Validation of the Abbreviated Radon Progeny Integrating Sampling Unit (RPISU) Method for Mesa County, Colorado

摘要

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Remedial Action and Waste Technology established the Technical Measurements Center at the DOE Grand Junction, Colorado, Projects Office to standardize, calibrate, and compare measurements made in support of DOE remedial action programs. Indoor radon-daughter concentration measurements are made to determine whether a structure is in need of remedial action. The Technical Measurements Center conducted this study to validate an abbreviated Radon Progeny Integrated Sampling Unit (RPISU) method of making indoor radon-daughter measurements to determine whether a structure has a radon-daughter concentration (RDC) below the levels specified in various program standards. The Technical Measurements Center established a criterion against which RDC measurements made using the RPISU sampling method are evaluated to determine if sampling can be terminated or whether further measurements are required. This abbreviated RPISU criterion was tested against 317 actual sets of RPISU data from measurements made over an eight-year period in Mesa County, Colorado. The data from each location were tested against a standard that was assumed to be the same as the actual annual average RDC from that location. At only two locations was the criterion found to fail. Using the abbreviated RPISU method, only 0.6% of locations sampled can be expected to be falsely indicated as having annual average RDC levels below a given standard. (ERA citation 12:037820)