• Title/Summary/Keyword: Rn-222

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Occurrence of Uranium-238 and Rn-222 in Groundwater and Its Relationship with Helium Isotope (지하수 내 우라늄-238 및 라돈-222 산출과 헬륨 동위원소와의 상관성 연구)

  • Jeong, Chan Ho;Lee, Yu Jin;Lee, Yong Cheon;Hong, Jin Woo;Kim, Cheon Hwan;Nagao, Keisuke;Kim, Young-Seog;Kang, Tae-Seob
    • The Journal of Engineering Geology
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    • v.31 no.4
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    • pp.659-669
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    • 2021
  • The purpose of this study is to elucidate the relationship between occurrence of natural radioactive materials such as 238U and 222Rn and original mixing ratio of helium isotope of groundwater from various geology, and to suggest the underground aquifer environment from helium original mixing data. 9 groundwater samples were collected from five study areas, and 238U, Rn-222 and helium isotope were analyzed. A high 238U content of the range of 218~477 ㎍ /L in the groundwater occurs in the twomica granite. 4He air-crust mixing ratio and the Rn-222 content show a rough relation, that is, Rn-222 content increases according to the increase of 4He crust mixing ratio. Because of helium and radon are an inert gas, their behavior in underground environment is assumed as an analogous. The 238U content and He isotope in groundwater does not show any distinct correlation. The groundwater can be classified as three groups (air, air-crust mixing, crust-mantle mixing origin) on the diagram of 3He/4He vs 4He/20Ne, which is composed of original mixing line from air-crust-mantle end members. This original mixing of helium can provide the information of underground aquifer characteristic such as the connection with surface environment or isolation condition from air environment.

Measurement of Rn-222 Gas Concentration of Newly Constructed Apartment House in Gwangju Gwangsan-Gu (광주광역시 광산구 소재 신축 아파트 라돈가스 농도 계측)

  • Jang, Hee jun;Lee, Sang bock
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.9 no.4
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    • pp.257-261
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    • 2015
  • Radon is produced after the Uranium-238 and thorium-232 undergone radioactive decay process is a colorless, odorless inert gas is stored in a basement or an enclosed space. Building materials are made by a rock or soil materials. Form of radon gas is introduced into the lungs through the respiratory tract and deposited in the lungs or bronchial Daughter nuclides radon causes lung cancer. In this study, To subject the Constructed Apartment in Gwangju Gwangsan-Gu, the position is closed window and opened window was measured using a measuring instrument for radon. The measured results indicate that the measurement was carried out in concentrations of radon gas measured at Newly Constructed Apartment is low than United states in the radon concentration in air public 4 pCi called radon gas baseline maximum allowable concentrations. The exposure caused by radon concentration of new construction apartment when on the measurement results is expected to be insignificant. However, when radon gas like this is that it accumulates in the body and lungs get damaged due to exposure, such as lung cancer often open the windows to reduce the radon concentration measurements, such as in radiation protection aspects to the ventilation to reduce exposure it is considered necessary.

The Study of Radon Activity and Uranium Concentration of Ground Water and Surface Water (지하수와 지표수에서의 라돈 및 우라늄의 실태 조사)

  • Oh, Youngmi;Lee, Jongbok;Shin, Kyungjin;Kim, Hakchul;Lee, Jaehee;Hwang, Sangchul;Jung, Sanggi;Lee, Sangtae
    • Journal of Korean Society on Water Environment
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    • v.23 no.2
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    • pp.201-205
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    • 2007
  • This paper reports the amount of $^{222}Rn$ and $^{238}U$ in 18 sites of ground water and 30 sites of surface water. The instrument used to count $^{222}Rn$ activity was the liquid scintillation counter (LSC) which could resolute ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ radiations. And $^{238}U$ was analyzed by the inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Radon and Uranium were not detected in raw and treated water which were sampled in a water treatment plant. However, radon ($^{222}Rn$) was high concentration in ground water from Jeon-la, Gang-won. So was uranium ($^{238}U$) in case of ground water from Gang-won, Choong-chung. Radon ($^{222}Rn$) activities were detected less than 15 pCi/L at 5 sampling points, 15~300 pCi/L at 7 sampling points, 300~4000 pCi/L at 6 sampling points. However, Radon ($^{222}Rn$) activities of all ground water samples were less than 4,000 pCi/L, which was bellow American Alternative Maximum Contamination Level (AMCL). Uranium ($^{238}U$) concentrations were less than $0.1{\mu}g/L$ at 5 sampling points, from $0.1{\mu}g/L$ to $20{\mu}g/L$ at 13 sampling points. Uranium was not detected in about 30% of the whole samples, but the concentration ranged from relatively low to high concentrations depending on the sampling point. The minimum detectable activity (MDA) of radon was 15 pCi/L. and the detection limit of uranium was $0.1{\mu}g/L$.

Submarine Discharge and Geochemical Characteristics of Groundwater in the Southeastern Coastal Aquifer off Busan, Korea (부산 남동지역 연안 대수층내 지하수의 지화학적 특성과 유출)

  • Yang, Han-Soeb;Hwang, Dong-Woon
    • Korean Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
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    • v.40 no.3
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    • pp.167-177
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    • 2007
  • We measured the salinity, pH, and concentrations of $^{222}Rn$ and nutrients in groundwater in the southeastern coastal aquifer off Busan from March to September 2005 to evaluate its submarine discharge and geochemical characteristics. Salinity in coastal groundwater increased sharply at 20 m depth and exceeded 25 ppt below 40 m during the study period, indicating that a strong transition zone between fresh groundwater and seawater developed between 20 and 40 m depths. Fresh groundwater in the upper layer of this transition zone was characterized by high pH, $^{222}Rn$, dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN), and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) and low dissolved inorganic silicate (DSi) relative to seawater in the lower layer. In addition, the vertical profiles of the $^{222}Rn$, DIN, and DIP concentrations imply that a strong advective groundwater flow occurs along the interface of fresh groundwater and seawater near 20 m depth. The geochemical constituents in coastal groundwater also showed strong seasonal variation, with the highest concentrations in summer (June 2005) due to the changes of groundwater recharge and sea level. This implies that the input of terrestrial chemical species into the coastal ocean through submarine groundwater discharge (SGD) could change seasonally. To ascertain the seasonal variation of SGD and SGD-driven chemical species fluxes, and associated ecological responses in the coastal ocean, more extensive studies are necessary using various SGD tracers or seepage meters in the future.

Thermal Water Level Change and Geochemistry in the Suanbo Area, Korea (수안보지역의 온천수위 변동과 수리지구화학에 관한 연구)

  • Yum, Byoung-Woo;Kim, Yongje
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Groundwater Environment
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    • v.6 no.2
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    • pp.59-65
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    • 1999
  • Both the groundwater changes due to different pumping rates and the geochemistry of thermal waters in the Suanbo area are considered in this study. The observation of groundwater level change since 1991 shows that the change is directly correlated with pumping rates of thermal waters and reveals the retardation of ca. 5 weeks after pumping. The hydrogeological aquifer in the area is under reducing condition. The thermal waters are of Na-HCO$_3$ type. and are alkaline (pH=8.5∼8.7) with low TDS values (274∼284 mg/l) and high concentrations of Na (68∼72 mg/l). F (6.4∼8.9 mg/l), and HCO$_3$(136∼146 mg/l). Oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios of thermal water indicate a meteoric water origin. The activities of Rn-222 and Ra-226 in both thermal water and local groundwater were determined to delineate possible geochemical controls on the Rn-222 and Ra-226. The Rn-222 concentrations are several orders of magnitude greater than the Ra-226 concentrations. The concentrations of Rn-222 range from 190 to 7.490 pCi/1 with an average of 2,522 pCil/l. and those of Ra-226 average 0.32 pCi/1 with the range from 0.25 to 0.42 pCi/1. The concentrations of Rn-222 and Ra-226 are inversely correlated with EC and alkalinity. The pH it positively correlated with Ra-226. The correlation between Rn-222 and Ra-226 is poor. Thermal waters in the study area are produced from highly fractured phyllite. The thermal water qualify. CSAMT (controled-source audiofrequency magnetotelluric) prospecting, and petrological evidences, however, indicate that the heat is possibly transmitted through deep normal faults reaching a deep granite batholith, and the phyllite acts only as a groundwater pathway.

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Background Reduction for the ${\gamma}$-Ray Spectrometry of Environmental Radioactivity (환경방사능의 감마선 분광분석을 위한 백그라운드 소멸)

  • Seo, Bum Kyoung;Lee, Kil Yong;Yoon, Yoon Yeol;Lee, Dae Won
    • Analytical Science and Technology
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    • v.14 no.3
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    • pp.212-220
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    • 2001
  • This study was performed to establish the analytical method of radium and radon in various environmental samples with the ${\gamma}$-ray spectrometry. The major problem in the measurements of low level ${\gamma}$-ray, such as environmental radioactivity, is the fluctuation of ${\gamma}$-ray background spectrum. To overcome this problem, a nitrogen gas was filled up in the detector chamber to reduce the background counts due to airborne radioactivities, i.e., $^{214}Pb$ and $^{214}Bi$, the daughters of $^{222}Rn$ in air. When nitrogen gas flowed around the detector, peak counts of ${\gamma}$-rays from the daughters of $^{222}Rn$ decreased about 80% below 1 MeV and about 20~50% above 1 MeV. The use of nitrogen purging results in approximately tenfold increment of sensitivity.

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Effective Dose Equivalent due to Inhalation of Indoor Radon-222 Daughters in Korea (한국인의 라돈-222 자핵종 호흡 실효선량당량 평가)

  • Chang, Si-Young;Ha, Chung-Woo;Lee, Byoung-Hun
    • Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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    • v.16 no.1
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    • pp.1-13
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    • 1991
  • Effective dose equivalents resulting from inhalation of indoor radon-222 daughters at 12 residential areas in Korea were assessed by a simple mathematical lung dosimetry model based on the measurements of long-term averaged radon concentrations at 340 dwellings. The long-term averaged indoor radon-222 concentrations and corresponding eqilibrium equivalent radon $concentration(EEC_{Rn})$ measured by passive time-integrating CR-39 radon cups are in the range of $33.82{\sim}61.42Bq/m^3(median\;:\;48.90Bq/m^3)$ and of $13.53{\sim}24.57Bq/m^3(median\;:\;19.55Bq/m^3)$, respectively. The effective dose equvalent conversion factor for the exposure to unit $EEC_{Rn}$ derived in this study was estimated $1.07{\times}10^{-5}mSv/Bq\;h\;m^{-3}$ for a reference adult and agreed well with those recommended by the ICRP and UNSCEAR. The annual average dose equivalent to the lung $(H_{LUNG})$ from inhalation exposure to measured $EEC_{Rn}$ was estimated to be 20.90 mSv and resulting effective dose $equivalent(H_E)$ was to be 1.25 mSv, which is about 50% of the natural radiation exposure of 2.40 mSv/y to the public reported by the UNSCEAR.

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Characterizing Groundwater Discharge and Radon Concentration in Coastal Waters, Busan City (부산 해안지역의 물의 라돈 농도와 지하수 유출 특성)

  • Ok, Soon-Il;Hamm, Se-Yeong;Lee, Yong-Woo;Cha, Eun-Jee;Kim, Sang-Hyun;Kim, In-Soo;Khim, Boo-Keun
    • Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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    • v.16 no.5
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    • pp.53-66
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    • 2011
  • Groundwater which infiltrated in recharge areas discharges in the forms of evapotranspiration, baseflow to streams, groundwater abstraction and eventually flows into the sea. This study characterized radon-222 concentration and electrical conductivity (EC) in coastal groundwater discharge, well groundwater, Ilkwang Stream water, and seawater in the coastal area of Busan Metropolitan City and subsequently estimated groundwater discharge rate to the sea. The median value of Rn-222 concentration is highest in well groundwater (18.36 Bq/L), and then decreases in the order of coastal groundwater discharge (15.92 Bq/L), Ilkwang Stream water (1.408 Bq/L), and seawater (0.030 Bq/L). The relationship between Rn-222 concentration and EC values is relatively strong in well groundwater and then in seawater. However, the relationship is not visible between coastal groundwater discharge and Ilkwang Stream water. The groundwater discharge rate to the sea is estimated as $3,130m^3$/day by using radon mass budget model and $16,788m^3$/day by using Darcy's law.