CONSEQUENCES OF USING HOME-MADE RADON SOURCES FOR MEASURING THE RADON DIFFUSION COEFFICIENT

摘要

The applicability of home-made radon sources for determining the radon diffusion coefficient of waterproofing materials was studied for three representatives of materials with a high radium content: uraninite, slag concrete and filter sand. The results of our investigation confirmed that the radon production rate of home-made radon sources is significantly lower than the radon production rate of artificial sources. Consequently, home-made sources are usually unable to generate concentrations higher than 100 kBq/m~3 in the source container. Therefore, they cannot be used for determining radon diffusion coefficients lower than 1 x 10~(-12) m~2/s. In addition, when home-made radon sources are used, only time-dependent mathematical solutions of the non-stationary radon diffusion can be used for determining the radon diffusion coefficient from the measured data.