The contribution of construction materials to the airborne radon concentrations in an underground facility

The radon concentrations within fiber crete and the native material from the U1a Complex at the Nevada Tests Site, Nye County, Nevada, were quantified and compared to each other. Gamma spectroscopy measurements resulted in an average 222Rn concentration to be 0.038 +/- 0.0011 and 0.014 +/- 0.001 Bq g-1 for the native material and fiber crete, respectively. The emanation of 222Rn from the host material was measured via lucas cell scintillation. The average emanation coefficients were significantly higher for the cured fiber crete at 0.07 than for the native material at 0.005. While the cured fiber crete emanation coefficients matched the expected literature values, the coefficient for the native material measured much lower than its expected literature value. Exhalation rates, the amount of radon gas that actually diffuses from the soil gas to the ambient air, were sampled with passive diffusion charcoal canisters. Results, measured by gamma spectroscopy, indicate the average exhalation rate for the native material surfaces was 0.0021 +/- 0.0002 Bq cm -2 hr-1; much higher than that for the fiber crete surface at 0.00099 +/- 0.00025 Bq cm-2 hr-1.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MS)

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Health Physics and Diagnostic Sciences

Grantor dc:publisher

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Year

2000

Author dc:creator

• Brounstein, Robert Arthur

Contributors dc:contributor

• Mark J. Rudin

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

https://oasis.library.unlv.edu/rtds/1231

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:oasis.library.unlv.edu:rtds-2230