Residential, soil and water radon surveys in north-western part of Romania (original) (raw)

Indoor radon related with the geology in Romanian urban agglomerations (Cluj-Napoca)

2017

Radon is a natural radioactive gas that occurs due to the radioactive decay of radium (226Ra) present in rocks which, in turn, cames from the radioactive decay of uranium (238U), a primordial natural element. Along with factors such as porosity, permeability and humidity of the rocks and soils, pressure and temperature, geology setting plays one of the most important roles in the release of radon into the environment. Depending on the mineralogical compositions and characteristics of the bedrock from a certain area, a higher or lower concentration of radioactive minerals can be found in the rocks, which will directly influence the level of radon in the atmosphere, implicitly the concentration of radon measured in houses. In this study, a six months concentration of radon (222Rn) was assessed in 256houses from Cluj-Napoca area using CR-39 nuclear track detectors. Correlations between the indoor radon levels and the geological setting was further analyzed. The aim is to better underst...

ASSESSMENT OF RESIDENTIAL RADON EXPOSURE IN BULGARIA

Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 2018

In the light of the new ICRP requirements the first National radon survey has been conducted in Bulgaria in the period 2015-16. Indoor radon concentrations were measured for 1 y in 2778 dwellings of whole Bulgarian territory in order to obtain the systematic data for the distribution of radon. The arithmetic mean is 111 Bq m −3 and the geometric mean is 81 Bq m −3 with geometric standard deviation of 2.15. On the base of the data, an annual effective dose to the Bulgarian population due to indoor radon exposure was estimated at 5.2 mSv and excess lifetime cancer risk at about 2%. The evaluation has been made using the ICRP dose coefficient of 6.7 × 10 −6 (mSv h −1)/(Bq m −3), 7000 h occupancy per year and value of 0.4 for the equilibrium factor. This preliminary assessment allows consideration and planning the long-term appropriate radon and exposure reduction measures in the new national action plan.