Calculation of Radiogenic Heat Productions from Marble and Glazed Tiles Used as Covering Building Materials in Turkey

Abstract

Covering or decorative building materials derived from rock and soil include primordial radionuclides such as 238 U and 232 Th series, and potassium radioisotope ( 40 K) varying from one country to another and from one location to another in the same country. The kinetic energy of radiation emitted from these radionuclides in the covering building materials like other building materials are sources of radiogenic heat. Marble tiles are commonly used as wall and floor covering, facing materials for buildings, kitchen counter- top, vanity tops and inner and outer decorative materials because of their appearance, attractive colours, polished surface and durability against external conditions and high resistance to wear. In this study, radiogenic heat productions of marble and glazed tiles samples are calculated based on the elemental concentrations of uranium (in terms of mg/kg), thorium (in terms of mg/kg) and potassium (in terms of %) in the samples collected from various provinces in Turkey. The radiogenic heat productions from the marble tile samples varied from 0.05 to 2.17 µW/m 3 with an average of 0.26 µW/m 3 . The average the radiogenic heat production of the marble tile samples is approximately four times lower than the average continental crust of 0.9 µW/m 3 .