A study on characteristics and internal exposure evaluation of radioactive aerosols during pipe cutting in decommissioning of nuclear power plant

Kori unit #1, which is the first commercial nuclear power plant in Korea, was permanently shutdown in June 2017, and it is about to be decommissioned. Currently in Korea, researches on the decommissioning technology are actively conducted, but there are few researches on workers internal exposure to...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Sun Il Kim, Hak Yun Lee, Jong Soon Song
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2018-10-01
Series:Nuclear Engineering and Technology
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1738573317307192
Description
Summary:Kori unit #1, which is the first commercial nuclear power plant in Korea, was permanently shutdown in June 2017, and it is about to be decommissioned. Currently in Korea, researches on the decommissioning technology are actively conducted, but there are few researches on workers internal exposure to radioactive aerosol that is generated in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants. As a result, the over-exposure of decommissioning workers is feared, and the optimal working time needs to be revised in consideration of radioactive aerosol. This study investigated the annual exposure limits of various countries, which can be used as an indicator in evaluating workers' internal exposure to radioactive aerosol during pipe cutting in the process of decommissioning nuclear power plants, and the growth and dynamics of aerosol. Also, to evaluate it, the authors compared/analyzed the cases of aerosol generated when activated pipes are cut in the process of nuclear power plants and the codes for evaluating internal exposure. The evaluation codes and analyzed data conform to ALARA, and they are believed to be used as an important indicator in deriving an optimal working time that does not excess the annual exposure limit. Keywords: Decommissioning, Radioactive aerosol, Pipe cutting internal exposure, HRTM
ISSN:1738-5733