and collective doses to the thyroids of four age-dependent groups due to the in-take of I-131 released from the Younggwang nuclear power plant NU-1 & 2, Korea, are estimated using the model presented in ICRP 29. Sensitivity and robustness of the model are analyzed. In case of 0.12% fuel defect during normal operation, the collective dose is founded to be 3.05${\times}10^{-3}$man-thyroid-Sv, which is higher than the value calculated by the GASPAR code, 2.3${\times}10^{-3}$man-thyroid-Sv. The maximal individual annual doses resulting from an acute release are higher than those calculated under the assumption of continuous release by $1.4{\sim}1.7$ times. The most important pathway to the infant is milk and, in contrast, that to child, teen and adult is ingestion of crops. The model used is the calculation appears to be influenced by the variables such as roubstness-index. The weighted committed dose equivalent obtained by the ICRP 29 model is slightly higher than that calculated by the three-compartment model.

• Journal of Life Science
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.708-725
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• 2017

Ionizing radiation is enough energy to interact with matter to remove orbital electrons, neutrons, and protons in the atom. Ionizing radiation like this leads to oxidizing metabolism that alter molecular structure through direct and indirect interactions of radiation with the deoxyribonucleic acid in the nucleus and cytoplasmic organelles or via products of cytoplasm radiolysis. These ionization can result in tissue damage and disruption of cellular function at the molecular level. Consequently, ionizing radiation-induced modifications of ion channels and transporters have been reported. When the harmful effects exceed those of homeostatic biochemical processes, induced biological changes persist and may be propagated to progeny cells. Also, Reactive oxygen species formed on the effect of ionizing radiation can get across into neighboring cells through the cell junctions that are responsible for intercellular chemical communication, and may there bring about changes characteristic to radiation damage. Depending on radiation dose, dose-rate and quality, these protective mechanisms may or may not be sufficient to cope with the stress. This paper briefly reviewed reports on ionization radiation effects on cellular level that support the concept of radiation biology. A better understanding of the biological effects of ionizing radiation will lead to better use of and better protection from radiation.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.151-156
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• 2012

$^{18}F$-fluorodeoxyglucose ($^{18}F$-FDG) causes a significant amount of radioactivity retention in kidneys and urinary tract and degrades image quality and diagnostic performance. Diuretics are used to perform tests and prevent the urinary tract retention of $^{18}F$-FDG. The purpose of the study is to investigate how the diuretics affect images and excretion rates of $^{18}F$-FDG. The study consists of a group using diuretics for patients with no primary tumors or transfer lesions in kidneys according to PET/CT images, a group using physiological saline and the control group injecting only $^{18}F$-FDG and SUVs are measured by configuring interested areas for each group. Also, SUVs are compared and evaluated depending on the lasix injection after basic inspection and injecting $^{18}F$-FDG for quantitative analysis. The study shows that images with decreased background radioactivity and increased urine excretion due to using diuretics. However, an opposite result that there is no change in the amount of radioactivity in urine appears. The study concludes that the diuretics may decrease background radioactivity in the images but may not affect the $^{18}F$-FDG excretion.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.479-485
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• 2022

At the Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, physical human phantoms were developed to evaluate various radiation protection quantities, based on the mesh-type reference computational phantoms of the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The physical human phantoms were fabricated such that a radiophotoluminescent glass dosimeter (RPLGD) with a Tin filter, namely GD-352M, could be inserted into them. A Tin filter is used to eliminate the overestimated signals in low-energy photons below 100 keV. The measurement uncertainty of the RPLGD reader system based on GD-352M should be analyzed for obtaining reliable protection quantities before using it for practical applications. Generally, the measurement uncertainty of RPLGD systems without Tin filters is analyzed for quality assurance of radiotherapy units using a high-energy photon beam. However, in this study, the measurement uncertainty of GD-352M was analyzed for evaluating the protection quantities. The measurement uncertainty factors in the RPLGD include the reference irradiation, regression curve, reproducibility, uniformity, energy dependence, and angular dependence, as described by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). These factors were calculated using the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement method, applying ISO/ASTM standards 51261(2013), 51707(2015), and SS-ISO 22127(2019). The measurement uncertainties of the RPLGD reader system with a coverage factor of k = 2 were calculated to be 9.26% from 0.005 to 1 Gy and 8.16% from 1 to 10 Gy. A blind test was conducted to validate the RPLGD reader system, which demonstrated that the readout doses included blind doses of 0.1, 1, 2, and 5 Gy. Overall, the E_n values were considered satisfactory.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.953-960
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• 2022

The measurement of branching ratio of ¹⁶⁷Yb radioactive isotopes from gamma-ray spectrum of ¹⁶⁹Tm(p,3n)¹⁶⁷Yb reaction were performed by using a 100-MeV proton linear accelerator of the Korea Multi-purpose Accelerator Complex (KOMAC). The ¹⁶⁷Yb isotope has a half-life of 17.5 minutes and decays to ¹⁶⁹Tm. The gamma rays generated from the ¹⁶⁷Yb isotope were measured using an HPGe detector gamma ray spectroscopy system. The energy calibration of the detector and the efficiency measurement of the detector were determined using a standard source. The gamma rays of known main energy (62.9, 106.2, 113.3, 143.5 and 176.3 keV) were measured. On the other hand, information about the intensity of the generated gamma rays is very inaccurate. Therefore, in this study, the decay strength of the main gamma rays was accurately measured. Overall, it was different from the previously known results, and in particular, it was found that the intensity of the main decay gamma ray, such as the 113.3 and 106.2 keV gamma ray, was overestimated, and it was found that the gamma ray, such as 62.9, 116.7 and 143.5 keV was underestimated. The present results are considered to be important information in the fields of nuclear fusion, astrophysics and nuclear physics in the future.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1781-1795
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• 2024

This study investigated the levels of radioactivity in soil surrounding a phosphate fertilizer factory in Egypt, aiming to assess potential risks to the population exposed to radiation. Concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were measured in soil samples collected from two subsites: one near the factory (subsite 1) and another further away (subsite 2). Two different systems were used for measuring radioactivity, a high-purity gamma ray spectroscopy system with an HPGe detector for gamma-emitting isotopes and a CR-39 solid nuclear track detector for alpha-emitting radon gas. Subsite 1, located close to the factory, displayed significantly elevated levels of ²²⁶Ra compared to global background levels (514 and 456 Bq/kg vs. 35 Bq/kg). Additionally, the concentrations of ²³⁸U (241.06 Bq/kg vs. global average 35 Bq/kg), ²³²Th (16.15 Bq/kg vs. global average 30 Bq/kg), and ⁴⁰K (146.36 Bq/kg vs. global average 400 Bq/kg) were all above global averages. Furthermore, a high concentration of radon gas (337.06 μSv/y) was measured at subsite 1. The strong positive correlation observed between ²²⁶Ra and ²³⁸U (0.96256) provides further evidence of potentially elevated radioactivity levels near the factory. In contrast, subsite 2, situated farther from the factory, exhibited natural radioactive background levels within international limits. Quantitative analysis revealed that gamma ray absorbed doses for ²²⁶Ra and ²³²Th exceeded global averages in some samples. Specifically, ²²⁶Ra doses ranged from 7.8 to 46.26 ppm (exceeding the 20 ppm global average in some cases), and ²³²Th doses ranged from 1.98 to 9.14 ppm (exceeding the 10 ppm global average in some cases). The concentration of ⁴⁰K, however, remained within the global range (0.07%-0.69 %). The observed imbalances in the ratios of Th/U (0.17-0.24 Bq/kg and 0.73-0.24 ppm) and U/Ra (0.81-0.73 Bq/kg and 0.73-0.17 ppm), both of which are significantly lower than their respective global averages of 4 and 2.4, point towards the presence of fertilizer-derived contamination. This conclusion is further supported by the high phosphate concentrations detected in the samples. Overall, this study suggests that radioactive contamination near the phosphate fertilizer factory significantly exceeds global background levels and international limits in some cases. This raises concerns about potential risks posed to surrounding agricultural land and crops.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.294-303
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• 2015

American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) Published Task Group 40 report which includes recommendations for comprehensive quality assurance (QA) for medical linear accelerator in 1994 and TG-142 report for recommendation for QA which includes procedures such as intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in 2010. Recently, Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) published NSSC notification no. 2015-005 which is "Technological standards for radiation safety of medical field". This notification regulate to establish guidelines for quality assurance which includes organization and job, devices, methods/frequency/tolerances and action levels for QA, and to implement quality assurance in each medical institution. For this reason, all of these facilities using medical machine for patient treatment should establish items, frequencies and tolerances for proper QA for medical treatment machine that use the techniques such as non-IMRT, IMRT and SRS/SBRT, and perform quality assurance. For domestic, however, there are lack of guidelines and reports of Korean Society of Medical Physicists (KSMP) for reference to establish systematic QA report in medical institutes. This report, therefore, suggested comprehensive quality assurance system such as the scheme of quality assurance system, which is considered for domestic conditions, based the notification of NSSC and AAPM TG-142 reports. We think that the quality assurance system suggested for medical linear accelerator also help establishing QA system for another high-precision radiation treatment machines.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.207-216
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• 2000

Continuous measurements of radon progeny concentrations in the open atmosphere and measurements of meteorological parameters were performed in Tajeon, using a continuous gross alpha/beta aerosol monitor and a weather measuring equipment between July 1999 and July 2000. These data were analyzed for half-hourly, daily, and seasonal variations. The distribution of daily averaged equilibrium equivalent radon concentration$(EEC_{Rn})$ had an arithmetic mean value of $11.3{\pm}5.86Bqm^{-3}$ with the coefficient of variation of about 50% and the geometric mean was $10.3Bqm^{-3}$. The $EEC_{Rn}$ varies between 0.83 and $43.3Bqm^{-3}$, depending on time of day and weather conditions. Half-hourly averaged data indicated a diurnal pattern with the outdoor $EEC_{Rn}$ reaching a maximum at sunrise and a minimum at sunset. The pattern of the seasonal variation of the $EEC_{Rn}$ in Taejon had a tendency of minimum concentration occurring in the summer(July) and maximum concentration occurring in the late autumn(November). But the seasonal variation of the $EEC_{Rn}$ is expect to vary greatly from place to place. The outdoor $EEC_{Rn}$ was highly dependent on the local climate features. Particularly the $EEC_{Rn}$an rapidly drops less than $5Bqm^{-3}$ in case of blowing heavily higher than wind speed of $6msec^{-1}$, reversely the days with more than $30Bqm^{-3}$ were at a calm weather condition with the wind speed of lower than $1msec^{-1}$.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.40 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2015

Compton cameras overcome several limitations of conventional mechanical collimation based gamma imaging devices, such as pin-hole imaging devices, due to its electronic collimation based on coincidence logic. Especially large-scale Compton camera has wide field of view and high imaging sensitivity. Those merits suggest that a large-scale Compton camera might be applicable to monitoring nuclear materials in large facilities without necessity of portability. To that end, our research group have made an effort to design a large-scale Compton camera for safeguard application. Energy resolution or position resolution of large-area detectors vary with configuration style of the detectors. Those performances directly affect the image quality of the large-scale Compton camera. In the present study, a series of Geant4 Monte Carlo simulations were performed in order to examine the effect of those detector parameters. Performance of the designed large-scale Compton camera was also estimated for various monitoring condition with realistic modeling. The conclusion of the present study indicates that the energy resolution of the component detector is the limiting factor of imaging resolution rather than the position resolution. Also, the designed large-scale Compton camera provides the 16.3 cm image resolution in full width at half maximum (angular resolution: $9.26^{\circ}$) for the depleted uranium source considered in this study located at the 1 m from the system when the component detectors have 10% energy resolution and 7 mm position resolution.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.73-82
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• 1997

Regional myocardial blood flow (rMBF) can be noninvasively quantified using N-13 ammonia and dynamic positron emission tomography (PET). The quantitative accuracy of the rMBF values, however, is affected by the distortion of myocardial PET images caused by finite PET image resolution and cardiac motion. Although different methods have been developed to correct the distortion typically classified as partial volume effect and spillover, the methods are too complex to employ in a routine clinical environment. We have developed a refined method incorporating a geometric model of the volume representation of a region-of-interest (ROI) into the two-compartment N-13 ammonia model. In the refined model, partial volume effect and spillover are conveniently corrected by an additional parameter in the mathematical model. To examine the accuracy of this approach, studies were performed in 9 coronary artery disease patients. Dynamic transaxial images (16 frames) were acquired with a GE $Advance^{TM}$ PET scanner simultaneous with intravenous injection of 20 mCi N-13 ammonia. rMBF was examined at rest and during pharmacologically (dipyridamole) induced coronary hyperemia. Three sectorial myocardium (septum, anterior wall and lateral wall) and blood pool time-activity curves were generated using dynamic images from manually drawn ROIs. The accuracy of rMBF values estimated by the refined method was examined by comparing to the values estimated using the conventional two-compartment model without partial volume effect correction rMBF values obtained by the refined method linearly correlated with rMBF values obtained by the conventional method (108 myocardial segments, correlation coefficient (r)=0.88). Additionally, underestimated rMBF values by the conventional method due to partial volume effect were corrected by theoretically predicted amount in the refined method (slope(m)=1.57). Spillover fraction estimated by the two methods agreed well (r=1.00, m=0.98). In conclusion, accurate rMBF values can be efficiently quantified by the refined method incorporating myocardium geometric information into the two-compartment model using N-13 ammonia and PET.