Various types of radioactive liquid and solid wastes are generated during the operation and decommissioning of nuclear power plants. To remove radionuclides Co-60, Cs-137 etc. from a liquid waste, the ion-exchange process based on organic resins has been commonly used for the operation of nuclear facilities. Due to the considerations for the final disposal of process endproduct, other treatment methods such as adsorption, precipitation using some inorganic materials have been suggested to prepare for large amounts of waste during decommissioning. This study evaluated sintering characteristics for radioactive precipitates generated during the liquid waste treatment process. The volume reduction efficiency and compressive strength of sintered pellets were the major parameters for the evaluation. Major components of a simulated precipitate were some coagulated (oxy) hydroxides containing light elements, such as Si, Al, Mg, Ca, and zeolite particles. Green pellets compressed to around 100 MPa were heated at a range of 750~850°C to synthesize sintered pellets. It was observed that the volume reduction percentages were higher than 50% in the appropriate sintering conditions. The volume reduction was caused by the reduction of void space between particles, which is an evidence of partial glassification and ceramization of the precipitates. This result can also be attributed to conversion reactions of zeolite particles into other minerals. The compressive strength ranged from 6 to 19 MPa. These results also showed a significant correlation with the volume reduction of sintered body. Although our lab-scale experiments showed many benefits of sintering for the precipitates, optimized conditions are needed for large-scale practical applications. Evaluation of sintering characteristics as a function of pellet size and further testing will be conducted in the future.

Radioactive waste can be classified according to the concentration level for radionuclides, and the disposal method is different through the level. Gamma analysis is inevitably performed to determine the concentration of radioactive waste, and when a large amount of radioactive waste is generated, such as decommissioning nuclear facilities, it takes a lot of time to analyze samples. The performance of a lot of analysis can cause human errors and workload. In general, gamma analysis is performed using by HPGe detector. Recently, for convenience of analysis, commercial automatic sample changers applicable to the HPGe detectors were developed. The automatic sample changers generate individual analysis reports for each sample. In this study, gamma analysis procedure was improved using the application of the automatic sample changer and the automated data parsing using by Python. The application of automatic sample changers and data parsing technique can solve the problems. The human errors were reduced to 0% compared to the previous method by improving the gamma analysis procedure, and working time were also dramatically reduced. This automation of analysis procedure will contribute to reducing the burden of analysis work and reducing human errors through various improvements.

Heavy water (D2O) is a coolant as well as a moderator of pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). During operation of PHWRs, deuterium (H-2, D) in heavy water is gradually converted to tritium (H-3, T), which is a radioactive nuclide with a half-life of 12.3 years, by capturing neutron. Various radioactive wastes contaminated by T are generated upon the PHWR operation. Owing to the similarity of D and T, they behave together a form of water (either liquid or vapor) in a normal circumstance. To handle D and T with the water form is quite difficult because it is not a solid and is highly mobile in nature. In this study, a mineralization technique to fix D and T in a solid form is suggested. It is considered that hydroxide minerals, which have low solubility in water, might tightly bind D and T in non-mobile, solid-state media. Feasibility of this strategy is studied by using a copper-based hydroxide mineral, atacamite. Atacamite is a natural mineral found in copper deposits with chemical formula of Cu2Cl(OH)3. Atacamite can be simply synthesized in laboratories by a precipitation method using copper chloride and calcium carbonate as precursors. Both chemicals were added into heavy water to obtain pale-green precipitates. Heavy water is the only source for D in this reaction and thus deuterated mineral is expected to be form. The obtained deuterated mineral, suspected to be Cu2Cl(OD)3, was then immersed in natural deionized water (extremely low D2O concentration) for several days to identify how fast D in Cu2Cl(OD)3 dissolves into water. In a preliminary Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, absorption peaks related to HDO and D2O were not observed in the deionized water which is recovered after the immersion test, suggesting that D remained stable in the synthesized mineral. However, owing to low detection limit of FTIR, more precise analysis should be taken to clearly identify the stability of D of the deuterated atacamite. If deuterated hydroxide minerals are found to have sufficiently high D stability in natural water, they can be further treated with cement or other stabilization media to form a final wasteform for underground disposal.

Various dry actives wastes (e.g., gloves, wipers, shoes, clothes) are generated during operation and maintenance of nuclear facilities. Among those, latex gloves gets interest because they contain both organic and inorganic compounds. CaCO3 is a common filler material for production of latex rubbers. Here, latex gloves were thermally treated in a closed vessel to separate the organic and inorganic compounds. Using the closed vessel is beneficial as it can prevent escape of any species, including radioactive nuclides in a real case, generated during the treatment. It was found that thermal decomposition of latex gloves occurred above 250°C. Latex gloves were decomposed to gas, liquid, and solid compounds. The gas product is thought to be volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The liquid product seems to be a mixture of oils and water. A CaCO3 phase was identified in the solid product, as expected. The VOCs can be easily separated at room temperature by purging in vacuum or inert atmosphere. The liquid-solid mixture can be separated by distillation. It is thought that gammaemitting nuclides, such as Cs-137, Sr-90, and Co-60, dominantly remain in the solid product. In the best situation, the solid product is the only subject to be transferred to final wasteform fabrication stream and thus volume of final waste can be reduced. Surrogates of contaminated latex gloves (containing Cs, Sr, and Co) were prepared and they were treated at 350°C in the closed vessel. How these contaminants behaves in this thermal process will be discussed in the presentation.

This study evaluated the synthesis of optimal materials for high efficiency adsorption and removal characteristics of Cs-137 for radioactive contaminated water, and considered thermal treatment methods to stabilize the spent adsorbent generated after treatment. We synthesized a composite adsorbent with a combination of impregnating metal ferrocyanide that improves the selectivity of Cs adsorption with zeolite capable of removing Cs as a support. The Cs removal efficiency of the composite adsorbent was evaluated, and the stability change of Cs according to the high-temperature sintering was evaluated as a stabilization method of the spent adsorbent. The metal ferrocyanide content of the adsorbent was in the range of 11.8~36.0%. The adsorption experiments were performed using a simulated liquid waste to have a total Cs concentration of 1 mg/L while containing a trace amount of Cs-137, and then gamma radioactivity was analyzed. In order to evaluate the stabilization of the spent adsorbent, heat treatment was performed in the range of 500~1,100°C, and the volatilization rate of Cs during heat treatment and the leaching rate of Cs after heat treatment were compared. In the adsorption experiment, the Cs removal efficiency was higher than 99%, regardless of the amount of metal ferrocyanide in the composite adsorbent. In the sintering experiment on the spent adsorbent, it was confirmed that there was no volatilization of Cs up to 850°C, and then the volatilization rate increased as the heating temperature increased. On the other hand, the leaching rate of Cs in the sintered adsorbent tends to significantly decrease as the heating temperature increases, so that Cs can be stabilized in the sintered body. In addition, as the content of metal ferrocyanide increases, the volatilization rate of Cs rapidly increases, indicating that the unstable metal ferrocyanide in the adsorbent may adversely affect the removal of Cs as well as the thermal treatment stability.

The buffer is a critical barrier component in an engineered barrier system, and its purpose is to prevent potential radionuclides from leaking out from a damaged canister by filling the void in the repository. No experimental parameters exist that can describe the buffer expansion phenomenon when Kyeongju bentonite, which is a buffer candidate material available in Korea, is exposed to groundwater. As conventional experiments to determine these parameters are time consuming and complicated, simple swelling pressure tests, numerical modeling, and machine learning are used in this study to obtain the parameters required to establish a numerical model that can simulate swelling. Swelling tests conducted using Kyeongju bentonite are emulated using the COMSOL Multiphysics numerical analysis tool. Relationships between the swelling phenomenon and mechanical parameters are determined via an artificial neural network. Subsequently, by inputting the swelling tests results into the network, the values for the mechanical parameters of Kyeongju bentonite are obtained. Sensitivity analysis is performed to identify the influential parameters. Results of the numerical analysis based on the identified mechanical parameters are consistent with the experimental values.

Background:Agricultural work is physically demanding and is associated with a high frequency of musculoskeletal disorders. It is challenging to comprehensively understand the present status of work-related diseases and injuries among farmers in underdeveloped countries.Objects:This study aimed to elucidate the current status of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in local farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia, and identify the agricultural factors associated work-related musculoskeletal pain (AFWMP) and healthy living and healthy behavior factors associated work-related musculoskeletal pain (HFWMP).Methods:The Institute for Poverty Alleviation and International Development at Yonsei University conducted a survey of 126 households in Tigray, Ethiopia in 2014. A total of 116 individuals (73 men, 43 women) representing each household answered the questionnaires.Results:1) Work-related musculoskeletal pain (WMSP) most commonly occurred when performing heavy lifting and most frequently occurred in the lower back. 2) Age, self-perceived labor intensity, and months of farming work were significantly higher in the pain group than those in the non-pain group. 3) Overall work-related musculoskeletal pain intensity (WPI) showed positive and negative correlations with years of farming experience and self-perceived health status, respectively. 4) In binary logistic regression, the occurrence of WMSP showed significant associations with self-perceived labor intensity. 5) On multiple linear regression analysis, age, months of farming work, and self-perceived health status had a significant impact on overall WPI.Conclusion:The WMSP of farmers in Tigray, Ethiopia was related to the characteristics of farm working and health status. Furthermore, HFWMP and AFWMP were the chief factors affecting the occurrence of WMSP in farmers in Tigray. Therefore, both HFWMP and AFWMP should be considered for clinical health assessments of farmers with WMSP in underdeveloped African countries.

Background: Deficiencies in the ability to maintain balance are common in elderly. Augmented feedback such as knowledge of results (KR) can accelerate learning and mastering a motor skill in older people. Objects: We designed this study to examine whether one session of Wii-Fit game with self-regulated KR is effective for elderly people, and to compare the effect of two different timings of self-regulated KR conditions. Methods: Thirty-nine community-dwelling elders, not living in hospice care or a nursing home, participated in this study. During acquisition, two groups of volunteers were trained in 10 blocks of a dynamic balancing task under the following 2 conditions, respectively: (a) a pre-trial self-regulated KR (n1=18), or (b) a post-trial self-regulated KR (n2=21). Immediate retention tests and delayed retention tests of balancing performance were administered in 15 minutes and 24 hours following acquisition period, respectively. Results: In both groups, significant improvements of balancing performances scores were observed during the acquisition period. Regardless of the group, mean of balancing performance scores on retention tests were well-maintained from the final session. There were no significant differences between groups in balancing performance scores during the acquisition period (p>.05); however, the post-trial self-regulated KR group exhibited significantly higher balancing performance scores in both the immediate retention test and delayed retention test than that of the pre-trial self-regulated KR group (p<.05). Conclusion: Therefore, subjects who regulated their feedback after a dynamic balancing task, during the acquisition period, experienced more efficient motor learning during the retention period than did subjects who regulated their feedback before a dynamic balancing task. Accordingly, in case of presenting the KR of motor learning in clinical settings to elders who reduced dynamic balance abilities, the requesting time of KR is imperative according to self-estimation processes as well as types of KR and practice.

The sex of bivalves is classified into gonochorism and hermaphroditism, and hermaphroditism is further divided into simultaneous, and sequential. Simultaneous hermaphroditism is the simultaneous release of eggs and sperm by one organism during the same season. Sequential hermaphrodites are either male or female for one or several annual cycles (Heller, 1993; Gosling 2004; Collin, 2013). T. granosa is a sequential hermaphroditic bivalve undergoing sex change (Lee et al., 2014). However, definitive conclusion on whether the scale and pattern of sex change of T. granosa is always consistent could not be made. Therefore, the objective of this study was to reconfirm sex change in T. granosa and consider the scale and pattern of sex change compared to the results of Lee et al. (2014). The total number of T. granosa used for sex change identification was 777 with a shell length (SL) between 25.1-35.0 (30.9±2.13) mm. For Tegillarca granosa, the scale of sex change during 2006-2007 was reported to be 15.1% (Lee et al., 2014). In this study, the overall scale of sex change in T. granosa was 37.6% during 2011-2012, which was approximately 2.5 times higher than that reported by Lee et al. (2014). In addition, the difference between the sex change ratio from females to males and that from males to females was 15.3% during the period of 2011-2012, which was similar to the finding of 15.0% during 2006-2007 (Lee et al., 2014). The sex change ratio of female→male : male→female was 1 : 3.42 during 2006-2007 reported by Lee et al. (2014). It was 1 : 1.57 during 2011-2012 in this study.