INDOOR RADON, THORON AND THEIR PROGENY CONCENTRATIONS IN HIGH THORON RURAL SERBIA ENVIRONMENTS.

This article deals with the variation of radon (Rn), thoron (Tn) and their progeny concentrations expressed in terms of equilibrium equivalent concentrations (EERC and EETC), in 40 houses, in four villages of Sokobanja municipality, Southern Serbia. Two types of passive detectors were used: (1) discriminative radon-thoron detector for simultaneous Rn and Tn gases measurements and (2) direct Tn and Rn progeny sensors (DRPS/DTPS) for measuring Rn and Tn progeny concentrations. Detectors were exposed simultaneously for a single period of 12 months. Variations of Tn and EETC appear higher than those of Rn and EERC. Analysis of the spatial variation of the measured concentrations is also reported. This work is part of a wider survey of Rn, Tn and their progeny concentrations in indoor environments throughout the Balkan region started in 2011 year.

The relation between radon in schools and in dwellings: A case study in a rural region of Southern Serbia.

Recognized as a significant health hazard, radon (Rn) has been given increasing attention for years. Surveys of different kinds have been performed in many countries to assess the intensity and the geographical extent of possible Rn problems. Common surveys cover mainly dwellings, the indoor place with highest occupancy, and schools, where people spend a large fraction of their lifetime and which can also be considered exemplary for Rn exposure at workplaces; it has however been observed that relating them is difficult. It was unclear whether residential Rn at a location, or in a region, can be predicted by Rn at a school of that location, or vice versa. To current knowledge, no general rule seems applicable, as few models to describe the relationship between Rn in dwellings and in schools have been developed. In Southern Serbia, a Rn survey in a predominantly rural region was based on measurements in primary schools. The question arose whether or to which degree the results can be considered as indicative or even representative for residential Rn concentrations. To answer the question an additional survey of indoor Rn concentrations in dwellings was initiated, designed and performed in Sokobanja district in 2010-2012 in a manner to be able to detect a relationship if it exists. In the study region, 108 dwellings in 12 villages and towns were selected, with one primary school each. In this paper, we investigate how a relation between Rn in schools and dwellings could be identified and quantified, by developing a model and using experimental data from both the above main and additional surveys. The key criterion is the hypothesis that the relation dwellings - schools, if it exists, is stronger for dwellings closer to a school than for those dwellings further away. We propose methods to test the hypothesis. As result, the hypothesis is corroborated at 95% significance level. More specifically, on town level (typical size about 1 km), the Rn concentration ratio dwelling/school is about 0.8 (geometrical mean), with geometrical standard deviation (GSD) about 1.9. For dwelling and school hypothetically in the same location, the ratio is estimated about 0.7 with GSD about 1.5. We think that the methodology can be applied to structurally similar problems. The results could be used to create "conditional maps" of Rn concentration in dwellings, i.e., for example a map of probabilities that indoor Rn concentrations in dwellings exceed 100 Bq/m3, as function of Rn concentration in the local school.

Correlation analysis of the natural radionuclides in soil and indoor radon in Vojvodina, Province of Serbia.

The most dominant source of indoor radon is the underlying soil, so the enhanced levels of radon are usually expected in mountain regions and geology units with high radium and uranium content in surface soils. Laboratory for radioactivity and dose measurement, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad has rich databases of natural radionuclides concentrations in Vojvodina soil and also of indoor radon concentrations for the region of Vojvodina, Northern Province of Serbia. In this paper we present the results of correlative and multivariate analysis of these results and soil characteristics in order to estimate the geogenic radon potential. The correlative and multivariate analysis were done using Toolkit for Multivariate Analysis software package TMVA package, within ROOT analysis framework, which uses several comparable multivariate methods for our analysis. The evaluation ranking results based on the best signal efficiency and purity, show that the Boosted Decision Trees (BDT) and Multi Layer Preceptor (MLP), based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN), are multivariate methods which give the best results in the analysis. The BDTG multivariate method shows that variables with the highest importance are radio-nuclides activity on 30 cm depth. Moreover, the multivariate regression methods give a good approximation of indoor radon activity using full set of input variables. On several locations in the city of Novi Sad the results of indoor radon concentrations, radon emanation from soil, gamma spectrometry measurements of underlying soil and geology characteristics of soil were analyzed in detail in order to verify previously obtained correlations for Vojvodina soil.

Daily and seasonal radon variability in the underground low-background laboratory in Belgrade, Serbia.

Radon time-series analysis, based on the short-term indoor radon measurements performed worldwide, shows two main periodicity: daily and seasonal. The information obtained from time series of the measured radon values is the results of the complex radon dynamics that arises from the influence of the large number of different parameters (the state of the indoor atmosphere (temperature, pressure and relative humidity, aerosol concentration), the exchange rate between indoor and outdoor air and so on). In this paper we considered daily radon variability in the underground low-background laboratory in Belgrade, Serbia. The results are originated from the radon time-series analysis based on the 3 y of the continuous short-term indoor radon measurements. At the same time, we obtained the time series of the temperature, pressure and relative humidity in the laboratory. We also tried to find the correlation between different time series.

A complexity measure based method for studying the dependance of 222Rn concentration time series on indoor air temperature and humidity.

We have suggested a complexity measure based method for studying the dependence of measured (222)Rn concentration time series on indoor air temperature and humidity. This method is based on the Kolmogorov complexity (KL). We have introduced (i) the sequence of the KL, (ii) the Kolmogorov complexity highest value in the sequence (KLM) and (iii) the KL of the product of time series. The noticed loss of the KLM complexity of (222)Rn concentration time series can be attributed to the indoor air humidity that keeps the radon daughters in air.

Radon time-series analysis in the underground low-level laboratory in Belgrade, Serbia.

Measurements of radon concentration in the underground low-level laboratory in Belgrade, Serbia with a discrete sampling (T=2 h) have been performed. From July 2008 to July 2010, the time-series analysis was carried out. Also, the simultaneous measurements of meteorological parameters (temperature, atmospheric pressure and relative humidity) in the laboratory were done. The simultaneous monitoring of these parameters shows the correlation between temporal variations of radon concentration and meteorological parameters. Also, the radon time-series analysis has been used to study the possible correlation between the anomalous behaviour of the radon concentration and the local seismicity.

Monte Carlo simulations of the response of a plastic scintillator and an HPGe spectrometer in coincidence.

A simulation programme based on the Geant4 toolkit has been developed to simulate the coincident responses of a plastic scintillator and an HPGe detector to the cosmic-ray muons. The detectors are situated in a low-level underground laboratory (25 m.w.e). Primary positions, momentum directions and energies of the muons are sampled from the angular and energy distributions of the cosmic-ray muons at the shallow underground level. Obtained coincident spectra of both detectors are presented and discussed.