Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs), which represent the residual radioactivity concentration limits, serve as the pivotal criteria for decontamination during decommissioning of nuclear power plants and are essential for license termination. The analysis of radionuclides in various media to check site-specific and radionuclide-specific DCGLs is a resource-intensive and time-consuming processes, and there are some radionuclides that are hard to analyze. In the decommissioning of the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant in the United States, a conservative approach was adopted. Potentially highly contaminated areas on the site were identified by collecting and analyzing soil samples, and radionuclides exceeding the Minimum Detectable Concentration (MDC) were selected as the potential Radionuclide of Concern (ROC), and surrogate DCGLs for hard-to-detect radionuclides were applied to soil samples. For soil samples in the Rancho Seco nuclear power plant, Cs-137 contributed more than 90% of the total radioactivity. DCGLs of the ROC were obtained using the scaling factors through analysis of Cs- 137 for a large amount of soil samples. In Korea, the scaling factor methodology has not been applied to the decommissioning of commercial nuclear power plants. An initial investigation was undertaken to assess the viability of implementing Surrogate Derived Concentration Guideline Levels (DCGLs) in the dismantling of Kori Unit 1, drawing insights from the U.S. nuclear power plant decommissioning experiences. To do this approach, the concentration ratio of radionuclides of interest to key radionuclide in contaminated soil should be known and consistent. But related information is not available at this time. So Surrogate DCGL for representative C-14, Fe-55, Ni-59, Ni-63, and Sr-90 was obtained using the scaling factors applied to radioactive waste data, specifically Decontaminated Aqueous Waste (DAW) and Spent Resin. In order to develop a reliable surrogate DCGLs the Kori Unit 1 site, it is important to analyze the radionuclides in the soil for the Kori Unit 1 decommissioning site to obtain consistent concentration ratio of the radionuclides of concern to the key radionuclides. When a the suitable DCGL is developed, it can be used for FSS planning and prior decision-making ensuring the safe and effective decommissioning of Kori Unit 1 and similar nuclear power plants.

The Derived Concentration Guideline Level (DCGL) is required to release the facility from the nuclear safety act at the stage of site restoration of the decommissioning nuclear power plant. In order to evaluate DCGL, there are various requirements, and among them, the selection of input parameters based on the application scenario is the main task. Especially, it is important to select input parameters that reflect site characteristics, and at this time, a single deterministic value or a probabilistic distribution can be applied. If it is inappropriate to apply a particular single value, it may be reasonable to apply various distributions, and the RESRAD code provides for evaluation using probabilistic methods. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the difference between the application of the deterministic method and the application of the probabilistic method to the area and thickness of the contaminated zone among the site characteristics data. This study analyzed the thickness and area of the contaminated zone, and in the case of thickness, the deterministic method was applied by changing the thickness at regular intervals from the minimum depth considered by MARSSIM to the thickness of the unsaturated zone identified in previous research data. In addition, a probabilistic analysis was performed by applying a distribution to the thickness of contaminated zone. Second, for the area of the contaminated zone, the dose was evaluated for each area in consideration of the areas to be considered when deriving Area Factor (AF), and the resulting change in DCGL was observed. As a result, the DCGL tends to decrease as the thickness increases, and it seems to be saturated when the thickness exceeds a certain thickness. Therefore, It was confirmed that the level of saturated values is similar to that of entering a probabilistic distribution, and in the case of a parameter that is reasonable to enter as a distribution rather than as a single value, it is sufficiently conservative to perform a probabilistic evaluation. In the case of area change, the DCGL evaluation result showed that the DCGL increased as the scale decreased. The magnitude of the change varies depending on the characteristics of each radionuclide, and in the case of radionuclides where external exposure gamma rays have a major exposure effect, the change is relatively small. It can be seen that the change in DCGL according to the area has the same tendency as the AF applicable to the survey unit for small survey units applied in the final status survey.

미국의 원전해체 지침서인 MARSSIM과 MARLAP에서는 의사결정 전 부지조사를 계획하고, 계획한 조사를 시행하는데 Data Life Cycle의 사용을 권장하고 있다. 부지조사 계획단계에서 설정되는 데이터품질목표(DQO)는 부지조사 수행 및 설계의 모든 측면에서 얻을 수 있는 데이터를 최선으로 활용하는 방법을 제시하고, 부지조사 계획을 체계화하여 공식적으로 중요한 의사결정을 내리는데 필요한 정보를 얻을 수 있도록 한다. DQO의 일곱 과정 중 5~7단계에서는 앞선 단계에서 수집한 정보를 이용하여 합리적이고 신뢰성있는 의사결정을 내릴 수 있도록 부지조사를 설계하는 과정이다. 이 과정 중 설정되는 회색영역은 관심핵종에 대한 조사단위의 평균농도가 실제로 DCGL을 초과하지 않음에도 불구하고, 초과한다고 판단하여 제염활동과 같은 추가적인 활동을 하도록 결정내리는 Type II 의사결정 오류로 인한 결과가 미약할 것으로 생각되는 농도범위로 정의된다. 회색영역은 부지에서 수집한 Sample에 속한 특정 핵종의 평균농도와, 규제한도로서 설정될 수 있는 잔류방사능 유도농도(DCGL)를 이용하여 정할 수 있다. 회색영역을 설정함으로써 가장 자원효율적으로 부지조사계획을 설정할 수 있으며 의사결정 오류에 대한 영향을 최소화 할 수 있다. 선행연구로 도출된 고리 1호기의 DCGL을 이용하여 회색영역을 설정하고, 이를 이용해 올바른 의사결정을 내릴 수 있도록 하는 Sample의 농도평가 방법을 제시하였다.

원전 해체 이후 원전 부지의 제한적 또는 무제한적 이용에 대해서 미국 NRC는 NUREG-1757 문서를 통해 제한적 또는 무제한적 부지 이용에 관한 방사선학적 기준을 제시하였고 사업자가 제염 및 복원 후 이 선량 기준이 충족됨을 증명할 수 있어야만 부지가 제한적 또는 무제한적으로 해제될 수 있다고 하였다. 이와 관련하여 NRC는 운영허가종료계획서(LTP; License Termination Plan)에 방사선학적 부지 해제 기준 준수를 입증하기 위하여 부지 해제 기준, 부지 특성 평가, 최종 방사선 조사 계획에서 주요 방사선원항, 유도농도기준(DCGL) 등을 기재하도록 하고 있다. 이 논문은 국내 원전 해체에 있어서 참조사례가 될 수 있는 Rancho Seco 원전 해체 사례를 참고 및 절차를 분석함으로써 2017년 영구정지가 예정된 고리 1호기뿐만 아니라 향후 해체 원전 부지의 해제 기준 마련에 있어 사용될 수 있는 방법을 검토하였다.