The influence of building material structure on radon emanation.

In this work, the radon emanation coefficients for selected building materials that are most often used in Serbia for covering floor surfaces (concrete, concrete screed, granite, glazed ceramic tiles, marble, roofing tile, and terrazzo tile) were determined, and the influence of the material structure on their values. The concentration ofRa activity in the samples was determined using the gamma spectrometry method. Radon emanation was measured with the RAD7 device.

Corrections of HPGe detector efficiency curve due to true coincidence summing by program EFFTRAN and by Monte Carlo simulations.

Standard reference sources, used for efficiency curve calibration of detector, often contain radionuclides with complex decay schemes (such as Co, Y, Eu …), introducing a potential problem in gamma-ray spectrometry, due to the appearance of coincidence summing of detected photons, in particular at a low source-detector distance. In this paper, a set of Monte Carlo simulations of an identical experimental setup were performed in order to obtain the efficiency curve of coaxial p-type HPGe detector for energy region (0-2) MeV, with the effect of true coincidence summing and without it. Obtained efficiency curves are compared with the experimental curve after applied EFFTRAN corrections.

The possibility of the phosphogypsum use in the production of brick: Radiological and structural characterization.

In this paper, phosphogypsum (PG) with the content of Ra of about 500 Bq kg was used as a clay additive in mass ratios of (0-40) % and its influence on the radiological and mineralogical characteristics of the obtained brick samples was monitored. After sintering the samples at 1000 ℃, the formation of the mineral phase gehlenite was observed, and its share increased with the share of PG in the samples. The Monte Carlo method was used to determine the gamma dose rates, and consequently annual effective dose, for a standard room, with dimensions 4 × 5 × 2.

Estimation of absorbed gamma dose rate from granite by Monte Carlo simulation approach.

Apart from the continuous exposure of humans to background ionising radiation, an increased level of radiation may also originate from the use of building materials with an enhanced level of radioactivity. Thus, it is necessary to examine the content of radionuclides present in building materials, as well as the corresponding dose which may be received by residents from these materials. In this paper, particular attention was dedicated to finding the absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose caused by the presence of naturally occurring radioisotopes Ra, Th, and K in granite, a widely used building material, by means of Monte Carlo simulations.