Comparison of five-minute radon-daughter measurements with long-term radon and radon-daughter concentrations

Technical Report · Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1983

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6518810· OSTI ID:6518810

Young, J A; Jackson, P O; Thomas, V W

Five-minute air filter radon daughter measurements were made in 84 buildings in Edgemont, South Dakota, in which annual average radon daughter concentrations have been determined from six 100-hour Radon Progeny Integrating Sampling Unit (RPISU) measurements. Averaging radon concentrations were also determined in 50 of these buildings using Terradex Track Etch detectors. The standard deviation of the difference between the (natural) logarithms of the RPISU annual averages and the logarithms of the air filter measurements (SD-ln) was found to be 0.52. This SD-ln is considerably smaller than the SD-ln of 0.71 between the RPISU annual averages and the air filter measurements reported by ALARA at Grand Junction, Colorado; presumably because a considerable number of air filter measurements in Edgemont were disregarded because of short turnover times or high wind speeds. Using the SD-ln of 0.52 it can be calculated that there would only be a 5% probability in Edgemont that the RPISU annual average would be greater than 0.015 WL if the five-minute measurement were equal to 0.010 WL. This indicates that the procedure used in Edgemont of clearing buildings from remedial action if the five-minute measurement were less than 0.010 WL was reasonable. There was about a 28% probability that the RPISU annual average would be less than 0.015 WL if the five-minute measurement were 0.033 WL, indicating that the procedure of performing an engineering assessment if the average of two five-minute measurements was greater than 0.033 WL was also reasonable. Comparison indicates that the average of two RPISU measurements taken six months apart would provide a dependable estimate of the annual average.

• Research Organization: Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC06-76RL01830
• OSTI ID: 6518810
• Report Number(s): NUREG/CR-3106; PNL-4591; ON: DE83007572
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
RADON
ECOLOGICAL CONCENTRATION
QUANTITATIVE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
AIR FILTERS
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
BUILDINGS
COLORADO
DAUGHTER PRODUCTS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
RADIATION DOSES
SAMPLING
SEASONAL VARIATIONS
SOUTH DAKOTA
AIR POLLUTION
CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
DOSES
ELEMENTS
EQUIPMENT
FEDERAL REGION VIII
FILTERS
FLUIDS
GASES
ISOTOPES
NONMETALS
NORTH AMERICA
POLLUTION
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
POLLUTION CONTROL EQUIPMENT
RARE GASES
USA
VARIATIONS
500200* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (-1989)