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. Rn-222 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 Ra-226 concentration in surface soil and atmospheric concentration of Rn-222. The results are also compared and discussed in the light of relevant literature reported for other environments.