Towards the use of small amounts of activated charcoal along with well-type NaI(Tl) detector for indoor radon measurements

The feasibility of using small quantities of activated charcoal and a 7.6 cm x 7.6 cm NaI(Tl) well-type detector was investigated for indoor radon measurements. Vials, filled with 10 g of charcoal, were exposed for different indoor radon concentration levels typical of Kuwait dwellings. After exposure, the vials were sealed and kept for 3 h to allow radon to come into radioactive equilibrium with its progenies and were then analysed by gamma-ray spectrometry using the well-type NaI(Tl) detector. The variation of radon absorption by the vials filled with charcoal with exposure time was also studied. A comparative study of the present technique with the standard technique of using 70 g charcoal canisters and flat NaI detector was also performed. After establishing the suitability of the technique, the charcoal vials were then used to investigate the effect of air-ventilation on the concentration levels of the indoor radon. Results show that there is a reduction in the radon concentration level (up to 25%) when the air-ventilation system was switched on. The paper presents the results of the study on the feasibility of combining small amounts of activated charcoal with a well-type NaI(Tl) detector in the measurement of indoor radon concentrations. (authors)