Comparative Measurements of Radon Concentration in Soil Using Passive and Active Methods in High Level Natural Radiation Area (HLNRA) of Ramsar
Background: Radon and its daughters are amongst the most important sources of natural exposure in the world. Soil is one of the signifcant sources of radon/thoron due to both radium and thorium so that the emanated thoron from it may cause in creased uncertainties in radon measurements. Recently,...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Shiraz University of Medical Sciences
2013-12-01
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| Series: | Journal of Biomedical Physics and Engineering |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.jbpe.org/Journal_OJS/JBPE/index.php/jbpe/article/view/269 |
| Summary: | Background: Radon and its daughters are amongst the most important sources of
natural exposure in the world. Soil is one of the signifcant sources of radon/thoron
due to both radium and thorium so that the emanated thoron from it may cause in
creased uncertainties in radon measurements. Recently, a diffusion chamber has been
designed and optimized for passive discriminative measurements of radon/thoron
concentrations in soil.
Objective: In order to evaluate the capability of the passive method, some com
parative measurements (with active methods) have been performed.
Method: The method is based upon measurements by a diffusion chamber, includ
ing two Lexan polycarbonate SSNTDs, which can discriminate the emanated radon/
thorn from the soil by delay method. The comparative measurements have been done
in ten selected points of HLNRA of Ramsar in Iran. The linear regression and cor
relation between the results of two methods have been studied.
Results: The results show that the radon concentrations are within the range of
12.1 to 165 kBq/m3 values. The correlation between the results of active and passive
methods was measured by 0.99 value. As well, the thoron concentrations have been
measured between 1.9 to 29.5 kBq/m3 values at the points.
Conclusion: The sensitivity as well as the strong correlation with active mea
surements shows that the new low-cost passive method is appropriate for accurate
seasonal measurements of radon and thoron concentration in soil. |
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| ISSN: | 2251-7200 2251-7200 |