Nuclear power plants decommissioning is planned to be started in middle of the 2020. It is necessary to develop safety evaluation and verification technology during decommissioning to ensure the safety of security monitoring measures and maintenance measures, appropriate emergency plans and preparations for decommissioning, and the use of proven engineering when establishing decommissioning plan. For this purpose, a nuclear power plant decommissioning plan is prepared in several stages before decommissioning. When a lifetime of a nuclear power plant has reached, it needs to be decommissioned and therefore operator company should submit decommissioning plans to the National Safety and Security Commission. And safety analysis should be included in this document and it is explained in chapter 6. According to the NSSC Notice No. 2021-10, it is largely divided into principles and standards, exposure scenarios, dose assessment, residual radioactivity, abnormal events, and risk analysis. When unexpected radiological accident is happened, both public and occupational dose analysis should be conducted. However, research on the former can be found easily on the other hands, research on the latter is not active. In this paper, method of choosing scenarios of accidents during the decommissioning the nuclear power plants is briefly introduced. Accidents during nuclear power plants decommissioning cases in USA is chosen and its risk is evaluated by using risk matrix and ranked by AHP method. During the decommissioning phases, varieties of radioactive waste is expected to be generated such as contaminated concrete and metal. On the other hand, Dry Active Waste (DAW) is generated and its amount is and its amount is 7,353 drums. Characteristic of DAW is highly flammable compared to concrete or metal. Moreover, depending on method of radioactive waste conditioning and type of radioactive nuclides, release rate of the nuclides varies. Thus this type of radioactive waste is critical to fire accidents and such accident can occur extra dose exposure which exceeds the guideline of the regulatory body to workers. Therefore, in this paper, occupational dose exposure during the fire accident is conducted.
From Fukushima nuclear disaster, as the water which is supplied by rain and groundwater flow into reactor building, contaminated water which contains radioactive nuclides is occurred. Although about 600 tons of contaminated water was generated at the early of accident, as the groundwater management system is developing, about 150 tons of contaminated water is generated now. Tokyo Electric Power Holdings (TEPCO) operate a multi-nuclide removal equipment which is called ‘ALPS’ and store purified water (ALPS treated water) in the Fukushima NPP site by tank. From 2023, the Japanese government decided to dilute the stored ALPS treated water and discharge it into the ocean to secure space on the site. In this study, based on the data opened to the public by TEPCO, the current status of ALPS is investigated. The dilution and discharge process under conceptual design was investigated. In addition, the treatment capacity of ALPS was analyzed based on the radioactivity concentration data of 7 nuclides. And then, two points to be checked found. First, it was confirmed that the performance of ALPS temporarily decreased between 2015 and 2018 due to reduced replacement cycle of filter and absorbent. Second, it was confirmed that the ALPS treated water from specific ALPS still haven’t satisfied the discharge limit for I-129, Sr-90, and Cs-137. In the case of Cs-137, about 1.7 times the radioactivity concentration was detected compared to the discharge limit. For I-129 and Sr-90, about 2.4 times and 2.1 times of radioactivity concentration was detected compared to the discharge limit. From this study, some of the ALPS treated water are confirmed that the radioactivity concentration exceeds the discharge limit, and the treatment capacity of ALPS might be unstable depend on the ALPS operation such as replacement cycle. Therefore, before the discharging of contaminated water on 2023, it is necessary to inspect ALPS if it purifies contaminated water with reliability or not, and to secure the reliable evaluation method to measure radioactivity concentration.
Investigations and monitoring of environmental radiation are important for preventing expected accidents or for early detection of unexpected accidents, in nuclear facilities and the surrounding. In the event of an environmental radiation accident, it should be possible to identify and analyze the radiation-contaminated area. Therefore, a rapid radiation monitoring system is required for immediate response and necessary measures. In this study, the distribution of radiation mapping is performed on a contaminated area using 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional contour mapping techniques. The entire surrounding area can be understood at a glance by displaying the radiation contour line on the map of the measured area.
Republic of Korea (ROK) is operating the Integrated Environmental Radiation Monitoring Network (IERNet) in preparation for a radioactive emergency based on Article 105 of the Nuclear Safety Act (Monitoring of Nationwide Radioactive Environment). 215 radiation monitoring posts are monitoring a wide area, but their location is fixed, so they can’t cover areas where the post is not equipped around the Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs). For this, a mobile radiation monitoring system was developed using a drone or vehicle. However, there are disadvantages: it is performed only at a specific cycle, and an additional workforce is required. In this study, a radiation monitoring system using public transportation was developed to solve the above problems. Considering the range of dose rates from environmental radiation to high radiation doses in accidents, the detector was designed by combining NaI (TI) (in the low-dose area) and GM detector (in the high-dose area). Field test was conducted by installed on a city bus operated by Yeonggwang-gun to confirm the performance of the radiation monitoring system. As a result of the field test, it was confirmed that data is transmitted from the module to the server program in both directions. Based on this study, it will be possible to improve the radiation monitoring capability near nuclear facilities.
Dose-rate monitoring instruments are indispensable to protect workers from the potential risk of radiation exposure, and are commonly calibrated in terms of the ambient dose equivalent (H*(10)), an operational quantity that is widely used for area monitoring. Plastic scintillation detectors are ideal equipment for dosimetry because of their advantages of low cost and tissue equivalence. However, these detectors are rarely used owing to the characteristics caused by low-atomic-number elements, such as low interaction coefficients and poor gamma-ray spectroscopy. In this study, we calculated the G(E) function to utilize a plastic scintillation detector in spectroscopic dosimetry applications. Numerous spectra with arbitrary energies of gamma rays and their H*(10) were calculated using Monte Carlo simulations and were used to obtain the G(E) function. We acquired three different types of G(E) functions using the least-square and first-order methods. The performances of the G(E) functions were compared with one another, including the conventional total counting method. The performance was evaluated using 133Ba, 137Cs, 152Eu, and 60Co radioisotopes in terms of the mean absolute percentage error between the predicted and true H*(10) values. In addition, we confirmed that the dose-rate prediction errors were within acceptable uncertainty ranges and that the energy responses to 137Cs of the G(E) function satisfied the criteria recommended by the International Commission.
Gamma spectrometry is one of the main analysis methods used to obtain information about unknown radioactive materials. In gamma-ray energy spectrometry, even for the same gamma-ray spectrum, the analysis results may be slightly different depending on the skill of the analyst. Therefore, it is important to increase the proficiency of the analyst in order to derive accurate analysis results. This paper describes the development of the virtual spectrum simulator program for gamma spectrometry training. This simulator program consists of an instructor module and trainee module program based on an integrated server, in which the instructor transmits a virtual spectrum of arbitrarily specified measurement conditions to the students, allowing each student to submit analysis results. It can reproduce a virtual gamma-ray energy spectrum based on virtual reality and augmented reality technique and includes analysis function for the spectrum, allowing users to experience realistic measurement and analysis online. The virtual gamma-ray energy spectrum DB program manages a database including theoretical data obtained by Monte Carlo simulation and actual measured data, which are the basis for creating a virtual spectrum. The currently developed database contains data on HPGe laboratory measurement as well as in-situ measurements (ground surface, decommissioned facility wall, radiowaste drum) of portable HPGe detectors, LaBr3(Ce) detector and NaI detector. The analysis function can be applied not only to the virtual spectrum, but also to the input measured spectrum. The parameters of the peak analysis algorithm are customizable so that even low-resolution spectra can be properly analyzed. The validity of the database and analysis algorithm was verified by comparing with the results derived by the existing analysis programs. In the future, the application of various in-situ gamma spectrometers will be implemented to improve the profiling of the depth distribution of deposited nuclides through dose rate assessment, and the applicability of the completed simulator in actual in-situ gamma spectrometry will be verified.
In gamma-ray spectrometry for volume samples, the self-attenuation effect should be considered in the case of differences in chemical composition and density between the efficiency calibration source for quantitative analysis of sample and the sample actually measured. In particular, the lower the gamma-ray energy, the greater the gamma-ray attenuation due to the self-attenuation effect of the sample. So, the attenuation effect of low-energy gamma-rays in the sample should be corrected to avoid over- or under-estimation of its radioactivity. One of the most important factors in correcting the self-attenuation effect of the sample is the linear attenuation coefficient for the sample, which can be directly calculated using a collimator. The larger the size of the collimator, the more advantageous it is to calculate the linear attenuation coefficient of the sample, but excessive size may limit the use of the collimator in a typical environmental laboratory due to its heavy weight. Therefore, it is necessary to optimize the collimator size and structure according to the measurement environment and purpose. This study is to optimize a collimator that can determine the effective linear attenuation coefficient of low-energy gamma-rays, and verify its applicability. The overall structure of the designed collimator was optimized for gamma-ray energy of less than 100 keV and cylindrical plastic bottle with diameter of 60 mm and a height of 40 mm. The materials of optimized collimator consisted of tungsten. Acryl and acetal were used to form the housing of the collimator, which fixes the central axis of the bottle, collimator and point-like source. In addition, using the housing, the height of the tungsten is adjusted according to the height of the sample. For applicability evaluation of the optimized collimator, IAEA reference material in solid form were used. The sample was filled in the bottle with heights of 1, 2, 3 and 4 cm respectively. Using the collimator and point-like source of 210Pb (46.5 keV), 241Am (59.5 keV), and 57Co (121.1 keV), the linear attenuation coefficient and the radioactivity for the samples were calculated. As a result, to calculate the linear attenuation coefficient using the optimized collimator, a relatively high sample height is required. However, the optimized collimator can be used to determine the linear attenuation coefficients of low-energy gamma-rays for the self-attenuation correction regardless of the sample height. It is concluded that the optimized collimator can be useful to correct the sample selfattenuation effect.
Plastic scintillators can be used to find radioactive sources for portal monitoring due to their advantages such as faster decay time, non-hygroscopicity, relatively low manufacturing cost, robustness, and easy processing. However, plastic scintillators have too low density and effective atomic number, and they are not appropriate to be used to identify radionuclides directly. In this study, we devise the radiation sensor using a plastic scintillator with holes filled with bismuth nanoparticles to make up for the limitations of plastic materials. We use MCNP (Monte Carlo N-particle) simulating program to confirm the performance of bismuth nanoparticles in the plastic scintillators. The photoelectric peak is found in the bismuth-loaded plastic scintillator by subtracting the energy spectrum from that of the standard plastic scintillator. The height and diameter of the simulated plastic scintillator are 3 and 5 cm, respectively, and it has 19 holes whose depth and diameter are 2.5 and 0.2 cm, respectively. As a gamma-ray source, Cs-137 which emits 662 keV energy is used. The clear energy peak is observed in the subtracted spectrum, the full width at half maximum (FWHM) and the energy resolution are calculated to evaluate the performance of the proposed radiation sensor. The FWHM of the peak and the energy resolution are 61.18 keV and 9.242% at 662 keV, respectively.
When the nuclear accident like the Fukushima is occurred, it is required to immediately determine the location of radioactive materials and their activities. Various studies related the unmanned technique to detect and characterize the contaminated area have been conducted. The Korea Institute of Nuclear Nonproliferation and Control (KINAC) has developed a new gamma detection system which consists of nine probes using a silicon photomultiplier (SiPM) and plastic scintillator. The probe is the small gamma detector designed to be carried and dropped near the accident area by the unmanned aerial vehicle. In this paper, we developed the improved design related to the angular dependence of the radioactive contamination detection system with the purpose of increasing the detection efficiency. The detection efficiency, radiation shielding and back-scattering varies depending on the direction of incidence of radiation because the probe has vertical structure of consisting scintillator, photomultiplier, and electric circuits. That is, when the experimental conditions are same except the direction of gamma probe, the result of measurements is different. It causes errors in measuring the radioactivity and location of the radioactive source. Since the direction of the probe is arbitrarily determined during the deployment of the probe through the unmanned aerial vehicle, it is considered changing the design of the scintillator from a conventional 1.0" × 1.0" Φ cylindrical shape to a 1.0" Φ spherical shape. In case of using the spherical scintillator, it is confirmed that angular dependence was reduced through MCNP simulation. The difference in the measurement depending on the direction of the probe could be reduced through additional structure design. Finally, we hope that the developed detection system which has the probes with spherical shape of scintillator can measure the radioactivity and location of the radioactive source in a range of about 100 × 100 m2 by measuring for at least 5 minutes. The field test at Fukushima area will be carried out with JAEA members in order to prove the feasibility of the new system.
In emergency situations such as nuclear accidents or terrorism, radioactive and nuclear materials can be released by some environmental reasons such as the atmosphere and underground water. To secure the safety of human beings and to respond appropriately emergency situation, it is required to designate high and low dose rate regions in the early stages by analyzing the location and radioactivity of sources through environmental radiation measurement. This research team has developed a small gamma probe which is featured by its geometrical accessibility and higher radiation sensitivity than other drone detectors. A plastic scintillator and Silicon Photomultiplier (SiPM) were applied to the probe to optimize the wireless measurement condition. SiPM has a higher gain (higher than 106) and lower operating voltage (less than 30 V) compared to a general photodiode. However, the electronic components in the SiPM are sensitively affected by temperature, which causes the performance degradation of the SiPM. As the SiPM temperature increases, the breakdown voltage (VBD) of the SiPM also increases, so the gain must be maintained by applying the appropriate VBD. Therefore, when the SiPM temperature increases while the VBD is fixed, the gain decreases. Thus, the signal does not exceed the threshold voltage (VTH) and the overall count is reduced. In general, the optimal gain is maintained by cooling the SiPM or through a temperature compensation circuit. However, in the developed system, the hardware correction method such as cooling or temperature compensation circuit cannot be applied. In this study, it was confirmed that the count decreased by up to 20% according to the increase in the temperature of the SiPM when the probe was operated at room temperature (26°C). We propose methods to calibrate the total count without cooling device or compensation circuit. After operating the probe at room temperature, the first measured count is set as the reference value, and the correction factor is derived using the tendency of the count to decrease as the temperature increases. In addition, since this probe is used for environmental radiation monitoring, periodic measurements are more suitable than continuous measurements. Therefore, the temperature of the probe can be maintained by adding a power saving interval to the operation sequence of the probe. These two methods use the operation sequence and measurement data, respectively. Thus, it is expected to be the most effective method for the current system where the temperature compensation through hardware is not possible.
As the decommissioning and decontamination (D&D) of nuclear power plants (NPPs) has actively proceeded worldwide, the management of radiation exposure of workers has become more critical. Radioactive aerosol is one of the main causes of worker exposure, contributing to internal exposure by inhalation. It occurs in the process of cutting radioactive metal structures or melting radioactive wastes during D&D, and its distribution varies according to decommissioning strategies and cutting methods. Among the dominant radionuclides in radioactive aerosols, Fe-55 is known to be the most abundant. Fe-55, which decays by electron capture, is classified as a difficult-to-measure (DTM) radionuclide because its emitted X-rays have too low energy to measure directly from outside of the container. Generally, for measuring DTM nuclides, the liquid scintillation counting (LSC) method and the scaling factor (SF) method are used. However, these methods are not suitable for continuous monitoring of the D&D workplace due to the necessity of sampling and additional analysis. The radiation measurement system that can directly measure the radionuclides collected at the aerosol filter could be more useful. In this study, as preliminary research on developing the radioactive aerosol monitoring system, we fabricated a gamma-ray spectrometer based on a NaI (Tl) scintillator and measured the energy spectrum of Fe-55. A beryllium window was applied to the scintillator for X-ray transmission, and the Fe-55 check source was directly attached to the scintillator assuming that the aerosol filter was equipped. 5.9 keV photopeak was clearly observed and the energy resolution was estimated as 44.10%. Also, the simultaneous measurement with Cs-137 was carried out and all the peaks were measured.
This study was performed to assess the cosmic-ray effect caused by altitude in the aerial gammaray measurement. For the gamma-ray measurement experiment by altitude, the aerial survey system composed of four 4×4×16 inches large volume NaI (Tl) detectors was used. The aerial survey system was installed in a rotor-craft to stably keep its flight altitude and position. In addition, in order to avoid to time-dependent shielding effects with the amount of fuel, a rotor-craft of which the fuel tank is not located beneath the cabin floor was selected. In this study, the ROI (Region Of Interest) was set to the 3~6 MeV range to assess the cosmic-ray contribution to the gamma-ray spectrum that could ignore the contribution of the dominant natural radionuclides. The gamma-ray spectra measured inside and outside of the rotor-craft on the ground were compared to evaluate the shielding effects of the aircraft body. As a result, the count rate of the 40K photo peak was decreased by about 10% when measuring the inside compared to the outside. On the other hand, the total count rate of the 3~6 MeV region was decreased by about 0.7% under the same condition. Therefore, the aircraft body effect was insignificant in 3~6 MeV region considering the relative uncertainty of 0.04~0.78% (1σ). In addition, the count rate in the 3~6 MeV range according to altitude was evaluated to assess the cosmic-ray effect. In order to evaluate the change in the ROI count rate according to the altitude, the gamma-ray spectrum was measured in the range of 300~2,000 m above the sea to avoid the effect of terrestrial radiation. As a result, the relationship between altitude and count rate in the 3~6 MeV range showed a high correlation with the R2 value of 0.99, when the approximate equation was derived in the form of a quadratic polynomial. Also, the count rate of 3~6 MeV at 50~500 m above the ground was estimated using the correlation equation, and this value was compared with the measured count rate. As a result of comparing the average value of estimated count rate and measured count rate, the relative difference is less than 2%. Considering the relative uncertainty of 0.78~4.11% (1σ), it was possible to evaluate the count rate of the 3~6 MeV region relatively accurately. The results of this study could be used for further study on background dose corrections in aerial survey.
In 2018, media reports raised issues related to radon released from building materials used as finishing materials in apartment houses. Accordingly, related ministries recommended not to use materials with a radiation index value exceeding 1. In order to calculate the radioactivity index, not only 226Ra producing radon (222Rn) but also 232Th and 40K radioactivity concentrations are required. To determine the concentration of the radionuclide, 40K is measured by a single gamma ray of 1,460.8 keV. And the 228Ac used to measure 232Th mainly utilizes gamma rays of 911.2 keV. However, 228Ac does not appear as a single peak unlike 40K, and appears as multiple peaks at various energies. Among them, gamma rays are emitted at a intensity of 0.83% at 1,459.2 keV, which is likely to interfere with 40K. Therefore, what is actually measured at 1,460.8 keV is theoretically a compound peak of 40K and 228Ac. Because the probability of emission at 1,459.2 keV (0.83%) is low, a low concentration of 232Th will result in little 40K radioactivity error. However, samples containing a high concentration of 232Th overestimate the 40K radioactive concentration, so correction is required. In this study, the IAEA standard substance (IAEA-RGTh-1) ontaining 232Th of actual high concentration was analyzed, and the results of the analysis without correction of 40K were compared and verified. As the 40K correction method, the 911.2 keV gamma-ray of 228Ac was used as the reference peak to separate the peak of 228Ac (1,459.2 keV) from the 40K (1,460.8 keV) mixed peaks. And, the coefficient value obtained by subtracting the peak of 228Ac (1,459.2 keV) from the 40K (1,460.8 keV) mixed peak was set to a pure peak of 40K and the radioactivity concentration was calculated therefrom. As a result of calculating the IAEA-RGTh-1 reference material without correction, it was confirmed that the 40K value was overestimated by about 38 times. If a measurement beyond the MDA of 40K is generated by 228Ac radioactivity because the 40K correction constant is not applied, there is an error in determining that there is 40K radioactivity. However, even if 40K radioactivity is overestimated due to the high concentration of 232Th, the degree to which this effect contributes to the radioactivity index is very small. However, as an analyst, 40K radioactivity correction should be made for more accurate analysis.
Since radon was detected in mattresses of famous bed furniture brands in 2018, the nuclear safety and security commission (NSSC) announced the radiation safety management act in April 2021 to protect the public health and environment. This act stipulates the safety management of radiation that can be encountered in the natural environment such as the notification of radioactivity concentration of source materials, process by-products, the installation and operation of radioactive monitors. In this study, a model was established to predict radioactive exposure dose from radioactive materials such as radon and uranium detected in consumer products such as bed mattresses, pillows, shower, bracelets and masks in order to identify major radioactive substances that largely affect the exposure dose. A period of seven years from 2014 to 2020 was investigated for the source materials and exposure doses of consumer products containing naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORMs). We analyzed these using machine learning models such as classification and regression tree (CART), Random Forest and TreeNet. Index development and verification were performed to evaluate the predictive performance of the models. Overall, predictive performance was highest when Random Forest or TreeNet was used for each consumer product. Thoron had a great influence on the internal exposure dose of bedding, clothing and mats. Uranium had a great influence on the internal exposure dose of other consumer products except whetstones. When the number of data is very small or the missing value rate is high, it is difficult to expect accurate predictive performance even with machine learning techniques. If we significantly reduce the missing value rate of data or use the limit of detection value instead of missing values, we can build a model with more accurate predictive performance.
EU BSSD (2013/59/EURATOM) requires that NORM involving activities are managed within the same regulatory framework as other practices causing exposure to ionizing radiation, and a graded approach to regulatory control needs to be applied based on radiation risk. The graded approach is applied to all sources of radiation subject to regulation. However, it should be adopted for industrial activities involving NORM. In the case of the regulatory control of NORM, the application of the concepts of exemption and clearance plays a key role. Most of the European countries have adopted the new EU BSSD general exemption/clearance levels, 1 Bq/g for U/Th series and 10 Bq/g for K-40. In addition to the general exemption or clearance criteria, some countries have implemented the graded regulatory approach, adopting more restrictive criteria as a specific exemption or clearance based on the risk of 1 mSv/y for workers and 0.01-0.3 mSv/y for public.
This study presents distribution of naturally occurring radioactive materials in groundwater in Jeju island. Radon (222Rn) and potassium (40K) concentrations were performed by using RAD H2O of RAD7 and 940 Professional IC Vario, respectively. In addition, the activities of uranium and thorium nuclides were analyzed by ICP-MS. All of the groundwater samples were collected from 29 sites from August to October 2022. The radon concentrations in groundwater were in the range of 0 to 60 Bq L-1, and there was no groundwater exceeding the range of 148 Bq L-1 proposed by the US EPA. The distribution of uranium in groundwater varied from 0 to 0.6 μg L-1 and did not exceed 30 μg L-1, thresholds indicated by the US EPA.
Cement is widely used as representative industrial material. In Korea, about 50 million tons of cement are consumed every year. In the manufacture of cement, raw materials containing NORM such as fly ash and bauxite are used. Therefore, the workers can be subjected to radiation exposure. The major exposure pathway in NORM industries is internal exposure due to inhalation of aerosol. Internal radiation dose due to aerosol inhalation varies depending on physicochemical properties of the aerosol. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate aerosol properties influencing inhalation dose in cement industries. In this study, aerosol properties were measured for two cement manufacturers. A particulate size distribution and concentration at various processing areas in cement manufacturing industries in Korea were analyzed using a cascade impactor. The mass density of raw materials and byproducts were measured using pycnometer. Shape of particulates was analyzed using SEM. The radioactivity concentration of Ra-226, Ra-228 for U/Th decay series was measured using HPGe. Particulate concentration by size was distributed log-normally with maximum at particle size about 7.2 μm in manufacturer A and 5.2 μm in manufacturer B. The mass density of fly ash and cement were 2.3±0.06, 3.2±0.02 g/cm3 respectively in manufacturer A. In manufacturer B, the mass density of bauxite and cement were 3.4±0.02, 2.9±0.01 g/cm3 respectively. The shape of particulates appeared as spherical shape in manufacturer A and B regardless of sampling area. Thus, a shape factor of unity could be assumed. The radioactivity concentrations of Ra-226, Ra-228 were 82±9, 82±8 Bq/kg for fly ash, and 25±4, 23±3 Bq/kg for cement in manufacturer A. In manufacturer B, the radioactivity concentrations of Ra-226, Ra-228 were 344±34, 391±32 Bq/kg for bauxite, and 122±13, 145±12 Bq/kg for cement. The radioactivity concentrations of Ra-226, Ra-228 in cement were less than raw materials such as fly ash and bauxite. It is because the dilution of the radioactivity concentration occurred during mixing with other raw materials in cement production process. This study results will be used as database for accurate dose assessment due to airborne particulate inhalation by workers in cement industries.
Concrete waste generated in the result of dismantling a concrete structure in a radiation control area and refractory brick waste generated from uranium pellet sintering furnace are surface-contaminated by uranium particle of which the enrichment is below 5%. These wastes are hard to decontaminate so it was necessary to develop the process for its disposal. So, we developed the Process Control Plan (PCP) for disposal of radioactive concrete waste describing a whole sequence of disposal and inspecting procedures based on the KNF Radioactive Waste Quality Assurance Plan (KN-WQAP) established in 2021. Based on the PCP, we crushed the concrete waste by jaw-crusher. Then we sieved the crushed concrete waste and removed the particle of which size is below 0.3 mm, using sieve-vibrator where the 0.3 mm mesh-sized sieve is installed inside. Before conducting the crush-sieving method based on the PCP, we conducted Process Control Assessment (PCA) based on the KN-WQAP. The purpose of the PCA is to check whether the output of the process satisfies the Acceptance Criteria of Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) so that we could confirm the validity of the PCP. The evaluation item of the PCA is a particulate size verification test. The test is passed only if the component ratio of a particle size below 0.2 mm is less than 15% and the particle size below 0.01 mm is less than 1%. The very first 3 drums passed the test, so we began applying the PCP to whole target drums. In the process of conducting the crush-sieving method in earnest, qualified inspectors based on KNWQAP participated conducting sampling, measuring and checking whether a foreign material was included. They tested samples and packaged drums regarding 5 spheres of general, radiological, physical, chemical and biological characteristic. KNF disposed concrete and refractory brick waste by the crush-sieving method so that KNF could take over 100 drums to KORAD in 2021. But, it is needed to be improved that a dust size below 0.3 mm is generated as a secondary waste which needs to be solidified for the final disposal and the work environment is not good enough because of the dust.
Among the test categories of the personal dosimetry performance test in Korea, the reference neutron radiation field used for the mixed neutron-photon radiation field is generated by a D2Omoderated 252Cf source. There are some differences depending on the standards, D2O-moderated 252Cf source consists of the 252Cf source surrounded by the D2O sphere with a diameter of 30 cm, covered with a Cd shell of thickness approximately 0.051 cm ~ 0.1 cm. In order to optimize the design of the D2O sphere and establish the neutron radiation field for the personal dosimetry performance test in Central Research Institute of KHNP, the neutron spectra have been simulated by MCNP 6.2 code by design conditions and evaluated dose conversion coefficients. In the consideration of neutron irradiation facility, the basic design structure was determined a D2O sphere with a diameter of covered with a Cd shell and a cylindrical well is in the middle of sphere. Neutron source transfer tube is inserted into this well-shaped structure and neutron source was withdrawn from the tube. And by changing the following design conditions in detail, the neutron spectra were evaluated; 1) the entire diameter of the D2O sphere (with or without the diameter of 7.5 cm of well-shaped structure) 2) the location of the neutron source (distance from D2O) 3) thickness of Cd shell 4) purity of D2O. As a source spectrum, the spectrum of bare- 252Cf recommended by ISO 8529-1 was adopted and spectra were tallied using F4 tally at a distance of 120 cm from the neutron source. Finally, the fluence to dose conversion coefficients were calculated using the simulated spectra. As a result of the evaluation, in case that an entire diameter of the D2O sphere with a diameter of the source tube is 37.5 cm, the fluence to dose conversion coefficient was evaluated to about 4.4% lower than an entire diameter of the D2O sphere is 30 cm. And in case that the distance between the D2O and the top of the neutron source was about 3.75 cm which is a radius of well-type structure, it was evaluated to about 1.4% larger than the distance was about 1 cm, and when the thickness of Cd was 0.1 cm, it was evaluated to 0.8% larger than when it was 0.051 cm. Finally, when the purity of D2O was 99.99%, it was evaluated 1.5% lower than when it was 99%. Except for the diameter of D2O sphere, the differences on the other conditions are acceptable considering the uncertainty of the simulation. Therefore, the design of D2O-moderated 252Cf source was determined by considering source integrity, economic perspectives, and dose conversion coefficient given in ISO 8529: a D2O sphere with an entire diameter of 37.5 cm, filled with above 99% purity of D2O, and covered with a cadmium thickness of 0.1 cm. The fluence to dose conversion efficient was evaluated as 110.10 pSv cm2 for ambient dose H*(10), 115.21 pSv cm2 for personal dose Hp(10) respectively.
When the leakage of radioactive material or radiation to the environment or a concern, it is important to accurately understand the impact on the environment. Therefore, environmental effects evaluation using modeling based on meteorological data and source-term data is carried out, or environmental radiation monitoring which is an emergency response activity that directly measures dose is performed. As lessons learned from the Fukushima accident, environmental effects evaluation and modeling cannot utilize during the emergency and decision-making process for protective action for the public. Thus, rapid environmental radiation monitoring is required. In Korea, when an emergency is issued at a nuclear facility, urgent environmental radiation monitoring is conducted based on the national nuclear emergency preparedness and response plan, which can provide important information for decisionmaking on public protective actions. A review of strategies for urgent environmental radiation monitoring is important in performing efficient emergency responses. The main purpose of urgent environmental radiation monitoring is to gather data for decisionmaking on public protective actions to minimize the damage from the accident. For effective data collection and distribution, support from the national and local government and local public organizations and radiation expertise groups, and nuclear facility licensee are required. In addition, an emergency environmental radiation monitoring manual is required to immediately perform environmental monitoring in an emergency situation. The manual for emergency monitoring should include the activities to be conducted according to the phases of the emergency. The phases of the emergency are divided into pre-leakage, post-leakage, intermediate, and recovery. The reasons for establishing strategies are government and public information, the implementation of urgent population protection countermeasures, predicting and tracking plume trajectory, and detection of any release, the protection of emergency and recovery workers, the implementation of agricultural countermeasures and food restrictions, the implementation of intermediate- and recovery-phase countermeasures, contamination control. Besides meteorological data, ambient dose rate and dose, airborne radionuclide concentration, environmental deposition, food, water, and environmental contamination, individual dose, and object surface contamination data are also required for making information for the public.