Both ISO 21001 and ISO 9001 are standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for quality management systems. However, while ISO 9001 focuses on the general requirements for Quality Management Systems (QMS), ISO 21001 is specifically designed for educational institutions. ISO 9001 is a widely recognized standard for QMS applicable to almost industries, including manufacturing and services. It defines the requirements for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continuing improvement of QMS to improve customer satisfaction by meeting customer requirements and improving overall performance. Meanwhile, ISO 21001 focuses specifically on educational institutions and is designed to develop and improve the curriculum efficiency by meeting trainees needs. It provides a system in which educational institutions can build, implement, maintain, and continuously improve the Education Management System (EMS) for the purpose of improving the satisfaction of trainees and other stakeholders. ISO 21001 covers a wide range of educational organizations, including schools, universities, and education providers. KINAC/INSA, the Center of Excellence in Korea, is an educational institution in the field of nuclear control. So It has been developed and operated various international and domestic curriculum. KINAC/INSA obtained ISO 9001 certification in November 2016 and has been certified so far. However, in the scope of ISO 9001 certification, curriculum development process is not included so KINAC/ INSA needs to obtain additional ISO certification specialized in education to improve the education quality. That is why KINAC/INSA is developing the ISO 21001 system, and aims to acquire certification in November 2023. This paper explains the necessity for educational institutions to obtain ISO 21001 in comparison with ISO 9001. It also introduces the process of developing ISO 21001 system of KINAC/INSA. By implementing EMS based on ISO 21001, KINAC/INSA can expect to improve the educational satisfaction of trainees and other stakeholders through effective curriculum development and educational operation.

This study was conducted to investigate the distribution characteristics, source identification, and health risk of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in particulate matter 10 (PM-10), in Gwangju. PM-10 samples were collected from September 2021 to August 2022 from three sampling sites, one located in each of the following areas: green, residential, and industrial. The average concentrations of PAHs were found to be higher in the industrial area (9.75±6.51 ng/㎥) than in the green (6.90±2.41 ng/㎥) and residential (6.74±2.38 ng/㎥) areas. Throughout the year and across all sites, five-ring PAHs accounted for the largest proportion (29.8–34.5%) of all PAHs. The concentrations of PAHs showed distinct seasonal variations, with the highest concentration observed in winter, followed by autumn, spring, and summer. Source apportionment analyses were performed using diagnostic ratios and principal component analyses, which indicated that coal/biomass combustion and vehicle emissions were the primary sources of PAHs in PM-10. The incremental lifetime cancer risk was estimated for all age groups at all sampling sites, and the results revealed a much lower risk level than the standard acceptable risk level (1×10-6).

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.

In this work, we report the basic performance of a 100 kW class mobile plasma melting system consisting of two 24-ft commercial containers, each in charge of the plasma utilities and melting process. In this system, a 100 kW class transferred type plasma torch has been installed together with a crucible having an inner volume of 2,884 cm3. Filling the inner volume of the crucible with the simulated metal waste, such as bolts and nuts, melting tests have been carried out for 5 min by varying plasma input power from 50 kW to 100 kW. By measuring the volume of metal waste before and after melting test, then, the volume reduction rates were estimated and discussed.

We developed a 100 kW Class Transferred Type Plasma Torch applicable for melting of noncombustible metal wastes. By employing reverse polarity discharge structures for hollow electrode plasma torch, a transferred type arc plasma was generated stably with long arc length higher than 10 cm at the arc currents of ~400 A and gas (N2) flow rate of ~50 lpm. High arc currents and high arc voltages caused by the increased arc length could input high power level of ~100 kW to the noncombustible metal wastes, enabling quick melting. In addition, relatively long arc length and low gas flow rates can help reduce the deposition of melted materials on the exit surface of the torch. Thanks to these features, the developed plasma torch is expected to be suitable for small-scaled and portable melting system.

Since the National Research and Development Innovation Act. was enacted, evaluation and management of research outputs become more important. The research output is defined as all types of information resources produced from the scientific research activities in each research phase, such as learning, proposing, performing, and publishing. Among them, research outputs mainly from the publishing phase have been systematically managed, including articles, books, technical reports, patents, and software. KINAC, like other Korean R&D institutions, has also achieved growth in research outputs, through continuously increased investment in R&D projects. However, R&D productivity, technology transfer, and commercialization remain low level. The importance of R&D performance diffusion has been emphasized. It’s because the creation of economic value through the utilization of research results has been emerging as a key issue in R&D policy. Therefore, various policies are being nationally pursued to promote the utilization of research achievements, but the results are not being effectively utilized and disseminated. In the field of nuclear nonproliferation and security, it is also difficult to diffuse the R&D performance. In this study, the research outputs of KINAC from 2010 to 2021 were analyzed. A number of research outputs have been made and managed, but the R&D performances have not been analyzed and identified yet. In addition, supportive methods were suggested for efficient performance management toward diffusion. For this purpose, some policies of Korea and other countries concerning performance diffusion -related policies were reviewed. The best practices of performance management and applications were also reviewed and compared to the KINAC cases. As a result, the number of research output has dramatically increased during the last 10 years, showing an average annual total output of 84 and year-on-year increase of 18%. The biggest change was in the conference papers and journals, whereas, there were no trends by year in the case of the technical reports and patents. Of course, it was proportional to the size of the organization, the number of research projects, and its budget. Because many studies highlight the importance of institutional resources, capabilities, and processes for performance management as factors affecting efficient diffusion, the current status of our process was also identified. This study is expected to be applied to the improvement of the performance management of the institute, leading to the enhancement of the R&D performance application.

Corrosion cells that simulates engineering barrier system have been stored in an aerobic KURT environment for 10 years, which were recovered and dismantled in 2021. The test specimens were compressed copper (Com. Cu), Cold spray copper (CSC Cu), Ti Gr.2, STS 304, and Cast nodular iron. The specimens were buffered by compact Ca-type Gyeongju bentonite (KJ-I) and compact Na-type Wyoming bentonite. And the corrosion cells were exposed to KURT groundwater at 30°C for about 10 years (3,675 days). As a result of the long-term experiment in aerobic environment, it was confirmed that Na-bentonite is more advantageous for inhibiting corrosion than Ca-bentonite. The corrosion thickness of the most specimens in Ca bentonite was slightly lower than in Na bentonite until the initial 500 days, but after 10 years, the corrosion thickness of copper and cast iron specimens in Na bentonite was clearly lower. The corrosion thickness of the copper specimen in Na bentonite was very low about 0.5 um in both Com. Cu and CSC Cu. Moreover, the corrosion thickness in Ca bentonite was very high about 4 um for Com. Cu and 6 um for CSC Cu. In the case of cast iron, the corrosion thickness in Na bentonite was about 13 um, and 15 um in Ca bentonite. The common feature of copper and cast iron specimens in Ca bentonite, which showed a high corrosion thickness, is the forming of a white mineral deposition layer on the specimen surface, which was presumed to be some kind of feldspar. On the other hand, it was found that the STS304 and Ti specimens were hardly corroded even after 10 years. In conclusion, when a white mineral deposition layer was formed on the specimen surface, the corrosion thickness always increased sharply than before, and thus it was estimated that the generation of the mineral deposition layer cause the increase of bentonite permeability, and rather the weakening of existing passive corrosion film.

210Po is a naturally occurring radionuclide of 238U decay series with a half-life of 138.4 days. 210Po is decay products of 222Rn, which escapes into the atmosphere and present in all environments with aerosol particles. Also, 210Po has high radiotoxicity and emits a high alpha energy of 5.305 MeV, and it decays to finally become a stable isotope, 206Pb. Therefore, 210Po entering the body by continuously ingestion or inhalation is likely to cause severe damage to the bone marrow, kidney and spleen and other sites in the body. Accordingly, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that screening level of gross alpha for drinking water not exceed 0.5 Bq·L−1. Alpha spectrometry has been mainly used for analysis of 210Po, and for the accurate measurement of alpha particle with short range, it is essential to prepare suitable source for alpha detection. The 210Po alpha source is made by a spontaneous deposition method in which polonium is adsorbed thin and flat onto a metal disc, such as silver, nickel and copper. There are various pretreatment methods to separate and concentrate polonium from water samples prior to spontaneous deposition, including Fe(OH)3 or MnO2 co-precipitation and evaporation. However, in the case of co-precipitation, sample contamination or loss of polonium may occur through the experimental processes, and evaporation lead to not only time-consuming process but also may cause loss of polonium due to the low boiling point of polonium. Therefore, in order to compensate for these problems, an efficient polonium analysis method that directly collects polonium from the original sample without a pretreatment is required. In this study, 210Po in bottled drinking water sold in Korea was analyzed using alpha spectrometry. A high purity silver disc (99.99%) was inserted into a newly designed polonium deposition kit to quickly and conveniently collect polonium from a water sample. The polonium alpha detecting source was made effectively only by the spontaneous deposition method without a complicated pretreatment. The source was measured using a PIPS detector, and the radioactivity concentration of 210Po was calculated using 209Po as a yield tracer.

In KHNP CRI, the 100 kW PTM (plasma torch melting) system was designed for the treatment and disposal technology of various radioactive wastes including the metal, concrete, liquid waste and insulator. The facility consists of melting chamber, thermal decomposition chamber, waste feeding system and off-gas treatment system. In this study, to evaluate the applicability of the PTM system, demonstration test was conducted using the radiation hazmat suit as combustible waste. The plasma melting chamber is pre-heated by 2nd combustion device and plasma torch for 5 hours. The temperature inside the plasma melting chamber is approximately 1,600°C. The combustible waste was put into the melting chamber by the pusher feeding device with the throughput of maximum 50 kg/hour. During the test, the power of plasma torch is 60–96 kW on the transferred mod. It was evaluated in terms of long-term integrity of PTM system on operation according to the waste throughput ratio.

Today’s cities require deeper understanding of the thermal environment and PM10 as their management becomes more critical. Based on these circumstances, this study investigated the Granger causality between the thermal environment and PM10 of the 25 districts of Seoul, the most populous and urbanized city in Korea. The results of the Granger causality test on the thermal environment and PM10 were classified into 12 types. Except for type 12, the temperature and urban island heat intensity of the other 11 types operated as a Granger-cause to each other in both directions. Temperature operates as a Granger-cause of urban island heat intensity in type 12. The PM10 level and urban pollution island intensity operated as a Granger-cause to each other in all districts. For types 1 and 2, thermal environment operated as a Granger-cause to PM10 in one direction, and type 3–type 12 confirmed that thermal environment and PM10 operated as a Granger-cause in both directions. Findings reveal the intricate c

To analyze the effects of PM10 and PM2.5 on daily mortality cases, the relations of death counts from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases with PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations were applied to the generalized additive model (GAM) in this study. From the coefficients of the GAM model, the excessive mortality risks due to an increase of 10 μg/m3 in daily mean PM10 and PM2.5 for each cause were calculated. The excessive risks of deaths from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases were 0.64%, 1.69%, and 1.16%, respectively, owing to PM10 increase and 0.42%, 2.80%, and 0.91%, respectively, owing to PM2.5 increase. Our result showed that particulate matter posed a greater risk of death from respiratory diseases and is consistent with the cases in Europe and China. The regional distribution of excessive risk of death is 0.24%–0.81%, 0.34%–2.6%, and 0.62%–1.94% from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, respectively, owing to PM10 increase, and 0.14%–1.02%, 1.07%–3.92%, and 0.22%–1.73% from natural causes, respiratory diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, respectively, owing to PM2.5 increase. Our results represented a different aspect from the regional concentration distributions. Thus, we saw that the concentration distributions of air pollutants differ from the affected areas and identified the need for a policy to reduce damage rather than reduce concentrations.

Because of the population growth and industrialization in recent decades, the air quality over the world has been worsened with the increase of PM10 concentration. Korea is located near the eastern part of China which has many industrial complexes, so the consideration of China’s air quality is necessary for the PM10 prediction in Korea. This paper examines a machine learning-based modeling of the prediction of tomorrow’s PM10 concentration in the form of a gridded map using the AirKorea observations, Chinese cities’ air quality index, and NWP (numerical weather prediction) model data. A blind test using 23,048 cases in 2019 produced a correlation coefficient of 0.973 and an MAE (mean absolute error) of 4.097㎍/㎥, which is high accuracy due to the appropriate selection of input variables and the optimization of the machine learning model. Also, the prediction model showed stable predictability irrespective of the season and the level of PM10. It is expected that the proposed model can be applied to an operative system if a fine-tuning process using a larger database is accomplished.