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SITE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL RADON POTENTIALS
Citation:
Nielson, K., R. Holt, AND V. Rogers. SITE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL RADON POTENTIALS. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-95/161 (NTIS PB96-140553), 1995.
Impact/Purpose:
information
Description:
The report presents a theoretical basis for measuring site-specific radon potentials. However, the empirical measurements suggest that the precision of such measurements is marginal, leaving an uncertainty of about a factor of 2 in site-specific estimates. Although this may be useful in some applications, it probably is inadequate for most decisions about construction of radon-resistant building features. Although more detailed site characterization (soil borings and measurements of radium, emanation, moisture, and permeability profiles) can improve precision, the additional expense may not be justified in comparison to the cost of more conservative use of radon-resistant building features. Field tests of soil radon flux and moisture measurements were conducted at 26 house sites in Polk County, FL, to evaluate their utility in predicting site-specific radon potentials. Radon fluxes also were measured from bare concrete surfaces where they were accessible. Yard gamma-ray measurements were also conducted, but failed to show good correlation with the measured radon fluxes. The measured soil radon fluxes and moistures showed localized trends in radon potential that compared well with mapped radon potentials in some cases, but not in others. For the 26 houses, the site-specific radon potentials averaged twice the potentials from the generalized radon maps.
URLs/Downloads:
NTISCONTACT.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 8 KB, about PDF)SITE-SPECIFIC CHARACTERIZATION OF SOIL RADON POTENTIALS