Plasma Arc Melter (MSO) system has been developed for the treatment and the stabilization of various kinds of hazardous and radioactive waste into the readily disposable solidification products. Molten salt oxidation system has been developed for the for the treatment of halogen- and sulfurbearing hazardous and radioactive waste without emissions of PCDD/Fs and acid gases. However, PAM system has showed some difficulty in the off-gas treatment system due to the volatilization of radionuclides and toxic metals at extremely high-temperature plasma arc melter and the emissions of acid gases. MSO system has also showed the difficulty in the treatment of spent molten salt into the disposable waste form. Present study discussed the results of organics destruction performance tests for the PAM-MSO combination system, which is proposed and developed to compensate the drawbacks of each system. The worst-case condition tests for the organics destruction were conducted at lowest temperatures and the worst-case condition tests for the retention of metals and radionuclides were conducted at highested temperatures under the range of normal operating condition. For the worst-case organic destruction test, C6H5Cl was selected as a POHCs (Principal Organic Hazardous Constituents) because of its high incinerability ranking and the property of generation of chlorine gases and PCDD/Fs when incompletely destroyed. Simulated concrete waste spiked with 1 L of C6H5Cl was treated and the emissions of 17 kinds of PCDD/Fs and other hazardous gases such as CO, THCs, NOx, SO2 and HCl/Cl2 were measured. For the worst-case condition tests for the retention of metals and radionuclides, Pb and Cs were selected because of its high volatility characteristics. The emissions of PCDD/Fs was extremely lowered than the emission limit and those of other hazardous constituents were below their emission limit. The results of performance tests on the organics destruction suggested that tested PAM-MSO combination system could readily treat PCBs-bearing spent insulation liquid, spent ion-exchange resins used for the treatment of spent decontamination liquid in the decommission process and the concreted debris bearing hazardous organic coating materials. The decontamination factor of Cs and Co were 1.4×105, 1.4×105, respectively. The emisison of Pb was 0.562 ppm. These results suggested that tested PAM-MSO system treated low-level radioactive and pb-bearing mixed waste.

Present study investigated the waste form integrity of melted products generated from PAM-MSO system, which is proposed and developed to compensate the drawbacks of each system. The disposal suitability of the melting solidification products generated from the plasma arc melting treatment of pulverized cement debris spiked by Pb, Cd and Cs, as indicators of typical hazardous metals and radionuclides existed in the low-level mixed waste in the KHNPPs. The final waste form obtained by the test was evaluated for suitability for disposal. The compressive strength was 261.10 MPa, showing much higher values when compared to other waste form products. The compressive strength of both the sample after irradiation with 107 Gy radiation and that after long-term submersion test (90 days) satisfied the disposal criteria. As a result of the leaching test conducted according to the ANS 16.1 test method, it was confirmed that the leaching index satisfies the disposal criteria.

The bacterial soft-rot disease is one of the most critical diseases in vegetables such as Chinese cabbage. The researchers isolated two bacteria (Pseudomonas kribbensis and Pantoea vagans) from diseased tissue samples of Chinese cabbages and confirmed them as being the strains that cause soft-rot disease. Lactic-acid bacteria (LAB), were screened and used to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The researchers tested the treatments with hypochlorous acid water (HAW) and LAB supernatant to control soft-rot disease bacteria. The tests confirmed that treatments with the HAW (over 120 ppm) or LAB (Lactobacillus plantarum PL203) culture supernatants (0.5 mL) completely controlled both P. kribbensis and P. vagans.

Abstract In this study, micro-defects on/in carbon fibers were modified by irradiation with an electron beam, which improved the mechanical strength of single carbon fibers. The electron beam irradiation was 10 kGy (using a 1.5 MeV accelerator in the air). The total doses ranged from 100 to 500 kGy. The tensile strength of the single carbon fiber was measured using a universal testing machine. The micro-defects on the fiber surface were observed with scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy, and those in the fiber were evaluated by Raman spectroscopy. In conclusion, the electron beam treatment produced changes in the micro-defects on/in the carbon fibers, resulting in up to 14% improvement in the tensile strength of single carbon fiber.

In Korea livestock farms breeding cattle have been suffering from re-emerging problems of Brucella (B.) abortus infection while steady decline of bovine brucellosis. Therefore, this study underscored the identification and association of etiological agent of brucellosis in cattle in South Korea. The incidence of brucellosis in cattle was analyzed by bacteriological and molecular methods in 187 brucellosis-suspicious farms of 11 regions between 2018 and 2020. Brucella isolates from various specimens were identified by Brucella-specific multiplex PCR. Epidemiological data were collected by local official veterinarians through history taking from farmers and animal data systems. In 230 of 560 cattle (40.9%) and 94 of 187 farms (50.3%), a total of 313 B. abortus were isolated from various specimens, the majority of isolates were from supramammary lymph node (41%). In epidemiological findings, the majority of positive cases were mainly caused by resurgence (43.7%) and unknown (37.2%). Of 94 positive cases isolated B. abortus, abortion in cattle infected by B. abortus occurred in 51 farms (54.3%) where led to resurgence in 30 farms and environmental survival of B. abortus in 9 farms. Consequently, these findings revealed the existence of etiological agent of bovine brucellosis in Korea, which still occurred at low levels in distinct regions where are allowed to call for persistent biosecurity. Thus, we highlight that brucellosis in Korea needs to take more effective control strategies with potential evidence. Moreover it is ultimately important to maintain a constant monitoring for eradication of brucellosis.

Graphite Isotope Ratio Method (GIRM) can be used to estimate plutonium production in a graphite-moderated reactor. This study presents verification results for the GIRM combined with a 3-D polynomial regression function to estimate cumulative plutonium production in a graphite-moderated reactor. Using the 3-D Monte-Carlo method, verification was done by comparing the cumulative plutonium production with the GIRM. The GIRM can estimate plutonium production for specific sampling points using a function that is based on an isotope ratio of impurity elements. In this study, the 10B/11B isotope ratio was chosen and calculated for sampling points. Then, 3-D polynomial regression was used to derive a function that represents a whole core cumulative plutonium production map. To verify the accuracy of the GIRM with polynomial regression, the reference value of plutonium production was calculated using a Monte-Carlo code, MCS, up to 4250 days of depletion. Moreover, the amount of plutonium produced in certain axial layers and fuel pins at 1250, 2250, and 3250 days of depletion was obtained and used for additional verification. As a result, the difference in the total cumulative plutonium production based on the MCS and GIRM results was found below 3.1% with regard to the root mean square (RMS) error.