Radon survey in Kuwait houses

Measurement of indoor radon levels in Kuwait houses is part of a project undertaken to estimate the average annual effective doses from different sources for Kuwait population. It is known that airborne 222Rn in houses is a major contributor to this value. Among common sources of radon in dwellings, geological factors may play important role. Kuwait is situated on the northern coastal area of the Arabian Gulf. From geological point of view its surface soil is relatively uniform - desert type with prevailing smooth sand sheets with relatively low uranium and radium concentrations;. The first pilot study of indoor Rn concentration showed surprisingly relative high concentrations with mean values above 40 Bqm-3. In this study results of a survey of indoor radon in 150 houses in different parts of Kuwait over summer period are presented. Among many methods developed for indoor radon measurement, the method using vials with activated charcoal adsorbent and liquid scintillation counting proved to be very reliable and especially useful for large scale surveillance and therefore this method has been applied in this survey. (author)