• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.325-336
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• 2019

The activity concentrations of $^{226}Ra$, $^{232}Th$, and $^{40}K$ from 102 building materials samples were determined using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. The activity concentrations were evaluated for possible radiological hazards to the human health. The excess lifetime cancer risks (ELCR) were also estimated, and the average values were recorded as $0.42{\pm}0.24{\times}10^{-3}$, $3.22{\pm}1.83{\times}10^{-3}$, and $3.65{\pm}1.85{\times}10^{-3}$ for outdoor, indoor, and total ELCR respectively. The activity concentrations were further subjected to RESRAD-BUILD computer code to evaluate the long-term radiation exposure to a dweller. The indoor doses were assessed from zero up to 70 years. The simulation results were $92{\pm}59$, $689{\pm}566$, and $782{\pm}569{\mu}Sv\;y^{-1}$ for indoor external, internal, and total effective dose equivalent (TEDE) respectively. The results reported were all below the recommended maximum values. Therefore, the radiological hazards attributed to building materials under study are negligible.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.243-253
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• 2022

Spent filters with a high radiation dose rate of 2 mSv·hr^-1 or more are not easily managed. So far, the Korean policy for spent filter disposal is to store them temporarily at nuclear power plants until the waste filters can be easily managed. Nuclear power plant decommissioning in Korea is starting with Kori unit 1. Volume reduction of waste generated during decommissioning can reduce the cost and optimize the space usage at disposal site. Therefore, efficient volume reduction is a very important factor during the decommissioning process. A conceptual method, based on the experiences of developing 200 and 800 ton compactors at Orion EnC, has been developed considering worker exposure with the followings a crusher (upgrade of compaction efficiency), an automatic dose measuring system with a NaI(Tl) detector, a shield box, an inner drum to prepare for easy handling of drums and packaging, a 30 ton compactor, and an automatic robot system. This system achieves a volume reduction ratio of up to 85.7%; hence, the system can reduce the disposal cost and waste volume. It can be applied to other types of wastes that are not easily managed due to high dose rates and remote control operation necessity.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3833-3840
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• 2022

A method for calibrating the energy scale and detection efficiency of stilbene scintillators is presented herein. This method can be used to quantitatively analyze the Compton continuum of gamma-ray spectra obtained using such scintillators. First, channel-energy calibration was conducted by fitting a semi-empirical equation for the Compton continuum to the acquired energy spectrum and a new method to evaluate the intrinsic detection efficiency, called intrinsic Compton efficiency, of stilbene scintillators was proposed. The validity of this method was verified by changing experimental conditions such as the number of sources being measured simultaneously and the detector-source distance. According to the energy calibration, the standard error for the estimated Compton edge position was ±1.56 keV. The comparison of the intrinsic Compton efficiencies calculated from the single- and two-source spectra showed that the mean absolute difference and the mean absolute percentage difference are 0.031 %p and 0.557%, respectively, demonstrating reasonable accuracy of this method. The feasibility of the method was confirmed for an energy range of 0.5-1.5 MeV, showing that stilbene scintillators can be used to quantitatively analyze gamma rays in mixed-radiation fields.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.1626-1633
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• 2021

In an industrial field, non-destructive testing (NDT) is commonly used to inspect industrial products. Among NDT methods using radiation sources, X-ray laminography has several advantages, such as high depth resolution and low computational costs. Moreover, an X-ray laminography system with stationary source array and compact detector is able to reduce mechanical motion artifacts and improve inspection efficiency. However, this system, called stationary inverse-geometry X-ray laminography (s-IGXL), causes truncation artifacts in reconstructed images due to limited fields-of-view (FOVs). In this study, we proposed a projection data correction (PDC) method to reduce the truncation artifacts arisen in s-IGXL images, and the performance of the proposed method was evaluated with the different number of focal spots in terms of quantitative accuracy. Comparing with conventional techniques, the PDC method showed superior performance in reducing truncation artifacts and improved the quantitative accuracy of s-IGXL images for all the number of focal spots. In conclusion, the PDC method can improve the accuracy of s-IGXL images and allow precise NDT measurements.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.37.1-37.1
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• 2021

For the first time in Korea, we are developing technology for gravitational wave (GW) detectors as a major R&D program. Our main research target is quantum noise reduction technology which can enhance the sensitivity of a GW detector beyond its limit by classical physics. Technology of generating squeezed vacuum state of light (SQZ) can suppress quantum noise (shot noise at higher frequencies and radiation pressure noise at lower frequencies) of laser interferometer type GW detectors. Squeezing technology has recently started being used for GW detectors and becoming necessary and key components. Our ultimate goal is to participate and make contribution to international collaborations for upgrade of existing GW detectors and construction of next generation GW detectors. This presentation will summarize our results in 2020 and plan for the upcoming years. Technical details will be presented in other family talks.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.37.3-38
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• 2021

Radiation pressure noise of photon and photon shot noise are quantum noise limitation in interferometric gravita-tional wave detectors. Since relationship between the two noises is position and momentum of the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, quantum non-demolition (QND) technique is required to reduce the two noises at the same time. Frequency dependent squeezing using a filter cavity is one of realistic solutions for QND measurement and experimental results show that its cutting-edge performance is sufficient to apply to the current gravitational wave detectors. A 300m filter cavity is under construction at adv-LIGO. KAGRA (gravitational wave detector in Japan) has also started international collaboration to build a filter cavity. Recently we joined the filter cavity project for KAGRA. Current status of squeezing and filter cavity research at KASI and details of the KAGRA filter cavity project will be presented.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4096-4101
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• 2023

Radon is a radioactive gas produced from the uranium-238 series. Radon gas affects public health and is the second cause of lung cancer. The study samples were collected from one area of the city of Jazan, southwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The influence of engineering and physical parameters on the emanation coefficient of gas and other gas parameters was studied. Parameters for radon were measured using a CR-39 Solid-State Nuclear Track Detector (SSNTD) through a sealed emission container. The results showed that the emanation coefficient was affected directly by the change in the grain size of the soil. All parameters of measured radon gas have the same behavior as the emanation coefficient. The relationship between particle size and emanation coefficient showed a good correlation. The values of the emanation coefficient were inversely affected by the mass of the sample, and the rest of the parameters showed an inverse behavior. The results showed that increasing the volume of the container increases the accumulation of radon sons on the wall of the container, which increases the emission factor. The rest of the parameters of radon gas showed an inverse behavior with increasing container size. The results concluded that changing the engineering and physical parameters has a significant impact on both the emanation coefficient and all radon parameters. The emanation coefficient affects the values of the radiation dose of an alpha particle.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.4
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• pp.1330-1338
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• 2024

Information on isotopic composition and geometric structure is necessary for identifying a true warhead. Nevertheless, such classified information should be protected physically or electronically. With a novel Hash encryption algorithm, this paper presents a Monte Carlo-based design of a neutron activation analysis verification module. The verification module employs a thermal neutron source, a non-uniform mask (physically encrypting information about isotopic composition and geometric structure), a gamma detector array, and a Hash encryption algorithm (for electronic encryption). In the physical field, a non-uniform mask is designed to distort the characteristic gamma rays emitted by the inspected item. Furthermore, as part of the Hash algorithm, a key is introduced to encrypt the data and improve the system resolution through electronic design. In order to quantify the difference between items, Hamming distance is used, which allows data encryption and analysis simultaneously. Simulated inspections of simple objects are used to quantify system performance. It is demonstrated that the method retains superior resolution even with 1% noise level. And the performances of anti-statistical attack and anti-brute force cracking are evaluated and found to be very excellent. The verification method lays a solid foundation for nuclear disarmament verification in the upcoming era.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.201-207
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• 2015

The new function of 3DVH software for dose calculation inside the patient undergoing TomoTherapy treatment by applying the measured data obtained by ArcCHECK was recently released. In this study, the dosimetric accuracy of 3DVH for the TomoTherapy DQA process was evaluated by the comparison of measured dose distribution with the dose calculated using 3DVH. The 2D diode detector array MapCHECK phantom was used for the TomoTherapy planning of virtual patient and for the measurement of the compared dose. The average pass rate of gamma evaluation between the measured dose in the MapCHECK phantom and the recalculated dose in 3DVH was $92.6{\pm}3.5%$, and the error was greater than the average pass rate, $99.0{\pm}1.2%$, in the gamma evaluation results with the dose calculated in TomoTherapy planning system. The error was also greater than that in the gamma evaluation results in the RapidArc analysis, which showed the average pass rate of $99.3{\pm}0.9%$. The evaluated accuracy of 3DVH software for TomoTherapy DQA process in this study seemed to have some uncertainty for the clinical use. It is recommended to perform a proper analysis before using the 3DVH software for dose recalculation of the patient in the TomoTherapy DQA process considering the initial application stage in clinical use.

• Progress in Medical Physics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.219-228
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• 2012

The tangential breast intensity modulated radiotherapy (T-B IMRT) technique, which uses the same tangential fields as conventional 3-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) plans with physical wedges, was analyzed in terms of the calculated dose distribution feature and dosimetric accuracy of beam delivery during treatment. T-B IMRT plans were prepared for 15 patients with breast cancer who were already treated with conventional 3D-CRT. The homogeneity of the dose distribution to the target volume was improved, and the dose delivered to the normal tissues and critical organs was reduced compared with that in 3D-CRT plans. Quality assurance (QA) plans with the appropriate phantoms were used to analyze the dosimetric accuracy of T-B IMRT. An ionization chamber placed at the hole of an acrylic cylindrical phantom was used for the point dose measurement, and the mean error from the calculated dose was $0.7{\pm}1.4%$. The accuracy of the dose distribution was verified with a 2D diode detector array, and the mean pass rate calculated from the gamma evaluation was $97.3{\pm}2.9%$. We confirmed the advantages of a T-B IMRT in the dose distribution and verified the dosimetric accuracy from the QA performance which should still be regarded as an important process even in the simple technique as T-B IMRT in order to maintain a good quality.