Development of a couple of methods for measuring radon exhalation from building materials commonly used in the Iberian Peninsula.
Radon is considered to be the main contributor to the worldwide population exposure to natural sources of radiation and so a lot of efforts have been made in most countries to assess indoor radon concentrations. Radon exhales from the earth's surface and is part of the radioactive decay series of uranium, which is also present in building materials. In this work, measurements of radon exhalation rates in building materials commonly used in the Iberian Peninsula have been carried out by using two different methods: active and passive techniques. In the first technique, the radon exhalation rate was measured following the radon activity growth as a function of time, by using a continuous radon monitor. The second technique is based on integrated measurements by using solid-state nuclear track detectors and a Spark Counter reading equipment. The results obtained by both measuring methods were found to be consistent.
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Extremadura, Av. de la Universidad, s/n, Cáceres 10005, Spain.
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Miró
Instituto Superior Técnico, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Laboratório de Proteção e Segurança Radiológica, Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139,7), Bobadela LRS 2695-066, Portugal eva.andrade@ctn.ist.utl.pt.
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Andrade
Instituto Superior Técnico, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Laboratório de Proteção e Segurança Radiológica, Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139,7), Bobadela LRS 2695-066, Portugal.
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Reis
Instituto Superior Técnico, Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear, Laboratório de Proteção e Segurança Radiológica, Estrada Nacional 10 (km 139,7), Bobadela LRS 2695-066, Portugal.
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Madruga
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D003252:Construction Materials / Q000032:analysis*; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D011874:Radiometry; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D013030:Spain; D014501:Uranium / Q000032:analysis; D014835:Volatilization
D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive; D014501:Uranium; D011886:Radon