Framework for evaluating legacy high activity building material based on indoor gamma radiation surveys.

IF 1.8 3区工程技术 Q3 CHEMISTRY, INORGANIC & NUCLEAR

Applied Radiation and Isotopes Pub Date : 2025-11-01 Epub Date: 2025-07-19 DOI:10.1016/j.apradiso.2025.112034

Zsolt Homoki, Ágnes Szigeti, Anita Csordás, Gergely Tóth, Hegedűs Miklós, Tibor Kovács

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

In Europe, people spend most of their time in buildings. The indoor gamma radiation has the highest contribution to our natural exposure after the inhalation of radon and its daughter elements and its level can reach sometimes very high values. But there is no reference level which can support the decision about the necessity of mitigation actions. Our purpose was to characterise the usual level of indoor gamma radiation in the Hungarian homes and to originate a Reference Level by the adoption of legislation applied for building materials. In this article, a statistical evaluation was made from the results of outdoor and indoor gamma radiation surveys made between 1995 and 2024 using passive and active detectors and gamma-ray spectrometric results of building materials. The average outdoor and indoor gamma radiation level was found to be 97 nSv/h and 149 nSv/h, respectively. According to our calculation, 250 nSv/h ambient gamma dose rate corresponds to the 1 mSv annual effective dose. Therefore, the Reference Level of indoor gamma radiation should be 350 nSv/h for the Hungarian homes. Such kind of elevated levels was detected only in buildings where bottom ash weas used as floor space filling material or the main walls were made from bottom ash concrete blocks. Additionally, a direct link was found between the gamma dose rate levels near to the surface of the building materials and its radioactivity.

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基于室内伽马辐射调查评估遗留高活性建筑材料的框架。

在欧洲，人们大部分时间都呆在建筑物里。在吸入氡及其子元素后，室内伽马辐射对我们的自然暴露贡献最大，其水平有时可达到非常高的值。但是，没有一个参考水平可以支持关于减缓行动必要性的决定。我们的目的是描述匈牙利家庭室内伽马辐射的通常水平，并通过适用于建筑材料的立法提出一个参考水平。本文对1995年至2024年间使用被动和主动探测器进行的室外和室内伽马辐射调查结果以及建筑材料的伽马射线能谱测量结果进行了统计评价。室外和室内的平均辐射水平分别为97 nSv/h和149 nSv/h。根据我们的计算，250 nSv/h的环境伽马剂量率对应于1 mSv的年有效剂量。因此，匈牙利家庭室内伽马辐射的参考水平应为350 nSv/h。只有在使用底灰作为地板空间填充材料或主墙由底灰混凝土砌块制成的建筑物中，才会检测到这种水平升高。此外，发现建筑材料表面附近的伽马剂量率水平与其放射性之间存在直接联系。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Applied Radiation and Isotopes 工程技术-核科学技术

CiteScore

3.00

自引率

12.50%

发文量

406

审稿时长

13.5 months

期刊介绍： Applied Radiation and Isotopes provides a high quality medium for the publication of substantial, original and scientific and technological papers on the development and peaceful application of nuclear, radiation and radionuclide techniques in chemistry, physics, biochemistry, biology, medicine, security, engineering and in the earth, planetary and environmental sciences, all including dosimetry. Nuclear techniques are defined in the broadest sense and both experimental and theoretical papers are welcome. They include the development and use of α- and β-particles, X-rays and γ-rays, neutrons and other nuclear particles and radiations from all sources, including radionuclides, synchrotron sources, cyclotrons and reactors and from the natural environment. The journal aims to publish papers with significance to an international audience, containing substantial novelty and scientific impact. The Editors reserve the rights to reject, with or without external review, papers that do not meet these criteria. Papers dealing with radiation processing, i.e., where radiation is used to bring about a biological, chemical or physical change in a material, should be directed to our sister journal Radiation Physics and Chemistry.