Atmospheric radon levels and its emanation rate in the environment of Kaiga

A systematic study of atmospheric radon levels and of radon emanation rates was conducted in the environment of Kaiga on the south-west coast of India where the installation of nuclear power reactors is in progress. 222Rn emanation rates were estimated employing the accumulating chamber method and were found to vary from 5.6 to 62.9 mBq m −2 s −1 with a geometric mean of 30.0 mBq m −2 s −1. The atmospheric concentrations were estimated using CR-39 solid state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) and found to vary from 4.7 to 27.9 Bq m −3 with a geometric mean of 13.4 Bq m −3. The results show a strong correlation between emanation rate and atmospheric concentration while showing a poor correlation between 226Ra concentration in surface soil and atmospheric concentration of 222Rn. The results are also compared and discussed in the light of relevant literature reported for other environments.