Determination of Radon Exhalation and Emanation of Hungarian Soil Samples

Abstract

In our study we determined the massic Rn-222 exhalation rate and emanation factor of soil samples from a western region of Hungary, Transdanubia. 145 samples were collected in the vicinity of populated settlements in Hungary¹⁾, because our study serves as a complementary measurement of the currently implemented National Radon Action Plan, the aim of which is to investigate the radon exposure of the public, required by the European Union²⁾. Our study is independent of legal requirements.
 The aim of the work was to investigate the regional occurrence of Rn-222 from soil by the processed samples, to analyse the results and to detect possible local hotspots, which can be used for further measurements to determine the radiation exposure of the population²⁾.
 The massic radon exhalation results ranged from 1.02 mBq/kg × h to 275.63 mBq/kg × h. The obtained emanation factor results ranged from 0.01 to 0.79³⁾.