Fast determination of indoor radon (222Rn) concentration using liquid scintillation counting.

The indoor 222Rn radionuclide was directly absorbed in typical 20 ml glass scintillation vials by passing -3 dm3 of ambient air through 16 ml of water-immiscible non-volataile scintillation cocktail Ultima-Gold F for 10 min. The activity of radon and its two α-emitting daughters: 218Po and 214Po, was determined with the BetaScout low-background liquid scintillation counter. The limit of 222Rn detection is 9 Bq/m3, and the quantification limit with 20% relative accuracy is 28 Bq/m3. The results of the indoor Rn measurement in different houses showed good consistency with results obtained from a Sarad EQF 3220 device.

Use of radiometric (234/238U and 228/226Ra) and mass spectrometry (87/86Sr) methods for studies of the stability of groundwater reservoirs in Central Poland.

The uranium (234U/238U) and radium (228Ra/226Ra) activity ratios and 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratio in thermal groundwater, subsurface water (groundwater) and river water from Poddebice and Uniejow were determined. The uranium and radium activity ratios and strontium isotopic ratio varied from 0.629 to 1.471, from 0.396 to 4.961 and from 0.708438 to 0.710344, respectively. The results for the thermal groundwater samples showed that the radiometric method together with mass spectrometry stable strontium isotope ratio measurements can be used for underground water transport studies. On the basis of the uranium and radium activity and the strontium isotopic ratio differences in subsurface water (groundwater) and in river water, any possible water influx between these adjacent reservoirs can be observed. The obtained results exclude any water transport from surface and subsurface water to thermal ground water reservoirs in this region of Poland.

Generation of the additional fluorescence radiation in the elastomeric shields used in computer tomography (CT).

Two commercially available (EP, Z) and eight new elastomeric composites (M1-M4, G1-G4, of thickness ≈1 mm) containing mixtures of differing proportions of heavy metal additives (Bi, W, Gd and Sb) have been synthesised and examined as protective shields. The intensity of the X-ray fluorescence radiation generated in the typical elastomeric shields for CT, containing Bi and other heavy metal additives influence on the practical shielding properties. A method for assessing the radiation shielding properties of elastomeric composites used in CT examination procedures via X-ray spectrometry has been proposed. To measure the radiation reduction ability of the protective shields, the dose reduction factor (DRF) has been determined. The lead equivalents for the examined composites were within the ranges of 0.046-0.128 and 0.048-0.130 mm for 122.1 and 136.5 keV photons, respectively. The proposed method, unlike to the common approach, includes a dose contribution from the induced X-ray fluorescence radiation of the heavy metal elements in the protective shields. The results clearly indicate that among the examined compositions, the highest values DRF have been achieved with preparations containing Bi+W, Bi+W+Gd and Bi+W+Sb mixtures with gradually decreasing content of heavy metal additives in the following order: Bi, W, Gd and Sb. The respective values of DRF obtained for the investigated composites were 21, 28 and 27 % dose reduction for a 1 mm thick shield and 39 and ~50 % for a 2 mm thick layer (M1-M4).

Uranium isotopes as a tracer of groundwater transport studies.

The activity concentrations of 234U and 238U in thermal groundwater, deep well water and river water samples from Central Poland were determined. Concentration of 234U and 238U in the examined waters varied from <0.013 (LLD) to 16.8 mBq/dm3 and from <0.013 (LLD) to 45.5 mBq/dm3 respectively. The highest uranium activity concentrations were measured in the thermal groundwater from Mszczonow and Cieplice, while the lowest were observed in thermal ground water from Uniejow and Poddebice. In thermal groundwater from Skierniewice, uranium activity concentrations were below lower limit of detection (0.013 mBq/dm3). The 234U/238U activity ratio varied from 0.37 (Cieplice) to 1.30 (Poddebice well water).

Evaluation of technologically enhanced natural radiation near the coal-fired power plants in the Lodz region of Poland.

Radionuclide releases together with escaping fly ashes (from 45 x 10(6) kg in previous decades to 8 x 10(6) kg annually in 1996) from the main local and several small coal-fired power plants resulted in a relatively small increase in natural radioactivity levels in the Lodz region. The natural gamma terrestrial radiation dose rates (1 m above ground level) were measured at 82 points including in the vicinity of power plants, in the center of the town and on edge of the town. The average dose rate value for the first area was 36 +/- 1.2 nGy h (-1), whereas the same dose rate for the edge of town was slightly lower 30 +/- 0.9 nGy h (-1) but this difference was statistically significant. Further confirmation of the technologically slightly enhanced exposure of the local population to natural radionuclides was achieved by gamma-spectrometry measurement of the uranium and thorium decay series radionuclides in the surface soil profiles (up to 30 cm depth). The average increase of 226Ra and 232Th radionuclides in the top layer of soil (0-10 cm) according to the 20+/-30 cm depth layer was 21% and 17%, respectively. However, due to the relatively low levels of 232Th (14.3 Bq kg (-1)) and 238U (16.8 Bq kg (-1)) in this area, the annual average effective dose from the natural terrestrial radiation for the local population is also relatively low, 0.28 mSv only.

Temperature calibration of Pico-Rad detectors for radon measurement.

A simple mathematical equation linking the activity of adsorbed radon in the vials to the time and temperature of its exposure is discussed. The calibration coefficient--Ks, defined as activity measured in cpm after saturation time, corresponding to radon air concentration of 1 Bq m-3, was determined for four temperatures: 284, 291, 294 and 298 K. A linear relationship of ln Ks values versus T-1 was found. The relatively high difference in Ks values: 2.12 and 1.24 cpm/Bq m-3 for the temperatures of 284 and 298 K, respectively, was observed. It indicates that temperature fluctuations during Pico-Rad vial exposure may lead to erroneous results if the constant average temperature of exposure is introduced into a commonly used computer programme for calculating Rn concentration.

The use of Cerenkov radiation in the measurement of 115mCd in blood and other tissues.

A new method for the activity measurement of 115mCd in biological samples was proposed. After tissues mineralization with 60% perchloric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide (I) or with 0.5 M ethanolic sodium hydroxide (II) the solutions were measured in automatic liquid scintillation counter SL-30 by CERENKOV technique. The channels ratio method was successfully applied for standardization. The recoveries of 115mCd varied in the ranges: 93.6-102% and 82.7-99.3% for method I and II, respectively.