First step of indoor thoron mapping of Kosovo and Metohija

Abstract

© The Author 2014. The survey of natural radioactivity in Kosovo and Metohija involves 180 indoor 220Rn measurements. They were performed either in living rooms or in bedrooms of 127 individual, rural type houses, using a passive method with application of CR-39 solid-state nuclear track detectors. Detectors were deployed at a distance of >10 cm from the walls. Values of all 180 measurements for 127 houses give an arithmetic mean (AM) of 132 Bq m-3. The data for indoor thoron mapping arranged within 10 km × 10 km grid cells give an AM of 118 Bq m-3 over AM grid cells. The distribution over individual data and the grid cells can be described as normal. About 19 % of the area of Kosovo and Metohija was covered by mapping. This study includes statistical analysis and discussion of factors, such as geogenic and seasonal, which possibly affect thoron concentration, as well as comparison with simultaneous radon measurements.