Journal of Radiation Protection and Research

The Korean Association for Radiation Protection (대한방사선방어학회)
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Analysis of Metabolism and Effective Half-life for Tritium Intake of Radiation Workers at Pressurized Heavy Water Reactor

중수로원전 종사자의 삼중수소 체내섭취에 따른 인체대사모델과 유효반감기 분석

  • Published : 2009.06.30
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Abstract

Tritium is the one of the dominant contributors to the internal radiation exposure of workers at pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWRs). This nuclide is likely to release to work places as tritiated water vapor (HTO) from a nuclear reactor and gets relatively easily into the body of workers by inhalation. Inhaled tritium usually reaches the equilibrium of concentration after approximately 2 hours inside the body and then is excreted from the body with a half-life of 10 days. Because tritium inside the body transports with body fluids, a whole body receives radiation exposure. Internal radiation exposure at PHWRs accounts for approximately 20-40% of total radiation exposure; most internal radiation exposure is attributed to tritium. Thus, tritium is an important nuclide to be necessarily monitored for the radiation management safety. In this paper, metabolism for tritium is established using its excretion rate results in urine samples of workers at PHWRs and an effective half-life, a key parameter to estimate the radiation exposure, was derived from these results. As a result, it was found that the effective half-life for workers at Korean nuclear power plants is shorter than that of International Commission on Radiological Protection guides, a half-life of 10 days.

삼중수소는 중수로형 원전에서 방사선작업종사자의 내부피폭을 일으키는 주요 방사성핵종 중의 하나이다. 이 핵종은 계통에서 HTO 형태로 비교적 쉽게 누설되며, 호흡과정을 통해 작업종사자의 신체내부로 유입된다. 이러한 삼중수소는 신체 내에서 약 2시간 후에 평형에 도달하며, 약 10일의 유효반감기를 가지고 신체로부터 제거된다. 신체내의 삼중수소는 체액을 따라 유동하기 때문에 전신이 피폭을 받게 된다. 원전의 운영경험에 의하면 원전종사자의 전체 피폭방사선량의 약 20$\sim$40% 정도가 삼중수소에 의한 내부피폭으로 발생하고 있다. 따라서, 원전의 방사선안전관리 측면에서 볼 때 중요하게 관리되는 방사성핵종이다. 본 논문에서는 중수로 원전에서 삼중수소의 흡입에 따른 뇨시료 중의 삼중수소 방사능 측정 자료를 이용하여 삼중수소의 인체 대사모델을 수립하고, 이를 근거로 피폭방사선량 평가의 중요 인자인 유효반감기를 분석하였다. 이 결과에 따르면 국내 원전 종사자의 유효반감기는 국제방사선 방호위원회에서 제시한 10일보다 짧은 것으로 나타났다.

Keywords

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