• Transactions of the Korean Society of Pressure Vessels and Piping
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.37-41
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• 2020

The Nuclear containment building is a main safety-related structure that performs shielding and conservation functions to prevent highly radioactive materials from leakage to the outside environment in the case of various environmental conditions and postulated accidents. The containment building contains a reactor, steam generator, pressurizer, tank, reactor coolant system, auxiliary system and engineering safety system, and is designed so that highly radioactive materials above the limits specified in 10 CFR 100 do not escape to the outside environment in the case of LOCA(Loss of Coolant Accident) for instance. The containment metal liner plate(CLP) is a carbon steel plate with a nominal plate thickness of 6 mm, which functions as a mold for the wall and dome of the containment building when concrete is filled, fulfills airtightness to prevent leakage of seriously radioactive materials. In recent years, backside corrosion was found on the liner plate in some domestic nuclear power plants. The main cause of backside corrosion was unfilled concrete. In this paper, an inspection technique of assessing filling suitability for CLP backside concrete is developed. Results show that the validity of inspection technique for CLP backside concrete using vibration sensor is successfully verified.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.196-201
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• 2003

Decontamination means every method that can drop the level of the radioactivities from the materials contaminated with them to the allowable one. In this paper, one of the decontamination methods, the electro-decontamination was described with lots of experiments. Two test specimens contaminated with alpha ray and beta ray respectively were used to compare the decontamination factors between two rays and many experiments were performed in every electrolyte with SUS and Carbon steel test specimens. Sulphuric acid, phosphoric acid, nitric acid, citric acid and oxalic acid were used as the electrolyte. Decontamination Factors (DF) could be compared and analyzed with different electrolyte, current intensities and time.

• Journal of the East Asian Society of Dietary Life
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.450-458
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate the levels of risk perception characteristics for food risk elements using a psychometric paradigm from 298 university students in Yeungnam region, Korea, by a self-administered questionnaire. The respondents showed the highest level of risk concern about radioactive contaminated foods and the lowest level about GM (genetically modified) foods. In the risk perception characteristics for food risk elements, they perceived radioactive contaminated foods as a catastrophic, worried, new, and uncontrollable risk. In addition, they regarded food additives and foodborne illness as a chronic, controllable, old, and scientifically and individually known risk. According to the results of the factor analysis for risk perception characteristics, dread and unknown were categorized. In the risk perception map, mad cow disease, heavy metal contaminated foods, and radioactive contaminated foods were considered as a dreaded and unknown risk, whereas pesticide residues and GM foods were perceived as a less dreaded and unknown risk. Additionally, food additives and foodborne illness were regarded as a less dreaded and known risk and endocrine disruptors and avian influenza as a dreaded and known risk. These results imply that risk perception characteristics of consumers should be considered to establish strategies for risk communication in food science.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.279-296
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• 2022

The fundamental characteristics of groundwater colloids, such as composition, concentration, size, and stability, were analyzed using granitic groundwater samples taken from the KAERI Underground Research Tunnel (KURT) site by such analytical methods as inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry, field emission-transmission electron microscopy, a liquid chromatography-organic carbon detector, and dynamic light scattering technique. The results show that the KURT groundwater colloids are mainly composed of clay minerals, calcite, metal (Fe) oxide, and organic matter. The size and concentration of the groundwater colloids were 10-250 nm and 33-64 ㎍·L^-1, respectively. These values are similar to those from other studies performed in granitic groundwater. The groundwater colloids were found to be moderately stable under the groundwater conditions of the KURT site. Consequently, the groundwater colloids in the fractured granite system of the KURT site can form stable radiocolloids and increase the mobility of radionuclides if they associate with radionuclides released from a radioactive waste repository. The results provide basic data for evaluating the effects of groundwater colloids on radionuclide migration in fractured granite rock, which is necessary for the safety assessment of a high-level radioactive waste repository.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.12-24
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• 2023

With the improvement of laser technology, the strategic needs of efficient and precise decontamination of various components in nuclear application units can be fulfilled by laser decontamination. The surface contaminants of nuclear facilities mainly exist both as loose contaminated layer and fixed oxide layer. The types of radionuclides and contamination layer thickness are closely related to the operation status of nuclear facilities, which have an important influence on the laser decontamination process. This study reviewed the mechanism of laser surface treatment and the influence of laser process parameters on the decontamination thickness, decontamination factor, decontamination efficiency and the distribution of aerosol particle. Although multiple studies have been performed on the mechanism of laser processing and laser decontamination process, there are few studies on the microscopic process mechanism of laser decontamination and the influence of laser decontamination on surface properties. In particular, the interaction between laser and radioactive contaminants needs more research in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Process Engineers
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2022

In accordance with the growing trend of decommissioning nuclear facilities, research on the cutting process is actively proceeding worldwide. In general, a thermal cutting process, such as plasma cutting is applied to decommissioning a nuclear reactor pressure vessel (RPV). Plasma cutting has the advantage of removing the radioactive materials and being able to cut thick materials. However, when operating under water, the molten metal remains in the cut plane and re-solidifies. Hence, cutting is not entirely accomplished. For these environmental reasons, it is difficult to cut thick metal. The contact arc metal cutting (CAMC) process can be used to cut thick metal under water. CAMC is a process that cuts metal using a plate-shaped electrode based on a high-current arc plasma heat source. During the cutting process, high-pressure water is sprayed from the electrode to remove the molten metal, known as rinsing. As the CAMC is conducted without using a shielding gas, such as Argon, the electrode is consumed during the process. In this study, CAMC is introduced as a method for dismantling nuclear vessels and the relationship between the metal removal and electrode consumption is investigated according to the cutting conditions.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.228-233
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• 2013

It has been continuously generated the requirement for the replacement of the main components such as a steam generator due to the deterioration of the nuclear power plant all around the world. Also, a large amount of radioactive metal was generated during the decommissioning in a short period. It is required to make an accurate measurement of the residual radioactivity for recycling the metal waste for releasing from regulatory control. In planning the measurement procedures, the influence of geometry, self-absorption, density and other relevant factors on the representativeness of the measurements should be considered for the decommissioning metal waste. In this study, the method for measurement procedures, the source term evaluation, the ways to secure representative samples, the measurement device for wide area and the self-absorption correction factors for different density were evaluated. The metal samples for measurement were prepared for securing the simple geometry and representative by melting process. The developed correction method for measuring the radioactivity a variety density of metal waste could improve the reliability of the evaluation results for clearance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2005.11b
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• pp.300-315
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• 2005

Recently plasma surface-cleaning or surface-etching techniques have been focused in the respect of decontamination of spent or used nuclear parts and equipment. In this study decontamination rate of metallic cobalt surface was experimentally investigated via its surface etching rate with a $CF_4-O_2$ mixed gas plasma and metallic surface wastes of cobalt oxides were simulated and decontaminated with $NF_3$ - Ar mixed gas plasma. Experimental results revealed that a mixed etchant gas with about $80{\%}\;CF_4-20{\%}\;O_2$ gives the highest reaction rate of cobalt disk and the rate reaches with a negative 300 DC bias voltage up to $0.43\;{\mu}m$/min at $380^{\circ}C$ and $20{\%}\;NF_3-80\%$ Ar mixed gas gives $0.2\;{\mu}m$/min of reaction rate of cobalt oxide film.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2003.11a
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• pp.215-219
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• 2003

The technology to fix a molten LiCl waste, which would be generated from the process to convert spent fuel to metal, into zeolite and then make a final waste form is doing developed. The XRD results of salt-loaded zeolites with different mixing ratios showed that all zeolites transformed from zeolite A type into Li-A type, or also Sodalite type as a minor phase for some conditions. The optimum LiCl-to-zeolite ratio to bring a minimum free salt was 1.0 when the molten LiCl waste contained Cs and Sr.

• Proceedings of the Korean Radioactive Waste Society Conference
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• 2018.11a
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• pp.299-300
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• 2018

Electrochemical behaviors of Nb ion in the $LiCl-KCl-NbCl_5$ molten salt were examined. Cyclic voltammograms with different scan rates and scan range at $450^{\circ}C$ showed possible electrochemical redox reactions which were identified by comparison to the literature data. Peak potentials for each redox reaction were consistent with the literature, but some redox reactions were not clearly defined due to the formation of subchloride compound in chloride salt. The electrochemical behaviors of Nb ion related to the subchloride formation as well as Nb metal deposition will be investigated for the future work.