Field tests of a radon progeny sampler for the determination of effective dose

Abstract

A two-screen sampler (an effective dosimeter), with a collection efficiency matched to the particle size response of the radon progeny dose conversion factors (DCF), obtained from the ICRP respiratory tract model as implemented in the computer code RADEP, has been developed to assess the inhalation dose from exposure to radon progeny. In order to evaluate the performance of this sampler, the second stage of a six-stage wire screen diffusion battery was designed to operate as an Effective Dosimeter. This hybrid system allowed two methods for the determination of the radon progeny DCF. For the first method, the activity size distributions, measured using the diffusion battery, were used to obtain a size-weighted DCF. A second determination of DCF was obtained directly from the fraction collected by the Effective Dosimeter. The hybrid diffusion battery was used to measure radon progeny in the Fairy Cave, Buchan, Victoria at 20-min intervals over a 30-h period. This cave had radon concentrations exceeding 2000 Bq m −3, with low aerosol concentration and low ventilation rates. The measurements were analysed for the radon progeny PAEC, the activity size distribution, the size-weighted DCF and the effective dosimeter collected fraction. The Effective Dosimeter DCFs were determined from the collected fraction using firstly a simple linear function and then using a more complex polynomial function to correct for residual errors. For the linear factor alone, the calculated Effective Dosimeter DCFs were on average 11% lower than the equivalent size-weighted DCF values. The agreement using the polynomial function was improved markedly, with a linear regression of the DCF yielding a fitted ratio of 0.965, with an R value of 0.99. For this study, the use of the ICRP conversion convention to estimate the occupational exposure to the tour guides working in the Fairy Cave would under estimate the effective dose by up to a factor of 2.