• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.63-70
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• 2017

Radon concentrations were measured in 250 groundwater samples collected from the Goesan area where uraniferous black slate and granites abundantly occur in the formations. The measured radon levels ranged from 0.90 to 7,218.7 Bq/L with the median value of 54.3 Bq/L, similar to the value measured in the nationwide survey in 4,853 wells (52.1 Bq/L). The median value was highest in the Cretaceous granite area (390.0 Bq/L) while it was as low as 20.0~58.8 Bq/L in the Ogcheon meta-sedimentary rock areas. About 23.6% of the total samples exceeded the WHO guideline value of 100 Bq/L established in 2011. The exceeding rate was 69.0, 39.4, and 7.0~13.7% in the Cretaceous granite area, Jurassic granite area, and Ogcheon meta-sedimentary rock areas, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4096-4101
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• 2023

Radon is a radioactive gas produced from the uranium-238 series. Radon gas affects public health and is the second cause of lung cancer. The study samples were collected from one area of the city of Jazan, southwest of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The influence of engineering and physical parameters on the emanation coefficient of gas and other gas parameters was studied. Parameters for radon were measured using a CR-39 Solid-State Nuclear Track Detector (SSNTD) through a sealed emission container. The results showed that the emanation coefficient was affected directly by the change in the grain size of the soil. All parameters of measured radon gas have the same behavior as the emanation coefficient. The relationship between particle size and emanation coefficient showed a good correlation. The values of the emanation coefficient were inversely affected by the mass of the sample, and the rest of the parameters showed an inverse behavior. The results showed that increasing the volume of the container increases the accumulation of radon sons on the wall of the container, which increases the emission factor. The rest of the parameters of radon gas showed an inverse behavior with increasing container size. The results concluded that changing the engineering and physical parameters has a significant impact on both the emanation coefficient and all radon parameters. The emanation coefficient affects the values of the radiation dose of an alpha particle.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2020.06a
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• pp.189-190
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• 2020

The importance of indoor air quality management has recently been highlighted due to environmental problems such as indoor air pollution. Among indoor air pollutants, carbon dioxide occurs in cooking, heating, burning, and causes forgetfulness, dementia and amnesia. Radon, which occurs in building materials, soil and ground, is a type 1 carcinogen that causes lung cancer in the body through breathing. These substances can be released from the room through ventilation, but there is a limit to reducing the amount of indoor activity due to reduced ventilation conditions due to increased indoor activity time. However, these substances can be removed from the gas by adsorption. The purpose of this study was to identify the properties of granular active and powdered active white soil and mix them to make cement-based active white soil adsorbent matrix for carbon dioxide, fine dust and radon gas adsorption, and to evaluate indoor air improvements according to the mixing scale. The results of the experiment showed that active carbon dioxide adsorption performance increased for carbon dioxide and radon as the exchange rate increased through physical adsorption. In particular, the higher the replacement rate of the granular active bag, the better adsorption performance was shown.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.57-66
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• 1988

A series of experiments is performed to measure radon concentration in the near-surface soil gas at the four locations (Cheju-Si, Seoguipo-Si, Taejeong-eup, Seongsan-eup) in Cheju Island, using CR-39 detectors placed inside radon cups. Two types of radon cups are installed in shallow holes of about 15 cm in diameter and 50cm in depth. The optimum etching conditions, i.e., the concentration of NaOH solution, etchant temperature and etching time, are found to be 625N, $70^{\circ}C$ and 5.5 hours for CR-39 detectors. A typical conversion factor of radon cup is calculated as $$1track/mm^3{\cdot}30day=0.059Bq/{\ell}$$. Average radon concentrations over 30 days measured in Cheju Island from May 1, 1987 to April 23, 1988 are $3.1{\pm}0.3Bq/{\ell}$ for open radon cups and $1.7{\pm}0.2Bq/{\ell}$ for closed radon cups.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.415-424
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• 1998

In order to investigate soil-gas $^{222}Rn$ concentrations, Kwanak Campus (Seoul National University), Boeun (Choong-buk) and Gapyung (Kyonggi) areas were selected and classified depending on their base rock types. Radon risk indices of these study areas decrease in the order of Gapyung>Kwanak Campus>Boeun areas, and in the order of rock type as banded gneiss>granite gneiss>granite>black slate-shale>mica schist>shale-lirnestone>phyllite-schist. Radon emanating trends with water content and grain size of soils were assessed by modified Morse 3 min. method. Radon emanation increases with the increase of water content in soils which is lower than 6~16 wt.%, and decreases in the range of higher than 6-16 wt. %. It shows that Rn emanation increases with the decrease of soil grain size. Radioactivity analysis of radionuclides of 238U series in some soil samples shows that radioactive disequilibrium state between $^{226}Ra$ and $^{238}U$ exists owing to different geochemical behavior of each radionuclide, and, it is necessary to carry out radioactive isotope geochemical approach for soil-gas $^{222}Rn$ study.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.19-31
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• 2013

To figure out the decay characteristics of naturally occurring radionuclides, eight sampled groundwaters from a monitoring borehole having high levels of uranium and radon concentrations in a two mica granitic area have analyzed by liquid scintillation counters (LSC) for over 1 year. In December 2011, three groundwater samples (DJ1, DJ2, DJ3) were obtained from each aquifer system located at -20 m, -40 m, -60 m of the monitoring borehole below the ground surface, respectively. Five samples (DJ4, DJ5, DJ6, DJ7, DJ8) were additionally gained from each aquifer positioned -20 m, -40 m, -60 m, -100 m, -105 m of the borehole in February 2012, respectively. Temporal variation characteristics of uranium and radon concentrations have showed over maximum 2.1 times and 1.4 times fluctuations of the values in the same sampling intervals over time, respectively. The intervals of -40 m and -105 m in the borehole have the highest values of uranium and radon concentrations, respectively. This may imply that the concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides such as uranium and radon in groundwater have been changed over time and indicate that the qualities of groundwaters from the aquifers developed at each interval in the borehole are different each other. This discrepancy, moreover, could be caused by behaviour differences between uranium which is in ionic status having a half life of 4.6 billion years and is transported along with the flowing groundwater, and radon which is in gaseous status having a 3.82 day's half life in the aquifer systems. Physicochemical characteristics of groundwaters from the aquifer systems could be identified by the results of the on-situ measuring items such as pH and Eh, and the major ionic contents. The CPM values of eight groundwater samples analysed by LSC over one year have shown not to follow the theoretical decay curve of the radon. The CPM values of the samples have ranged from 2 to 7.5 after it had passed two months when the theoretical CPM values of the radon started zero since the initial analysis. Alpha and beta particle spectrums have shown the peaks of radium-226, however they have not revealed any peaks of radon and it's daughter products such as polonium-218 and 214, bismuth-214 for the late stage of the analysis. This implies that the groundwater from the borehole may contain radium-226 having a half life of 1,600 years which decays continuously.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.501-511
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• 2017

Natural radionuclides such as uranium and radon from 170 groundwater wells in Jeonnam Province were investigated, together with hydrogeochemical properties, and concentration maps of uranium and radon were also constructed in this study. Characteristics of their concentrations and occurrence were discussed using hydrogeochemical factors and geostatistical methods based on individual geological units. Though uranium and radon in groundwater show a wide range in the concentration, most of which occur as low levels except a few sites. Based on factor analysis, correlation coefficients between uranium and radon are very low. Such results verify that these radionuclides behave independently, well consistent with most previous results investigated nationwide in groundwater. Besides uranium and radon, most hydrochemical components in groundwater show a close relation to indicate the water-rock interaction taken place actively in aquifer.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.98-104
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• 2007

A survey was performed to evaluate the distribution of radon concentrations in groundwater of South Korea. Groundwaters of 615 wells were sampled for this study during the four years from 1999 to 2002. The results showed radon values ranging from 4 pCi/L to 40,010 pCi/L with a mean and a median of 1,862 pCi/L and 920 pCi/L, respectively. The samples were classified into five groups according to the rock types; granite, sedimentary rocks, metamorphic rocks, Ogcheon metamorphic rocks, and Cheju volcanics. Mean radon concentrations were highest (2,595 pCi/L) in granites and lowest (238 pCi/L) in Cheju volcanic rocks. The groundwaters generally showed the highest radon content (2,298 pCi/L) in the weathered and the fractured bedrock complex and the lowest level (672 pCi/L) in the alluvium. The results showed that the radon concentrations in South Korea are low relative to those reported from other countries. But further investigations are suggested to confirm our results.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.79-86
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• 2001

This study presents the quantitative exposure assessment of indoor radon released from groundwater. Most of the Indoor radon comes directly from soil beneath the basement or foundation. Recently, radon in groundwater releases to indoor air whenever the water is used and contributes to the total inhalation risk from indoor air. This study first develops a mathematical model to describe the transfer and distribution of radon released from groundwater in a house. Then, daily human exposures through inhalation or such radon are estimated with the model for an male adult based on two sets of exposure scenarios. The results obtained from the study would help increase the understanding of risk assessment issues associated with the indoor radon released from groundwater.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.286-295
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• 2022

In this study, the concentration distribution of indoor radon in Daejeon Metropolitan City was investigated and the reduction efficiency was evaluated by applying the radon reduction methods. Based on the results of the National Institute of Environmental Research, indoor radon measurements were conducted on 24 selected houses, and the average value of District A was 261 Bq/m3, far exceeding the standard, and even in the same house, indoor radon concentration was affected by measurement point and time. In the case of eight houses that applied the soil venting method to reduce radon, the indoorradon level was significantly lowerthan the standard value, and the average reduction efficiency was also around 55%, indicating a good reduction effect. In addition, the average reduction efficiency was around 90% in the two houses that carried out the shielding method, showing the very excellent effect of the indoorradon reduction. Even if the same reduction method is applied when reducing radon, the reduction efficiency may vary depending on various factors such as the structure of the building, the frequency of ventilation, and the season, so it is necessary to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of the reduction method in the future. Based on this, it is necessary to establish indoor radon management measures in Daejeon Metropolitan City to reduce human harm caused by radon exposure.