As the importance of radioactive waste management has emerged, quality assurance management of radioactive waste has been legally mandated and the Korea Radioactive Waste Agency (KORAD) established the “Waste Acceptance Criteria for the 1st Phase Disposal Facility of the Wolsong Lowand Intermediate-Level Waste Disposal Center (WAC)”, the detailed guideline for radioactive waste acceptance. Accordingly, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) introduced a radioactive waste quality assurance management system and developed detailed procedures for performing the waste packaging and characterization methods suggested in the WAC. In this study, we reviewed the radioactive waste characterization method established by the KAERI to meet the WAC presented by the KORAD. In the WAC, the characterization items for the disposal of radioactive waste were divided into six major categories (general requirements, solidification and immobilization requirements, radiological, physical, chemical, and biological requirements), and each subcategories are shown in detail under the major classification. In order to satisfy the characterization criteria for each detailed item, KAERI divided the procedure into a characterization item performed during the packaging process of radioactive waste, a separate test item, and a characterization item performed after the packaging was completed. Based on the KAERI’s radioactive waste packaging procedure, the procedure for characterization of the above items is summarized as follows. First, during the radioactive waste packaging process, the characterization corresponding to the general requirements (waste type) is performed, such as checking the classification status of the contents and checking whether there are substances unsuitable for disposal, etc. Also, characterization corresponding to the physical requirements is performed by checking the void fraction in waste package and visual confirmation of particulate matter, substances containg free water, ect. In addition, chemical and biological requirements can be characterized by visually confirming that no hazardous chemicals (explosive, flammable, gaseous substances, perishables, infectious substances, etc.) are included during the packaging process, and by taking pictures at each packaging steps. Items for characterization using separate test samples include radiological, physical, and chemical requirements. The detailed items include identification of radionuclide and radioactivity concentration, particulate matter identification test, free water and chelate content measurement tests, etc. Characterization items performing after the packaging is completed include general requirements such as measuring the weight and height of packages and radiological requirements such as measurements of surface dose rate and contamination, etc. All of the above procedures are proceduralized and managed in the radioactive waste quality assurance procedure, and a report including the characterization results is prepared and submitted when requesting acceptance of radioactive waste. The characterization of KAERI’s radioactive waste has been systematically established and progressed under the quality assurance system. In the future, we plan to supplement various items that require further improvement, and through this, we can expect to improve the reliability of radioactive waste management and activate the final disposal of KAERI’s radioactive waste.

Pseudococcus longispinus, a notorious cosmopolitan pest species of mealybugs, known to be distributed indoors in Korea since 2002, is found to be mixed with another species, Pseudococcus orchidicola. Finding P. orchidicola as a pest of tropical plants in Korea is rather unexpected because of their main distribution in Pacific area and South Asia. However, all the available information from morphology, molecule and advices on identification from mealybug specialists indicated this is best matching P. orchidicola. Morphological, molecular and some biological notes on P. orchidicola are provided with some adult and nymphal images, and compared with P. longispinus. A full discussion mainly on identity and distribution of P. orchidicola is given.

Brassinosteroids (BRs) play important roles in many aspects of plant growth and development. BR-induced AtBEE3 (brassinosteroid enhanced expression 3) is required for a proper BR response in Arabidopsis. Here, we identified a poplar (Populus alba x P. glandulosa) BEE3 homolog encoding a putative basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH)-type transcription factor through microarray analysis. Transcripts of PagBEE3 were mainly detected in stems, with the internode having a low level of the transcripts and the node having a relatively higher level. The function of the PagBEE3 gene was investigated through the phenotypic analyses with PagBEE3-overexpressing (ox) transgenic lines. This work mainly focused on a potential role of PagBEE3 in stem growth and development of polar. The PagBEE3-ox poplar showed thicker and longer stems than wild-type plants. The xylem cells from the stems of PagBEE3-ox plants revealed remarkably enhanced proliferation, resulting in an earlier thickening growth than wild-type plants. Microarray analysis revealed that the expression of many genes involved in xylem cell proliferation and development was altered in the PagBEE3-ox plants. Therefore, this work suggests that xylem development of poplar is accelerated in PagBEE3-ox plants and PagBEE3 plays a role in the stem growth by increasing the proliferation of xylem cells to promote the initial thickening growth of poplar stems.