Development of a Floating Radiation Measurement System for Underwater Readings in the East Sea of Korea

Joung, S.; Ji, Y.-y., and Choi, Y., 2023. Development of a floating radiation measurement system for underwater readings in the East Sea of Korea. Journal of Coastal Research, 39(2), 384–393. Charlotte (North Carolina), ISSN 0749-0208. Following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident and subsequent discharge of contaminated water, the need for marine radioactivity monitoring has emerged. Currently, various underwater radiation monitoring systems are being developed and utilized for monitoring radioactive contamination of seawater. In this study, a floating on-site radiation monitoring system that can measure the radiation energy spectrum of a water environment in the field in real time was designed and fabricated with the aim to reduce the effect of background radiation on the system, which is a problem for land-based measurement technology. This study performed computational simulations to derive the ambient dose rate conversion factor and efficiency of the developed floating on-site radioactivity analysis system, named MARK-U3. The system was tested in the laboratory and in the field in both freshwater and saltwater environments. From the experimental results, the MARK-U3 can perform precise radioactivity analysis without the need for a thick shield, and by strengthening mobility, it can operate continuously.