• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.63-72
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• 1989

An analysis for the gamma radiation fields in the research reactor MAPLE-X10 facility has been peformed under the assumption of partial loss of reactor and service pool water to assess the safety from the view point of design. Four photon source terms considered in the analysis were calculated using the ORIGEN-S code. Gamma dose rate calculations over the reactor and service pools during the water-loss accident conditions were performed using QAD-CG code. MCNP code (Monte Carlo Neuron and Photon Transport code), also, was used to assess the scattered radiation fields away from the pools, which is appropriate for calculating the scattered photon dose rates outside of the solid angle subtended by the source and pool walls.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.9-15
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• 2017

Background: The purpose of this study is to assign an appropriate density to virtual phantom for 2D diode array detector with different dose calculation algorithms to guarantee the accuracy of patient-specific QA. Materials and Methods: Ten VMAT plans with 6 MV photon beam and ten VMAT plans with 15 MV photon beam were selected retrospectively. The computed tomography (CT) images of MapCHECK2 with MapPHAN were acquired to design the virtual phantom images. For all plans, dose distributions were calculated for the virtual phantoms with four different materials by AAA and AXB algorithms. The four materials were polystyrene, 455 HU, Jursinic phantom, and PVC. Passing rates for several gamma criteria were calculated by comparing the measured dose distribution with calculated dose distributions of four materials. Results and Discussion: For validation of AXB modeling in clinic, the mean percentages of agreement in the cases of dose difference criteria of 1.0% and 2.0% for 6 MV were $97.2%{\pm}2.3%$, and $99.4%{\pm}1.1%$, respectively while those for 15 MV were $98.5%{\pm}0.85%$ and $99.8%{\pm}0.2%$, respectively. In the case of 2%/2 mm, all mean passing rates were more than 96.0% and 97.2% for 6 MV and 15 MV, respectively, regardless of the virtual phantoms of different materials and dose calculation algorithms. The passing rates in all criteria slightly increased for AXB as well as AAA when using 455 HU rather than polystyrene. Conclusion: The virtual phantom which had a 455 HU values showed high passing rates for all gamma criteria. To guarantee the accuracy of patent-specific VMAT QA, each institution should fine-tune the mass density or HU values of this device.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.13-22
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• 1994

The MCNP 4.2 code was used to calculate the thermal neutron flux distributions for $(n,\;{\gamma})$reaction in mainshell, annular plate, and subshell of the calandria of a CANDU 6 plant during operation. The thermal neutron flux distributions in calandria mainshell, annular plate, and subshell were in the range of $10^{11}{\sim}10^{13}\;neutrons/cm^2-sec$ which is somewhat higher than the previous estimates calculated by DOT 4.2 code. As an application to shielding analysis, photon dose rates outside the side and bottom shields were calculated. The resulting dose rates at the reactor accessible areas were below design target, $6 {\mu}Sv/h$. The methodology used in this study to evaluate the thermal neutron flux distribution for $(n,\;{\gamma})reaction$ can be applied to radiation shielding analysis of CANDU 6 type plants.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.449-452
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• 2005

The electrical characteristics of solid state devices such as the bipolar junction transistor (BJT), metal-oxide semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET), and other active devices are altered by impinging photon radiation and temperature in the space environment. In this paper, the threshold voltage, the breakdown voltage, and the on-resistance for two kinds of MOSFETs (200 V and 100 V of $V_{DSS}$) are tested for ${\gamma}-irradiation$ and compared with the electrical specifications under the pre- and post-irradiation low dose rates of 4.97 and 9.55 rad/s as well as at a maximum total dose of 30 krad. In our experiment, the ${\gamma}-radiation$ facility using a low dose, available at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), has been applied on two commercially available International Rectifier (IR) products, IRFP250 and IRF540.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.255-262
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• 1996

This paper describes the results of intercomparison measurements of KAERI reference photon and beta radiation fields between the KAERI and the PNNL(Pacific Northwest National Laboratory), recently performed at KAERI radiation calibration and dosimetry laboratory on the basis of the ANSI N13.11 criteria for personal dosimeter performance test. Each laboratory used her own radiation detectors or measurement devices traceable to her national primary standard in measuring the exposure rates for photon fields, the absorbed dose rates for beta radiation fields. The agreements in reference radiation measurements between two laboratories were found to be less than ${\pm}2.0%$ for photon fields, ${\pm}1.0%$ for beta radiation fields. Therefore, it could be concluded that KAERI reference radiation fields comply well with the international standard and thus can further serve as a national basis for the researches and developments in radiation protection dosimetry in Korea.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.48 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2023

Background: As breast tissue expanders consist of metallic materials in the needle guard and ferromagnetic injection port, irradiation can produce radioactivation. Materials and Methods: A CPX4 (Mentor Worldwide LLD) breast tissue expander was exposed using the Versa HD (Elekta) linear accelerator. Two photon energies of 6 and 10 MV-flattening filter free (FFF) beams with 5,000 monitor units (MU) were irradiated to identify the types of radiation. Furthermore, 300 MU with 10 MV-FFF beam was exposed to the CPX4 breast tissue expander by varying the machine dose rates (MDRs) 600, 1,200, and 2,200 MU/min. To assess the instantaneous dose rates (IDRs) solely from the CPX4, a tissue expander was placed outside the treatment room after beam irradiation, and a portable radioisotope identification device was used to identify the types of radiation and measure IDR. Results and Discussion: After 5,000 MU delivery to the CPX4 breast tissue expander, the energy spectrum whose peak energy of 511 keV was found with 10 MV-FFF, while there was no resultant one with 6 MV-FFF. The time of each measurement was 1 minute, and the mean IDRs from the 10 MV-FFF were 0.407, 0.231, and 0.180 μSv/hr for the three successive measurements. Following 10 MV-FFF beam irradiation with 300 MU indicated around the background level from the first measurement regardless of MDRs. Conclusion: As each institute room entry time protocol varies according to the working hours and occupational doses, we suggest an addition of 1 minute from the institutes' own room entry time protocol in patients with CPX4 tissue expander and the case of radiotherapy vaults equipped with a maximum energy of 10 MV photon beams.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.66-72
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• 2018

The proper position of a multi-leaf collimator (MLC) is essential for the quality of intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and volumetric modulated arc radiotherapy (VMAT) dose delivery. Task Group (TG) 142 provides a quality assurance (QA) procedure for MLC position. Our study investigated the QA validation of the mechanical leaf gap measurement and the maintenance procedure. Two $VitalBeam^{TM}$ systems were evaluated to validate the acceptance of an MLC position. The dosimetric leaf gaps (DLGs) were measured for 6 MV, 6 MVFFF, 10 MV, and 15 MV photon beams. A solid water phantom was irradiated using $10{\times}10cm^2$ field size at source-to-surface distance (SSD) of 90 cm and depth of 10 cm. The portal dose image prediction (PDIP) calculation was implemented on a treatment planning system (TPS) called $Eclipse^{TM}$. A total of 20 VMAT plans were used to confirm the accuracy of dose distribution measured by an electronic portal imaging device (EPID) and those predicted by VMAT plans. The measured leaf gaps were 0.30 mm and 0.35 mm for VitalBeam 1 and 2, respectively. The DLG values decreased by an average of 6.9% and 5.9% after mechanical MLC adjustment. Although the passing rates increased slightly, by 1.5% (relative) and 1.2% (absolute) in arc 1, the average passing rates were still within the good dose delivery level (>95%). Our study shows the existence of a mechanical leaf gap error caused by a degenerated MLC motor. This can be recovered by reinitialization of MLC position on the machine control panel. Consequently, the QA procedure should be performed regularly to protect the MLC system.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.176-183
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• 2009

Maintenance on the water chamber of steam generator during outage in nuclear power plants (NPPs) has a likelihood of high radiation exposure to whole body of workers even short time period due to the high radiation exposure rates. In particular, it is expected that hands would receive the highest radiation exposure because of its contact with radiation materials. In this study, characteristic analysis of inhomogeneous radiation fields for contact operations was conducted using thermoluminescent dosimeter (TLD) readouts from the application tests of two-dosimeter algorithm to Korean NPPs in 2004. It is regarded that inhomogeneous radiation fields for contact operations in NPPs are dominated by high energy photons. In addition, field tests for workers who participated in maintenance on the steam generator during outage at Ulchin NPPs in 2009 and pressure tube replacement at Wolsong NPPs in 2009 were conducted to analyze radiation fields and to estimate the extremity dose. As a result, radiation fields were dominated by high energy photons.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.65-71
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• 2014

A Varian Portal Dosimetry system was compared to an isocentrically mounted MapCHECK 2 diode array for volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT) QA. A Varian TrueBeam STx with an aS-1000 digital imaging panel was used to acquire VMAT QA images for 13 plans using four photon energies (6, 8, 10 and 15 MV). The EPID-based QA images were compared to the Portal Dose Image Prediction calculated in the Varian Eclipse treatment planning system (TPS). An isocentrically mounted Sun Nuclear MapCHECK 2 diode array with 5 cm water-equivalent buildup was also used for the VMAT QAs and the measurements were compared to a composite dose plane from the Eclipse TPS. A ${\gamma}$ test was implemented in the Sun Nuclear Patient software with 10% threshold and absolute comparison at 1%/1 mm (dose difference/distance-to-agreement), 2%/2 mm, and 3%/3 mm criteria for both QA methods. The two-tailed paired Student's t-test was employed to analyze the statistical significance at 95% confidence level. The average ${\gamma}$ passing rates were greater than 95% at 3%/3 mm using both methods for all four energies. The differences in the average passing rates between the two methods were within 1.7% and 1.6% of each other when analyzed at 2%/2 mm and 3%/3 mm, respectively. The EPID passing rates were somewhat better than the MapCHECK 2 when analyzed at 1%/1 mm; the difference was lower for 8 MV and 10 MV. However, the differences were not statistically significant for all criteria and energies (p-values >0.05). The EPID-based QA showed large off-axis over-response and dependence of ${\gamma}$ passing rate on energy, while the MapCHECK 2 was susceptible to the MLC tongue-and-groove effect. The two fluence-based QA techniques can be an alternative tool of VMAT QA to each other, if the limitations of each QA method (mechanical sag, detector response, and detector alignment) are carefully considered.

• Korean Journal of Head & Neck Oncology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.167-171
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• 2000

Objectives: To compare the outcomes of treatment with a focus on the effectiveness of the two primary techniques of radiation used for treating parotid gland malignancies. Materials and Methods: A retrospective analysis of 70 patients with parotid gland cancer treated between 1981-1997. Radiation was delivered through an ipsilateral field of high energy electron and photon in 37 patients(52.9%). Two wedge paired photon was used to treat in 33 patients(47.1%). The median dose was 60 Gy, typically delivered at 1.8-2.0Gy per fraction. The median follow-up times for surviving patients was 60 months. Results: The overall and disease free 5 year survival rates were 71.6% and 69.5%, respectively. Wedge paired photon and photon-electron treatment disease tree 5 year survival rates were 61.1% and 80.5%, respectively. Overall local failure rate was 18.6%. Local failure rate of wedge paired photon technique was higher than that of mixed beam technique. Late complication rate was 37.1%, but most of them were mild grade. Conclusion: Techniques of radiation were associated with local control. The technique of using an ipsilateral field encompassing the parotid bed and treated with high energy electrons often mixed photons was effective with minimal severe late toxicity. To irradiate deep sited tumors, we consider 3-D conformal treatment plan for well encompassing the target volume.