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 source terms are important factor in design, licensing and operation of SMR (Small Modular Reactor). In this study, regulatory requirements and evaluation methodology for normal operation on NuScale SMR, which received standard design certification approval on September 11, 2020 from US NRC, are reviewed. The radioactive waste management system of nuclear power reactor should be designed to limit radionuclide concentration in effluents and keep radioactive effluents at restricted area boundary ALARA according to 10 CFR 20 and 10 CFR 50 Appendix I. Also, in general, the coolant source term to calculate the off-site radiological consequences for normal operation of SMR should be determined by using models and parameters that are consistent with regulatory guide 1.112, NUREG- 0017 and the guidance provided in ANSI/ANS-18.1-1999, and the result should be corrected by reflecting the design characteristics of SMR. The coolant source term of NuScale, unlike the case of large NPPs, cannot rely solely on empirical source term data, because the NuScale source term is based on first principle physics, operational experience from recent industry, and lessons learned from large PWR operation. Fission products in reactor coolant are conservatively calculated using first principle physics in SCALE Code assuming 60 GWD/MTU. The release of fission products from fuel to primary coolant based on industry operational experience is determined as fuel failure fraction of 0.0066% for normal operation source term and 0.066% for design basis source term while coolant source term of large NPP is calculated by using ANSI/ANS-18.1 for normal operation and fuel failure fraction of 1% for design basis source term. Water activation products in reactor coolant are calculated from first principles physics and corrosion activation products are calculated by utilizing current large PWR operating data (ANSI/ANS 18.1- 1999) and adjusted to NuScale plant parameters. Also, because ANSI/ANS 18.1-1999 is not based on first principle physics models for CRUD generation, buildup, transport, plate-out, or solubility, NuScale has incorporated lessons learned by using ERPI’s primary water chemistry and steam generator guidelines to ensure source term is conservative and design of materials used cobalt reduction philosophy to help ensure the coolant source term are conservative. Based on the coolant source term calculated according to the above-described method, the annual releases of radioactive materials in gaseous and liquid effluents from NuScale reactor are evaluated. Currently, Small Modular Reactors such as ARA, SMART 100 are under review for licensing in Korea. This study will be helpful to understand how the reactor coolant system source terms are defined and evaluated for SMR.

In Korea, the NUREG-0017 methodology based on realistic model for reactor coolant concentrations are used to estimate the annual radioactive effluent releases for normal operation of nuclear power plant. The realistic model to estimate the radionuclide concentrations in reactor coolant is formulated as a standard, ANSI/ANS-18.1. This standard has provided a set of the reference radionuclide concentrations and adjustment factors for estimating the radioactivity in the principal fluid systems of target plant. Since ANSI/ANS-18.1 was first published in 1976, it was revised in 1984, 1999, 2016, and most recently in 2020. Therefore, this study analyzed revision history of assessment methodology of radioactive source term of light water reactors, which is ANSI/ANS-18.1. Assessment methodology of radioactive source term given ANSI/ANS-18.1 is by using radionuclide concentrations for reactor coolant and steam generator fluid of the reference plant and adjustment factors, which is modifying radioactive source term according to differences in design parameters between reference plant and target plant. There are three type of reference plant: PWR with u-tube steam generator, PWR with once-through steam generator, and BWR. This study analyzed for PWR with u-tube steam generator. Although the standard was revised, evaluation methodology and formula of adjustment factor have been retained, but some of items have been revised. First revision item is reduction of the number of radionuclides and decrease of radioactive concentration in reactor coolant. In the 1976 version of the standard, there were 71 target radionuclides, but the target nuclides have reduced to 57 in 1984 and 56 after 1999. In the case of radioactive concentration in reactor coolant, as the version of standard was updated, the radioactive concentration of 18 nuclides in 1984, 14 nuclides in 1999, and 25 radionuclides in 2016 was decreased. Most of the radionuclides with decrease radioactivity concentration were fission product, it is resulted from improvement of nuclear fuel performance. Second revision item is change of adjustment factors. After the revision in 2016, the adjustment factors for zinc addition plants using natural or depleted zinc are changed. This study analyzed revision history of evaluation methodology of radioactive source term of light water reactors. Furthermore, result of this study will be contributed to the improvement of understanding of assessment methodology and revision history for the radioactive source term.

Source localization technique using acoustic emission (AE) has been widely used to track the accurate location of the damaged structure. The principle of localization is based on signal velocity and the time difference of arrival (TDOF) obtained from different signals for the specific source. However, signal velocity changes depending on the frequency domain of signals. In addition, the TDOF is dependent on the signal threshold which affects the prediction accuracy. In this study, a convolutional neural network (CNN)-based approach is used to overcome the existing problem. The concrete block corresponding to 1.3×1.3×1.3 m size is prepared according to the mixing ratio of Wolseong low-to-intermediate level radioactive waste disposal concrete materials. The source is excited using an impact hammer, and signals were acquired through eight AE sensors attached to the concrete block and a multi-channel AE measurement system. The different signals for a specific source are time-synchronized to obtain TDOF information and are transformed into a time-frequency domain using continuous wavelet transform (CWT) for consideration of various frequencies. The developed CNN model is compared with the conventional TDOF-based method using the testing dataset. The result suggests that the CNN-based method can contribute to the improvement of localization performance.

현행 규제요건에 따르면 국내에서 발생된 모든 폐밀봉선원은 자체처분 대상, 극저준위 또는 중·저준위 방사성폐기물에 해 당하며, 기본적으로 방사능 농도를 기준으로 한 처분방식 제한규정을 준수해야 한다. 본 연구에서는 이러한 분류체계 이외 에 IAEA 및 국외 폐밀봉선원 사용국의 방사성폐기물 분류체계, 폐밀봉선원 고유 특성 등에 대한 검토 및 분석결과를 토대 로 반감기 및 A/D 값(각 선원의 방사능(A)을 작업자 및 일반 대중에 대한 잠재적 위험도를 의미하는 방사성핵종 고유의‘D 값’을 활용하여 정규화한 수치로 선원의 상대적 위험을 평가하는 기초적인 기준으로 사용)에 대한 기준을 추가적으로 적용 하여 국내 폐밀봉선원 분류체계에 대한 방안을 제시한 후, 각 범주에 대한 처분방식을 도출하였다. 다양한 처분시점을 상정 한 국내 폐밀봉선원 특성 분석 및 처분방안별 대상 수량·체적 평가결과를 통해 본 연구에서 도출된 처분방안을 처분 예상 시기와 무관하게 2015년 3월말 기준으로 임시저장 중인 모든 폐밀봉선원에 대해 적용할 수 있음을 확인하였다. 단, 방사능 량을 확인할 수 없거나 비방사능 또는 A/D 값을 산출할 수 없는 선원에 대해서는 본 연구결과를 적용할 수 없으므로 처분방 안 이행을 위해서는 사전에 비방사능, 체적 등의 선원 고유 특성이 반드시 확인되어야 한다.

현재 전 세계적으로 설계단계에서 부식 생성물과 방사성 핵종의 양을 예측하는 프로그램에 대해서는 개발되거나 개발중인 프로그램이 다양하다. 그러나 원자력 발전소 해체 시 발생하는 방사화 부식생성물의 양을 평가하는 코드에 대한 개발은 이 루어지지 않고 있어 정확한 산정에 어려움이 있다. 원자로 용기, 원자로 구성품 및 인접 구조물에서의 특성 원소의 중성자 조 사로 인한 방사화재고량을 평가하기 위해서는 원자로의 고정된 구조물을 대표하는 모든 영역에서의 평균 중성자속과 구조 물의 물질조성 및 원자로 운전이력 등을 이용하여 평가해야 한다. 본 논문에서는 설계단계에서 사용되는 1차 계통의 부식생 성물과 방사성 핵종의 양을 예측하는 CORA, PACTOLE, CRUDSIM, CREAT 및 ACE 코드를 분석하였다. 향후 연구에서는 제 염해체 폐기물 발생량 평가에 대한 사용가능성과 개선점을 찾아 부식생성물량 산정에 정확성을 높이고자 한다.

Co-60 및 Ir-192 등의 방사성 동위원소가 비파괴 검사(Non-Destructive Test; NDT) 등의 분야에서 널리 쓰 임에 따라 방사선 안전관리가 매우 중요시되고 있다. 본 연구에서는 요오드화수은(Mercury(Ⅱ) Iodide; HgI2) 의 선원추적 시스템 적용 가능성을 평가하였다. HgI2로 제작된 Unit cell 센서의 신뢰도 검증을 위한 전기적 특성평가를 수행한 후, 방사선에 대한 센서의 위치의존성을 분석하고, Planning system의 선량 분포와 비교 하였다. 평가결과, R-sq>0.99 이상의 선형성과 CV<0.015 이하의 재현성을 보이며 신뢰도가 높은 것으로 나타났다. 또한, 위치의존성 평가에서는 센서의 isocenter에서 최댓값이 측정되었으며, 거리에 따라 점진적 감소를 나타냈다. 그러나 Planning system 상의 선량 분포 데이터와는 최대 30%의 차이를 보였는데, 센서는 단일지점으로부터 데이터를 수집하는 Planning system과 달리 면적으로부터 수집하기 때문으로 사료된다.

최근, 감마선 조사기의 자동 원격 조사 제어기가 오동작하여 방사선작업종사자가 방사선 피폭 사고가 지 속적으로 보고되고 있다. 이에 NDT 분야에서는 방사선에 대한 잠재적 사고를 미연에 방지하기 위한 방사 선원 모니터링 시스템 구축에 많은 시간과 재원을 투자하고 있다. 이에 본 연구에서는 다양한 비파괴검사 장비에 범용적으로 적용할 수 있는 방사선원 위치 모니터링 시스템의 개발을 위한 선행연구로써 몬테카를 로 시뮬레이션을 통해 산화납 기반 방사선 검출기에 대한 감마선 응답 특성을 모의 추정하였다. 연구 결과, 방사선 검출기의 최적화 두께는 방사선원에서 방사되는 감마선 에너지에 따라 상이하며 에너지가 증가함 에 따라 최적화 두께가 점차 증가하는 것으로 나타났다. 결론적으로 PbO 기반 방사선 검출기의 최적화 두 께는 Ir-192에 대하여 200 μm, Se-75 150 μm, Co-60 300 μm로 분석되었다. 이러한 연구 결과를 바탕으로 범 용적으로 적용하기 위하여 2차 전자 평형을 고려한 PbO 기반 방사선 검출기의 적절한 두께는 300 μm로 평 가되었다. 이러한 결과는 차후 다양한 NDT 장비에 범용적으로 적용하기 위한 방사선원 위치 모니터링 시 스템을 개발 시 방사선 검출기에서 요구되는 적절한 두께를 결정하는데 있어 기초자료로 활용될 수 있을 것으로 사료된다.

In the non-destructive inspection field, we invest a lot of time and resources in developing the radiation source system to ensure the safety of the workers. However, the probability of accidents is still high. In order to prevent potential radiation accidents in advance, it is necessary to directly verify the position of the radiation source, but the research is still insufficient. In this study, we developed a monitoring system that can detect the position of the radiation source in the source guide tube in the gamma-ray irradiator. The characteristics of the radiation detector are estimated by monte carlo simulation. As a result, the radiation detector for Ir-192 gamma-ray energy was analyzed to have secondary electron equilibrium at 150 μm regardless of the semiconductor material. Also, it is expected that the gamma ray response characteristic is the best in HgI2. These results are expected to be used as a basis for determining the optimal thickness of the radiation detector located in the detection part of the future monitoring system. In addition, when developing a monitoring system based on this, radiation workers can easily recognize the danger and secure safety, as well as prevent and preemptively respond to potential radiation accidents.

Laws and regulations of radioactive waste management related to the Exemption system and the Clearance systembetween governing authorities in Korea and Japan were investigated to suggest better management of radioactive waste.Above both system, very low levels of radioactive wastes which have negligible risk can be decided on being Exclusionsystem and classified as a non-radioactive waste. As a result, the Exemption systems between two countries were similar,whereas the Clearance systems were different. With regard to laws related to the Clearance, Japan specify providinginformation and feedback among relevant authorities, but there is no specification in Korea. In addition, this study suggeststo develop accredited analysis methods to improve the accuracy and reproducibility of the measurement, because twocountries have not established the national accredited analysis method for determining the concentration of radionuclide.