Radioactivity of building materials and the gamma radiation in dwellings

Abstract

Measurements of the radioactivity in some common building materials in Norway are reported, together with calculations of the gamma-ray exposure from walls of different materials. Model rooms are used in calculations of the mean exposure inside concrete, brick and light-weight expanded clay aggregate buildings. These calculations give very good agreement with previous experimental results. The radiological implications of using building materials with high concentrations of radioactivity are also discussed.

Gamma radioactivity levels and their corresponding external exposure of soil samples from tantalite mining areas in Oke-Ogun, South-Western Nigeria

“…The radium equivalent activity is calculated from equation (4) The current regulation is that Ra eq should be inferior to 370 Bq kg -1 for any material that will be used in building of dwellings (UNSCEAR, 1982 (Straden, 1979). The mean radium equivalents obtained are presented in Table IV.…”

Indoor gamma radiation and radon concentrations in a Norwegian carbonatite area

“…Building materials manufactured in Norway have been reported to contain low levels of radioactivity (Stranden, 1979), and the observed discrepancy between indoor radon-222 levels in dwelling with foundation walls made of light-weight concrete and dwellings with normal concrete in the Fen area is more likely attributable to the higher permeability of the former material, facilitating transport of radon to the dwellings, rather than enhanced levels of radium-226 in this material. Since the concentrations of natural radioactive substances always are low in surface waters, the major source of indoor radon-222 concentrations in the surveyed buildings is assumed to be the building ground.…”

Distribution of natural radioactivity and assessment of radioactive dose of Western Anatolian plutons, Turkey

“…A standard room model describes the environment indoors and has to be considered for radioactive dose calculations. According to previous studies (Krisiuk et al, 1971;Stranden, 1979;Koblinger, 1984), the following typical room models are widely acknowledged: 1) a room with 4 × 5 × 2.8 m dimensions, having walls 2350 kg m -3 dense and 0.2 m thick; 2) a shell of spherical shape with 2.7 m radius, 0.223 m peripheral thickness, and 1890 kg m -3 dense; 3) a hole with an infinitely thick medium around it. The indices introduced by the European Commission (1999), as well as the first room model (parallelepiped) having no doors and windows, have been used in our study.…”