• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.343-348
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• 2004

Cytogenetic and hematological analysis was performed in peripheral blood of cattle in the vicinity of Uljin nuclear power station and control area. The frequency of micronuclei(MN) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from cattle was used as a biomarker of radiobiological effects resulting from exposure to environmental radiation. An estimated dose of radiation was calculated by a best fitting linear-quadratic model based on the radiation-induced MN formation from the bovine lymphocytes exposed in vitro to radiation over the range from 0 Gy to 4 Gy. MN ratio in lymphocytes of cattle from Uljin nuclear power station and control area were 8.90/1,000 and 9.60/1,000, respectively. There were no significant differences in MN frequencies and hematological values in cattle between Uljin and control area.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.165-169
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• 2009

Two dosimeters are provided to radiation workers participating in tasks where high radiation exposure is expected during maintenance at nuclear power plants. At Korean nuclear power plants, two dosimeters are currently provided for tasks where exposure rates exceed 1 mSv/hr, the difference of equivalent dose to specific parts of the body is more than 30% and an exposure of more than 2 mSv is expected in a single task. These conditions for the provisioning of two dosimeters are based on previous field test results, and it is recommended that the dosimeters be worn on the chest and back. It was also found that the workers felt it was more convenient when they wore two dosimeters on chest and back rather than on chest and head. After the application of previous field test results to practice, it was found that the calculated effective dose for workers during radiation work was lower than the maximum dose of chest or back dosimeter by approximately 10%-30%. This performance is regarded not only to meet the international guideline but also to provide convenience for workers during radiation work.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.55-64
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• 2009

In a pressurized heavy water reactor (PHWR), radiation workers who have access to radiation controlled areas submit their urine samples to health physicists periodically; internal radiation exposure is evaluated by the monitoring of these urine samples. Internal radiation exposure at PHWRs accounts for approximately 20 $\sim$ 40% of total radiation exposure; most internal radiation exposure is attributed to tritium. Carbon-14 is not a dominant nuclide in the radiation exposure of workers, but it is one potential nuclide to be necessarily monitored. Carbon-14 is a low energy beta emitter and passes relatively easily into the body of workers by inhalation because its dominant chemical form is radioactive carbon dioxide ($^{14}CO_2$). Most inhaled carbon-14 is rapidly exhaled from the worker's body, but a small amount of carbon-14 remains inside the body and is excreted by urine. In this study, a method for dual analysis of tritium and carbon-14 in urine samples of workers at nuclear power plants is developed and a method for internal dose assessment using its excretion rate result is established. As a result of the developed dual analysis of tritium and carbon-14 in urine samples of radiation workers who entered the high radiation field area at a PHWR, it was found that internal exposure to carbon-14 is unlikely to occur. In addition, through the urine counting results of radiation workers who participated in the open process of steam generators, it was found that the likelihood of internal exposure to either tritium or carbon-14 is extremely low at pressurized water reactors (PWRs).

• 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.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.139-142
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• 2001

The one of important parameter involved in the calculation of internal radiation dose to the human body is the biological half-life of the radionuclide. The biological half-life is population specific and may differ from one population group to another. So the effective half-life of tritium exposure based on urinal bioassay measurement of Wolsong Nuclear Power Plants was investigated and studied.

• Journal of information and communication convergence engineering
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.97-102
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• 2012

The differential global positioning system (DGPS) transmits a GPS enhancement signal using a top-loaded monopole antenna in the medium frequency range. The top-loaded antenna in the medium frequency band can attain a radiation efficiency on the order of 10%. The antenna ground plane characteristics affect the antenna radiation efficiency. To improve the radiation efficiency, it is necessary to install the antenna on a ground plane with large enough physical dimensions and good conductivity. The antenna radiation efficiency is a primary factor in determining the DGPS service area. The service area of the DGPS using a medium frequency band is dominantly affected by the antenna radiation efficiency. To determine antenna radiation efficiencies accurately, the antenna radiation efficiencies of DGPS are deduced from the propagation power in this paper. Based on the deduced antenna radiation efficiencies, the service area for the Korean nationwide-DGPS is analyzed and evaluated.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2012

A year has passed since the nuclear power plant accident in Fukushima on March 11, 2011, and a survey for public perception on radiation by Korean people has been made. The methodological design was based on a quantitative survey and a frequency analysis was done. The analysis objects were survey papers (n=2,754pcs) answered by random ordinary citizens chosen from all over the country. The questionnaires, and study tool, were directly distributed and collected. A total of 40 questionnaires using a coefficient of Cronbach's ${\alpha}$ per each area was 'self perception of radiation' (0.620), 'radiation risk' (0.830), 'benefit from radiation' (0.781), 'radiation controlled' (0.685), 'informative source of radiation' (0.831), 'influence degree from Fukushima accident' (0.763), showing rather high score from all areas. As the result of the questionnaires, the knowledge of radiation concept was 69.50 out of 100 points, which shows a rather significant difference from the result of 'know well about radiation' (53.7%) and 'just know about radiation' (37.40%). According to the survey, one of the main reasons why radiation seems risky was that once exposed to radiation, it may not have negative impacts presently but, the next generation could see negative impacts (66.1%). About 41% of our respondents showed a negative position against the government's report on radiation while 39.5% of respondents said that we should stop running nuclear power in light of Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. This study was done for the first time by Korean people's public perception on radiation after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident. We expect this might have significant contributions to the establishment of the government's policy on radiation.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.213-223
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• 2000

It is necessary that radiation dose would be detect exactly generated from facility related to nuclear, space, radiotherapy center, etc. This paper is to use of the radiation-induced threshold voltage change as an accumulated radiation dose monitoring sensor. Commercial P Channel Power MOSFET(metal oxide field effect transistor) were tested in a Co-60 gamma irradiation facility to see their capabilities as a radiation dosimeter. We found that the transistors showed good linearity in their threshold voltage shift characteristics with radiation dose. The results demonstrate the potential use of commercial P Channel Power MOSFET as inexpensive radiation sensors.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.185-192
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• 2010

Objectives: We conducted a meta-analysis to investigate the relationship between low external doses of ionizing radiation exposure and the risk of cancer mortality among nuclear power plant workers. Methods: We searched MEDLINE using key words related to low dose and cancer risk. The selected articles were restricted to those written in English from 1990 to January 2009. We excluded those studies with no fit to the selection criteria and we included the cited references in published articles to minimize publication bias. Through this process, a total of 11 epidemiologic studies were finally included. A publication bias was tested for using Egger's test. The homogeneity test was performed before the integration of each of the standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) and the result proved that the studies were heterogeneous. Results: We found significant decreased deaths from all cancers (SMR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.62 - 0.90), all cancers excluding leukemia, solid cancer, mouth and pharynx, esophagus, stomach, rectum, liver and gallbladder, pancreas, lung, prostate, lymphopoietic and hematopoitic cancer. The findings of this meta-analysis were similar with those of the 15 Country Collaborative Study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. A publication bias was found only for liver and gallbladder cancer (p = 0.015). Heterogeneity was observed for all cancers, all cancers excluding leukemia, solid cancer, esophagus, colon and lung cancer. Conclusions: Our findings of low mortality for stomach, rectum, liver and gallbladder cancers may explained by the health worker effect. Yet further studies are needed to clarify the low SMR of cancers, for which there is no useful screening tool, in nuclear power plant workers.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.8
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• pp.1772-1777
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• 2017

Korean nuclear power plants (NPPs) periodically evaluate the radioactive gaseous and liquid effluents released from power reactors to protect the public from radiation exposure. This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the release of radioactive effluents from Korean NPPs and the effects on the annual radiation doses to the public. The amounts of radioactive effluents released to the environment and the resulting radiation doses to members of the public living around NPPs were analyzed for the years 2011-2015 using the Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., Ltd's annual summary reports of the assessment of radiological impact on the environment. The results show that tritium was the primary contributor to the activity in both gaseous and liquid effluents. The averages of effective doses to the public were approximately on the order of $10^{-3}mSv$ or $10^{-2}mSv$. Therefore, even though Korean NPPs discharged some radioactive materials into the environment, all effluents were within the regulatory safety limits and the resulting doses were much less than the dose limits.