• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.419-427
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• 2019

The application of ion crystallization technology was considered as a way to increase the operating efficiency and improve the operating performance of a liquid waste management system (LWMS) in the Advanced Power Reactor 1400 (APR 1400). Although ion crystallization technology has not been practically applied to Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) until now, a previous experimental study demonstrated that it is possible to selectively remove at least 95% of various nuclide ions present in the liquid radioactive waste of NPPs. We reviewed the possibility of applying ion crystallization technology to the existing LWMS by applying the nuclide removal rate of ion crystallization technology and prepared a way to improve the existing LWMS in the APR 1400. Furthermore, we determined the optimized application location of ion crystallization technology in the existing LWMS by considering decontamination characteristics of the ion crystallization technology and the existing LWMS design features and operating experiences. The application of ion crystallization technology to the liquid waste collection tank, where liquid radioactive materials are collected, will have the least impact on the existing design while providing the greatest improvement. It is expected that the application of ion crystallization technology to the current APR 1400 or new NPPs would increase the operating efficiency of the LWMS and result in an improvement of system performance.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.179-186
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• 2006

Chemical wastes are generated from nuclear facilities and R&D laboratories, but the uranium concentration in the final dried cake is evaluated into 11.2 Bq/g, which exceeds the exemption level of 10 Bq/g for each U isotopes, so the cake is categorized into a radioactive waste. Acid dissolution was applied to extract uranium from the waste sludge, and uranium adsorption on the dissolved solution was experimented by using IRN-77 and Diphosil bead. A large amount of resin was required to get above 80% of uranium removal, which was found to be due to a large amount of metal ions simultaneously dissolved from the precipitates with uranium. As an alternative method, acid dissolution is applied to the dewatered wet cake of the sludge, and the natural evaporation method is adopted for the dissolved solution. The uranium concentration of the dissolved solution was estimated to be 6.97E-01 Bq/ml, and the specific activity of the final waste sheets is evaluated to be 4.3 Bq/g. These results lead to the suggestion that the application of acid dissolution to the wet cake and the natural evaporation for the dissolved solution is an effective treatment method for chemical wastes containing uranium.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.181-188
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• 2010

Metal surface decontamination characteristics were investigated by using a laser ablation method. A second harmonic generation of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser with a wave length of 532 nm, a pulse energy of 150 mJ and a pulse width of 5 ns was employed to assess the decontamination performance for metal surfaces contaminated with $CsNO_3$, $Co(NH_4)_2(SO_4)_2$, $Eu_2O_3$ and $CeO_2$. The ablation behavior was investigated for the decontamination variables such as a number of laser shots, laser fluence and an irradiation angle. Their optimum values were found to be 8, 13.3 J/$cm^2$ and $30^{\circ}$, respectively. The decontamination efficiency was different depending on the kinds of the contaminated ions, due to their different melting and boiling points and was in the order: $CsNO_3>Co(NH_4)_2(SO_4)_2>Eu_2O_3>CeO_2$. We also evaluated a correlation between the metal ablation thickness and the number of laser shots for the different laser fluences.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.471-477
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• 1998

Taq DNA polymerase from Thermus aquaticus is very useful in the polymerase chain reaction. Taq DNA polymerase is classified in the pol I family, represented by E. coli DNA polymerase I. The three-dimensional structural alignment of 3'-5'exonuclease domains from the pol I family DNA polymerases explains why Taq DNA polymerase does not carry out proofreading in polymerase chain reactions. Three sequence motifs, Exo I, II, and III, must exist to carry out 3'-5'exonuclease activity for proof- reading by a 3'-5'exonuclease reaction, but these are abolished in Taq DNA polymerase. The key catalytic module in 3'-5'exonuclease is two metal ions chelated by four active-site carboxylic amino acids. Taq DNA polymerase was mutagenized to construct the catalytic module in the active site. The circular dichroism technique supported the formation of the catalytic module, and the radioactive assay showed that the 3'-5'exonuclease activity doubled in the mutant Taq DNA polymerase.

• Advances in environmental research
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.245-260
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• 2013

Biosorption represents a technological innovation as well as a cost effective excellent remediation technology for cleaning up radionuclides from aqueous environment. In the present study, a bacteria strain FB12 with high adsorption rate of uranium ion was isolated from the vicinity of the nuclear power plant. It was tentatively identified as Bacillus sp.FB12 according to the 16S rDNA sequencing. Efforts were made to further improve the adsorption rate and genetic stability by UV irradiation and UV-LiCl cooperative mutagenesis. The improved strain named Bacillus sp.UV32 obtains excellent genetic stability and a high adsorption rate of 95.9%. The adsorption of uranium U (VI) by Bacillus sp.UV32 from aqueous solution was examined as a function of metal ion concentration, cell concentration, adsorption time, pH, temperature, and the presence of some foreign ions. The adsorption process of U (VI) was found to follow the pseudo-second-order kinetic equation. The adsorption isotherm study indicated that it preferably followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The thermodynamic parameters values calculated clearly indicated that the adsorption process was feasible, spontaneous and endothermic in nature. These properties show that Bacillus sp.UV32 has potential application in the removal of uranium (VI) from the radioactive wastewater.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.176-184
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• 2016

Electrochemical ion exchange method is expected to be one of the most acceptable techniques for the separation of radioactive cations from nuclear wastewater. In this study a thin film of hexacyanoferrate on nickel surface was derivatized chemically in an aqueous potassium-ferricyanide solution. Electrochemical redox behavior of the nickel hexacyanoferrate(NiHCNFe) film electrode was investigated with the use of cyclic voltammetry potentiostated from -100 to 800 mV versus SCE. The electro-reduction characteristics of the NiHCNFe film were examined in the cobalt solutions. The NiHCNFe ion exchanger was more useful at lower concentration, lower temperature, and pH7 of the cobalt solution. The capacity loss of NiHCNFe was 0.018%/cycle that was less than the average loss of 2~3%/cycle of the convective organic exchanger. The 45~55% of the initial cobalt ions was electro-deposited on the NiHCNFe by using continuous recirculating reactor system. As a result, it was found that the electroactive NiHCNFe films showed better performance than the organic resins for the separation of cobalt ion from the aqueous solutions.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.215-223
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• 2005

Current interest in the regioselective N-functionalization of tetraazacycloalkanes (cyclen and cyclam) stems mainly from their complexes with radioactive metals for applications in diagnostic ($^{64}Cu,\;^{111}In,\;^{67}Ga$) and therapeutic ($^{90}Y$) medicine, and with paramagnetic ions for magnetic resonance imaging ($Gd^{+3}$). Selective methods for the N-substitution of cyclen and cyclam is a crucial step in most syntheses of cyclen and cyclam-based radiometal complexes and bifunctional chelating agents. In addition, mixing different pendent groups to give hetero-substituted cyclen derivatives would be advantageous in many applications for fine-tuning the compound's physical properties. So far, numerous approaches for the regioselective N-substitution of tetraazacycloalkanes and more specifically cyclen and cyclam are reported. Unfortunately, none of them are general and every strategy has its own strong points and drawbacks. Herein, we categorize numerous regioselective N-alkylation methods into three strategies, such as 1) direct substitution of the macrocycle, 2) introductiou of the functional groups prior to cyclization, and 3) protection/iunclionallrationideproteclion. Our discussion is also split into the methods of mono- and tri-functionalization and di-functionalizataion based on number of substituents. At the end, we describe new trials for the new macrocycles which iorm more stable metal complexes with various radiometals, and briefly mention the commercially available tetraazacycloalkanes which are used for the biconjugation of biomolecules.

• BMB Reports
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.717-721
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• 2006

In vitro analyses of type I signal peptidase activities require protein precursors as substrates. Usually, these pre-proteins are expressed in vitro and cleavage of the signal sequence is followed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis coupled with autoradiography. Radioactive amino acids have to be incorporated in the expressed protein, since the amount of the in vitro expressed protein is usually very low and processing of the signal peptide cannot be followed by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis alone. Here we describe a rapid and simple method to express large amounts of a protein precursor in E. coli. We have analyzed the effect of ionophors as well as of azide on the accumulation of expressed protein precursors. Azide blocks the function of SecA and the ionophors dissipate the electrochemical gradient across the cytoplasmic membrane of E. coli. Addition of azide ions resulted in the formation of inclusion bodies, highly enriched with pre-apo-plastocyanine. Plastocyanine is a soluble copper protein, which can be found in the periplasmic space of cyanobacteria as well as in the thylakoid lumen of cyanobacteria and chloroplasts, and the pre-protein contains a cleavable signal sequence at its N-terminus. After purification of cyanobacterial pre-apo-plastocyanine, its signal sequence can be cleaved off by the E. coli signal peptidase, and protein processing was followed on Coomassie stained SDS polyacrylamide gels. We are optimistic that the presented method can be further developed and applied.

• Journal of Korean Society of Water and Wastewater
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.155-164
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• 2013

The main purpose of this research was to examine the adsorption/ion exchange characteristics of radioactive species such as cesium and strontium onto synthetic Na-birnessite (sodium-birnessite). As part of efforts to investigate the sorption behavior of cesium and strontium onto synthetic Na-birnessite, batch isotherm tests were performed under different experimental conditions. Na-birnessite was synthesized by the oxidation of $Mn^{2+}$ ions in sodium hydroxide solution. The synthetic Na-birnessite was characterized by powder x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area analysis. Cesium and strontium concentrations were determined by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS). The removal efficiency of strontium by Na-birnessite was around 95 % which was much higher than that of cesium (~ 32 %). The results imply that strontium has a higher affinity for Na-birnessite than cesium because strontium, divalent cation leads to larger electrostatic attraction than monovalent cesium.

• Journal of Powder Materials
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.432-437
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• 2015

The en-riched $^{58}Ni$ powders are dissolved in acid solution and coated on a Cu target for proton irradiation at cyclotron to produce $^{57}Co$ radioisotope. The condition of the plating bath and the coating process are determined using the en-riched powders. To establish the coating conditions for $^{57}Co$, non-radioactive Co ions are dissolved in an acid solution and electroplated on to a rhodium plate. The thermal diffusion of electroplated Co into a rhodium matrix was studied to apply a $^{57}Co$ Mssbauer source. The diffusion depth from surface to matrix of Co is depended on the annealing temperature and time. The deposited Co atoms diffuse completely into a rhodium (Rh) matrix without substantial loss at an annealing temperature of 1200 for 4 hours.