Over the past decades, particle physics has made significant progress in characterizing neutrinos even if neutrinos have extremely small cross-section (~10-44 cm2), allowing them to penetrate any object. More recently, neutrino detection and analysis have indeed become valuable tools in various aspects of nuclear science and technology. Neutrinos are detected using various methods, including Inverse Beta Decay (IBD), Neutrino-electron scattering, and Coherent Neutrino-Nucleus Scattering (CNNS). For the detection of anti-neutrinos from nuclear reactor, the Inverse Beta Decay (IBD) is commonly considered with scintillators. Notable experiments in Korea, such as RENO and NEOS, have been conducted using the IBD method at the Hanbit Nuclear Power Plant since 2006. Additionally, the NEON experiment, which employs CNNS, which has a significantly larger reaction cross-section than IBD but its low-energy signal detection difficulty, has been ongoing since 2021. Based on the results of NEOS (2015-2020) the signal to noise is ~30 and IBD detection rate is ~2000 counts per day. The IBD event in nuclear power plants provides valuable information about reactor behavior. IBD count rates are in good agreement with the thermal power of the reactor. Furthermore, the neutrino energy spectrum can be used to estimate the fission isotope ratio of the reactor core, showing promise for obtaining reactor core information from antineutrino detection techniques. Neutrino detection in nuclear facilities provides valuable information about reactor behavior. However, as a surveillance technology neutrino detection faces challenges due to the very low cross-section, requiring efforts to overcome limitations related to detector size and signal acquisition time. In 2008, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) included neutrino detection in its Research and Development (R&D) program for reactor safeguards. In January 2023, the IAEA organized a “Technical Meeting on Nuclear Data Needs for Antineutrino Spectra Applications” to discuss the latest developments and research results in this field. In summary, the use of neutrino detection in the nuclear field, particularly for reactor monitoring and safeguarding, has advanced significantly. Ongoing research and collaboration are expected to enhance our understanding of neutrinos and their applications in nuclear science and technology.

Around the 1980s, with government’s promotion and dissemination policies for FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastics) of the government as a main material of fishing boats, approximately 97% of the entire fishing boats in Korea have utilized FRP until now. Nevertheless, diverse social and environmental issues have emerged due to the susceptibility to fire and the generation of substances detrimental to human health during the construction process of FRP fishing vessels. Especially, the high disposal cost and the limitation of recycling technology in the disposal process of FRP fishing boats have elicited attention to circular economy. This research intended to grasp the management status and problems of disposed FRP fishing boats in Korea, and to assess the level of competitive advantage of FRP fishing boats’ recycling technologies of FRP fishing boats based on VRIO (Value, Rarity, Imitability, Organization) analysis through domestic and foreign management policies and related recycling examples. According to the survey of 161 respondents, including the industry, stakeholders and experts related to the collection, treatment and recycling of fisheries wastes, it was revealed that FRP fishing boats’ recycling technologies of FRP fishing boats are at the level of ‘unused competitive advantage’ that satisfied the level of value, rarity and imitability, but not the level of organization.

The intermediate level spent resins waste generated from water purification for the the moderator and primary heat transport system during operaioin of heavy water reactor (HWR). Especially, moderator resins contain high level activity largely because of their C-14 content. So spent resins are considered as a problematirc solid waste and require special treatment to meet the waste acceptance criteria for a disposal site. Various methods have been studied for the treatment of spent resins which include thermal, destructive, and stripping methods. In the case of solidification methods, cement, bitument or organic polymers were suggested. In the 1990s, acid stripping using nitric acid and thermal treatment methods were actively investigated in Canada to remove C-14 nuclide from waste resin. In Japan, thermal distructive method was studied in the 1990s. Since 2005, KAERI developed acid stripping method using phosphate salt. However, acid stripping method are not suitable due to large amounts of 2nd waste containing acid solution with various nuclides. To solve this probelm, KAERI has been suggested the microwave treatment method for C-14 selective removal from waste resin in the 2010s. Pilot scale demonstration tests using radioactive waste resin generated from Wolsung unit 1 and unit 2 were successfully conducted and 95% of C-14 was selectively removed from the radioactive waste resin. In recent years, price of C-14 source is dramatically increased due to market growth of C-14 utilization and exclusive supply chain depending on China and Russia. High purity of C-14 were captured in HWR waste resin. Interest of C-14 recovery research from HWR waste resin is currently increased in Canada. In this study, microwave method is suggested to treat HWR waste resin with C-14 recovery process. Additionally, status of waste resin management and research trends of HWR waste resin treatment are introduced.

Given the limited terrestrial reserves of uranium (about 4.6 million tons), exploring alternative resources is essential to ensure the long-term supply and sustainability of nuclear energy. Uranium extraction from seawater (UES) is a potential solution to this issue since the amount of uranium dissolved in seawater (about 4.5 billion tons) is approximately 1000 times that of terrestrial reserves. However, the ultra-low concentration of uranium in seawater (about 3.3 ppb) makes it a challenging task to make UES economically feasible. This paper provides an overview of the current status of UES technology, which has evolved over the past seven decades. Starting from inorganic adsorbents such as hydrous titanium oxide in the 1960s, amidoxime-based fibrous adsorbents gained the most attention until the early 2010s due to their ease of deployment in actual seawater conditions and high affinity for uranium. Nowadays, research on organic adsorbents with microstructures is prevailing due to their ability to easily control surface area and compositions. In addition, this study identifies the key issues that need to be addressed to make UES technology economically viable.

Titanium is the ninth most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is the fourth most abundant structural metal after aluminum, iron, and magnesium. It exhibits a higher specific strength than steel along with an excellent corrosion resistance, highlighting the promising potential of titanium as a structural metal. However, titanium is difficult to extract from its ore and is classified as a rare metal, despite its abundance. Therefore, the production of titanium is exceedingly low compared to that of common metals. Titanium is conventionally produced as a sponge by the Kroll process. For powder metallurgy (PM), hydrogenation-dehydrogenation (HDH) of the titanium sponge or gas atomization of the titanium bulk is required. Therefore, numerous studies have been conducted on smelting, which replaces the Kroll process and produces powder that can be used directly for PM. In this review, the Kroll process and new smelting technologies of titanium for PM, such as metallothermic, electrolytic, and hydrogen reduction of TiCl4 and TiO2 are discussed.

The Transgenic livestock can be useful for the production of disease-resistant animals, pigs for xenotranplantation, animal bioreactor for therapeutic recombinant proteins and disease model animals. Previously, conventional methods without using artificial nuclease-dependent DNA cleavage system were used to produce such transgenic livestock, but their efficiency is known to be low. In the last decade, the development of artificial nucleases such as zinc-finger necleases (ZFNs), transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and clustered regulatory interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas has led to more efficient production of knock-out and knock-in transgenic livestock. However, production of knock-in livestock is poor. In mouse, genetically modified mice are produced by co-injecting a pair of knock-in vector, which is a donor DNA, with a artificial nuclease in a pronuclear fertilized egg, but not in livestock. Gene targeting efficiency has been increased with the use of artificial nucleases, but the knock-in efficiency is still low in livestock. In many research now, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) methods used after selection of cell transfected with artificial nuclease for production of transgenic livestock. In particular, it is necessary to develop a system capable of producing transgenic livestock more efficiently by co-injection of artificial nuclease and knock-in vectors into fertilized eggs.

한국원자력연구원에서 개발 중인 해체기술 현황 및 전망에 대해 기술하였다. 특히, 해체의 핵심기술인 제염, 원격절단, 해체 폐기물처리 및 부지 복원 분야를 중점적으로 다루었다. 제염기술로는 부품제염과 원자력시스템제염 부분을 고찰하였고, 원격절단기술 관련해서는 절단기술, 원격제어 및 해체공정 모사기술이 다루어졌다. 해체 폐기물처리기술 관련해서는, 비록 해체 후 다양한 폐기물이 발생하지만, 주 폐기물인 금속, 가연성폐기물과 난처리성 특수 폐기물인 고염 고방사성 폐액, 유기혼 성폐기물 및 우라늄 복합폐기물 처리기술 등을 주로 기술하였다. 마지막으로, 해체부지 복원 분야에서는 방사선 측정, 부지 재이용의 안전성평가 그리고 부지 복원기술 등을 중점적으로 기술하였다.

이 연구는 국산 농기계의 내수 및 수출 경쟁력 제고방안을 도출하고자, 최근 5년간 한국과 일본산의 핵심 농기계에 대한 가격과 시장점유율을 분석하고, 양국 종합형업체의 매출액, 연구개발비 및 특허출원 현황을 분석하고, 높은 시장점유율을 보인 양국 핵심 농기계 대표모델의 성능, 품질 및 가격을 분석하였다. 2016년 우리나라의 4대 농기계 제조사의 연 매출 규모는 1,984-5,249억 원으로, 일본 주요 제조사의 2.7-15.7% 수준이다. 내수시장에서 일본산 농기계의 시장점유율은 트랙터 14.5%, 콤바인 31.1%, 이앙기 35.8%로 확대일로에 있는 것으로 분석되었다. 트랙터의 규격별 가격과 시장점유율을 분석한 결과, 국산 트랙터는 80 ps급 이상 대형일수록 가격경쟁력이 떨어질 뿐만 아니라 시장점유률도 감소하였다. 국산 콤바인의 시장점유율은 자탈형 4조식과 6조식에서 증가하였으나, 가장 많이 공급된 5조식 콤바인(전체의 49.0%를 차지)은 지난 5년간 85.0%에서 60.7%로 감소 하였다. 이는 국산 5조식 콤바인 가격이 일본산의 90.7-108.6%로 가격경쟁력 약화에 기인한 것으로 판단된다. 6조식 이앙기(전체의 88.7%를 차지)중에서 국산이 62.6-68.0%를 유지하는 것으로 분석 되었다. 국산 6조식 가격은 일본산의 83.1-85.5% 수준으로 가격경쟁력이 있지만, 가격 차이가 3,690-4,420천원에 불과하여 시장점유율이 확대되지 못한 것으로 판단된다. 국내 종합형업체의 농기계부문 매출액은 일본 종합형업체의 2.7-15.7%로 크게 낮고, 종업원 1인당 매출액은 일본의 43.9-81.5%에 불과하여 낮은 생산성을 보이고 있다. 연구원 수는 일본의 13.2-28.1%로 낮았으나, 종업원수 대비 연구원수 비율은 145-176.5%로 오히려 더 높았다. 또한 매출액 대비 연구개발비의 비중은 일본 구보다사 보다 123.1-153.8%로 높게 나타났다. 또한, 국내 농기계 산업과 내수시장을 위협하고 있는 일본 제조사의 국내 특허등록은 2010년 이후 급속한 증가세로, 2016년 기준으로 트랙터의 58.5%, 콤바인의 79.9%, 이앙기의 69.8%를 차지하고 있어 기술권리성 확보가 심각한 상태이다. 특히 핵심 농기계에 대해 일본의 국내 특허등록은 주요 핵심기술에 집중되었는데, 트랙터는 본체·변속장치에 37%, 콤바인은 본체·탈곡장치에 54%, 이앙기는 본체에 57%가 집중된 것으로 분석되었다. 따라서 기술권리성 확보 및 내수시장 방어를 위해 제조사의 자체 연구개발비를 증액과 더불어 정부지원 R&D와 특허의 정량적인 출원·등록을 연계하는 제도적 보완 및 지원확대가 필요하다. 국내에서 높은 시장점유율을 보인 양국 핵심 농기계 대표모델의 성능, 품질 및 가격, 가격차이(국산-수입산)/농가소득, 시장점유율을 분석한 결과, 일본산 트랙터의 가격은 국산 대비 130.8-136.3% 고가이고, 농가소득 대비 가격차이율은 37.6%, 시장점유율은 0.1-0.2%를 보였다. 콤바인은 가격 92.0-110.2%에서 가격차이율 –14.2-18.3%와 시장점유율 6.2-8.1%를, 이앙기는 각각 117.0-120.4%, 9.9-11.9%, 5.5-16.1%를 보여, 시장점유율은 농기계의 가격과 농가소득 대비 가격차이 비율에 높은 영향을 받는것으로 나타났다. 농기계의 경쟁력 강화를 위해서는 단기적으로 고장이 적어야 한다. 내수시장에서 국산 농기계는 가격대비 품질이 낮고 고장빈도가 높아 농가로부터 신뢰성과 시장점유율이 크게 감소하였다. 따라서 고장빈도가 높은 부품의 내구성 향상과 고품질 부품 개발, 부품 표준화 등을 담당하는 전문연구기관의 설립이 필요하다. 또한 중장기적으로 현재까지의 선진기술 추격과 응용기술 개발에서 탈피하여 핵심 요소기술개발에 역점을 두어야한다. 이를 위한 기술 로드맵 수립, 산학연 협력 확대와 정부의 연구개발비 증액, 산업체의 구조조정과 기술혁신이 필요하다.

During the seven years from 2009 to 2016, PWR SNF (spent nuclear fuel) transportation and storage systems suitable for domestic conditions were developed by the government to cope with the saturation of wet storage capacity in NPPs. One of the developed systems is a multipurpose metal cask applicable for transportation/storage; the other is a concrete cask dedicated to storage. Efficient cask technologies were secured utilizing the characteristics and experience of relevant industrial, academic and research institutes. Technological independence was also achieved through several patent registrations of research outcomes. To prepare for a rapid increase of demand in the near future, technology transfer of secured patents and technologies to the domestic industry was carried out twice in the years of 2016 and 2017. This

최근 국내에서 연구개발중인 SWRO-PRO 복합해수담수화 기술은 SWRO 해수담수화 플랜트에서 발생하는 고염도 농축수와 저염도 하수처리수를 각각 PRO 시스템의 유도용액과 원수로 사용하여, 두 용액의 농도차에 의해 발생되는 삼투에너지를 압력교환장치를 통해 회수하여 RO 고압펌프에서 필요한 에너지를 줄이거나, 터빈 형태의 에너지 회수장치 적용을 통해 전력을 생산하는 기술이다. PRO 시스템을 통해 회수된 에너지는 해수담수화 운영비를 절감할 수 있고, 고농도 농축수 방류로 인한 해양생태계 영향을 최소화 시킬 수 있다. 또한, 농축수 처리 비용 및 해수담수화 전력시설 비용을 절감시키는 효과를 기대할 수 있다.