장내 미생물 군집은 소화 과정, 면역 시스템, 질병 발생 등 숙주의 다양한 면에 광범위한 영향을 주는 것으로 알려져 있으며, 주요 장내 미생물 종은 숙주의 생리 기능에 핵심적인 역할을 수행한다고 발표된 바 있다. 곤충의 장내 미생물 군집에 관한 연구가 최근 활발히 이루어지고 있으며, 이들 연구는 주로 장내 미생물 군집과 기생충, 병원체 간의 상호작용, 종간의 신호 전달 네트워크, 먹이의 소화 과정 등을 중심으로 이루어지고 있다. 이러한 연구들은 대부분 Illumina MiSeq을 활용하여 16S rRNA 유전자의 V1부터 V9 영역 중 선택된 특정 부분을 대상으로 짧은 서열 정보를 대상으로 진행되었다. 그러나, 최근에는 PacBio HiFi 기술이 상용화되면서 16S rRNA의 전장 분석이 가능할 수 있게 되었다. 이번 연구는 장수말벌(Vespa mandarinia)의 해부를 통해 gut과 carcass 부분을 분리한 뒤, 각 샘플을 Illumina MiSeq과 PacBio HiFi 기술을 활용하여 미생물 군집 간의 차이점을 확인하기 위하여 수행되었다.

Molten Salt Reactor, which employs molten salt mixture as fuel, has many advantages in reactor size and operation compared to conventional nuclear reactor. In developing Molten Salt Reactor, the behavior of fission product in operation should be preliminary evaluated for the correct design of reactor and its associated system including off-gas treatment. In this study, for 100 Mw 46 KCl- 54 UCl3 based Molten Salt Reactor with operating life time of 20 year, the fission product behavior was estimated by thermodynamic modeling employing FactSage 8.2. Total inventory of all fission product were firstly calculated using OpenMC code allowing depletion during neutronic calculation. Then, among all inventory, 46 element species from Uranium to Holmium were chosen and given to the input for equilibrium module of Factsage with its mass. In phase equilibrium calculation, for the correct description of solution phase, KCl-UCl3 solution database based on modified quasichemical model in the quadruplet approximation (ANL/CFCT-21/04) was employed and the coexisting solid phase was assumed to pure state. With the assumption of no oxygen and moisture ingress into reactor system, equilibrium calculation showed that 1% of solid phase and of gas phase were newly formed and, in gas phase, major species were identified : ZrCl4 (47%), Xe (33%), UCl4 (14%), Kr (5%), Ar (1%) and others. This result reveals that off-gas treatment of system should account for the appropriate treatment of ZrCl4 and UCl4 besides treatment of noble gas such as Xe and Kr.

After the major radioactivation structures (RPV, Core, SG, etc.) due to neutron irradiation from the nuclear fuel in the reactor are permanently shut down, numerous nuclides that emit alpha-rays, beta-rays, gamma-rays, etc. exist within the radioactive structures. In this study, nuclides were selected to evaluate the source term for worker exposure management (external exposure) at the time of decommissioning. The selection of nuclides was derived by sequentially considering the four steps. In the first stage, the classification of isotopes of major nuclides generated from the radiation of fission products, neutron-radiated products, coolant-induced corrosion products, and other impurities was considered as a step to select evaluation nuclides in major primary system structures. As a second step, in order to select the major radionuclides to be considered at the time of decommissioning, it is necessary to select the nuclides considering their half-life. Considering this, nuclides that were less than 5 years after permanent suspension were excluded. As a third step, since the purpose of reducing worker exposure during decommissioning is significant, nuclides that emit gamma rays when decaying were selected. As a final step, it is a material made by radiation from the fuel rod of the reactor and is often a fission product found in the event of a Severe accident at a nuclear power plant, and is excluded from the nuclide for evaluation at the time of decommissioning is excluded. The final selected Co-60 is a nuclide that emits high-energy gamma rays and was classified as a major nuclide that affects the reduction of radiation exposure to decommissioning workers. In the future, based on the nuclide selection results derived from this study, we plan to study the evaluation of worker radiation exposure from crud to decommissioning workers by deriving evaluation results of crud and radioactive source terms within the reactor core.

Radioactive waste generated during nuclear power plant decommissioning is classified as radioactive waste before the concentration is identified, but more than 90% of the amount generated is at a level that can be by clearance. However, due to a problem in the analysis procedure, the analysis is not carried out at the place of on-site but is transported to an external institution to identify concentration, which implies a problem of human error because 100% manual. As a way to solve this problem, research is underway to develop a mobile radioactive waste nuclide analysis facility. The mobile radionuclide analysis facility consists of a preparation room, a sample storage room, a measurement room, a pretreatment room, and a waste storage room, and is connected to an external ventilation facility. In addition, since the automation module is built-in from the sample pre-threatening step to the separation step, safety can be improved and rapid analysis can be performed by being located in the decommissioning site. As an initial study for the introduction of a mobile nuclide analysis facility, Visiplan, a preliminary external exposure evaluation code, was used to derive the analysis workload by a single process and evaluate the exposure dose of workers. Based on this, as a follow-up study, the amount of analysis work according to the continuous process and the exposure dose of workers were evaluated. As a result of the evaluation, the Regulatory dose limit was satisfied, and in future studies, internal and external exposure doses were evaluated in consideration of the route of movement, and it is intended to be used as basic data in the field introduction process.

In this study, scones were prepared using Cordyceps powder, described as ‘immortal life’. Cordyceps powder was prepared in 0%, 2%, 4%, 6%, and 8% ratios, and salinity, color, texture, and antioxidant properties were analyzed. The salinity of Cordyceps scones did not show a difference according to the amount of Cordyceps powder added (p=0.364), and the a-, b-values increased significantly (p<0.001). In the case of texture, there was no significant difference in the amount of Cordyceps added. Flavonoids increased significantly as the amount of Cordyceps powder increased (p<0.001). ABTS-radical scavenging capacity increased significantly as the amount of Cordyceps powder increased (p<0.001). Through this study, the antioxidant properties of Cordyceps scones were confirmed.

According to the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission (NSSC) Notice No. 2021-26 “Delivery Regulations for the Low- and Intermediate Level Radioactive Waste (LILW)”, the activity of 3H, 14C, 55Fe, 58Co, 60Co, 59Ni, 63Ni, 90Sr, 94Nb, 99Tc, 129I, 137Cs, 144Ce, and gross alpha must be identified. Currently, the scaling factor of the dry active waste (DAW) for LILW is applied as an indirect evaluation method in Korea. The analyses are used the destructive methods and 55Fe, 60Co, 59Ni, 63Ni, 90Sr, 94Nb, 99Tc, and 137Cs, which are classified as nonvolatile nuclides, are separated through sequential separation and then measured by gamma detector, liquid scintillation counter (LSC), alpha/beta total counter (Gas Proportional Counter, GPC), and ICP-MS. We will introduce how to apply the existing nuclide separation method and improve the measurement method to supplement it.

n Korea, the decommissioning of nuclear power plants is being prepared, and a large amount of radioactive waste is expected to be generated. In particular, clearance level waste, which accounts for more than 90%, requires prevention of cross-contamination and prompt classification. In this study, the possible exposure route and the derivation of exposure dose for worker exposure management in a movable analysis system that can be analyzed onsite were studied. The movable radionuclide analysis system is divided into a preparatory room, a sample storage room, a radioanalysis room, a laboratory, and a waste storage room. It consists of one radioanalysis worker and one pre-treatment worker, and the main radiation exposure is expected to occur in the movement path in the sample storage room, radioanalysis room, and laboratory. The source term for the exposure evaluation, the annual usage dose presented in the radiation safety report in the movable radionuclide analysis system was used. The input data for the evaluation of the external exposure dose under normal circumstances (exposure situation, working hours, distance, etc.) is referenced at facility specifications. The internal exposure dose evaluation was assumed to be acute exposure (1 hour) assumed as internal pollution due to the drop in liquid sample during the pretreatment work. As an evaluation method, a method using a calculation formula and a method using an evaluation code was performed. For the evaluation of exposure dose using the calculation formula, a preliminary evaluation was performed using the point source method, the point kernel method, and intake and dose conversion factors. In addition, VISIPLAN and IMBA codes were used to evaluate exposure dose using the evaluation code, and the input data were supplemented for evaluation. As a result of the evaluation, the annual exposure dose limit of 20 mSv was satisfied for both normal and non-normal situations. In future research, it is planned to derive the evaluation results by particular scenarios for the detailed movement route and evaluation time according to the work process in the mobile radionuclide analysis.