Gamma Exposures due to Radionuclides Deposited in Urban Environments. Part I: Kerma Rates from Contaminated Urban Surfaces

Abstract

The modification of gamma exposure from deposited activity at locations inside and outside of buildings in urban environments compared with unshielded locations has been computed using the Monte Carlo method. The types of buildings considered were a house of prefabricated parts, a semi-detached house, a row of four large terrace houses and a multistory house block. The computations were performed for source energies of 0.3 MeV, 0.662 MeV and 3.0 MeV. In this first part of the paper results for the kerma at various locations inside and outside the buildings due to a contamination with unit surface activity are presented separately for each of the various deposition areas such as walls, windows, roofs, light shafts, paved areas, lawns, and trees.