[ RadSafe ] Fwd: Fwd: [New post] Raised radiation level found inMissouri ...

Andycgeo at aol.com Andycgeo at aol.com
Tue Jan 7 14:03:11 CST 2014 

Hi Joe: The low emanation rates to the outside air were low. However the  
radon tended to move downwards into drier and more porous soil and if there 
is a  home next to it the radon will increase indoors. This is also seen 
after   sustained heavy rains that prevent the radon to emanate outside (the 
water clogs  up the soil pores and prevents it to exhlate in the outside air). 
You get indoor  radon spikes during the rainfall and a few hours after it 
stops. 
 
Andy G.
 
 
In a message dated 1/7/2014 2:52:57 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
jjshonka at shonka.com writes:

Andy

Wasn't the bulk of the radon you were measuring from a  few days upwind of
the NJ site?  Radon is quite low along the beach in  California, because the
Pacific Ocean is many radon half lives wide.   It builds up to equilibrium
as the prevailing westerly winds carry the  parcel of air to the east.
Thus, the soil conditions upwind of you site are  what drives the local
radon concentration.

Joe


On Tue,  Jan 7, 2014 at 2:24 PM, <Andycgeo at aol.com> wrote:

> Back in  the 1970's  I made lots of radon emanation  measurements  from  
soil
> during all seasons in Chester New Jersey. In the last two weeks  of  
January
> and the first two weeks of February when the top 2-3  inches of  soil was
> frozen the radon emanation dropped by a  factor of 20-30. I expect that  a
> similar reduction in emanation  will occur with ice on top of the soil.
>
> Andy  George
>
>
> In a message dated 1/7/2014 2:09:20 P.M.  Eastern Standard Time,
> jjshonka at shonka.com writes:
>
>  When the  ground freezes, radon emanation rates go to near zero.   The
> ground
> a  few hundred kilometers west of the area  provides most of the radon 
seen
> in  the atmosphere in the  northern hemisphere.  This radon would  be
> available for  co-precipitation during rainfall or snowfall events.   When
>  spring thaw comes, radon can be much higher than "normal" for a short   
time
> due to higher than normal levels of radon in the ground.   ANL  reported 
an
> incident many years ago due to this  phenomenon.
>
>
> On  Tue, Jan 7, 2014 at 12:34 PM,  Chris Alston <achris1999 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> >  Folks
> >
> > What is happening to the radon source   term, given the cold and
> > snowpack?  I can remember, many  years  ago, when I was green as a
> > grasshopper, doing  verification of remedial  action for depleted U on a
> >  property (a large lawn or backyard, from  which we had stripped  the
> > sod) with a FIDLER, during an afternoon when  it was  warm, sunny, and
> > breezy.  I went back to finish work  the  next morning, when it was
> > cold, damp, and heavily foggy  (the airport  was socked-in).  The whole
> > area was "hot"  again.  Baffled, I  walkie-talkied my boss.  He  
laughed,
> > and explained, basically,  that due to the  low-pressure, more *natural*
> > radon was emanating from  the  soil, and it was not moving much, due to
> > the cold, so the   daughters were ingrowing.  In effect, our carefully
> >  determined  gamma background for the area was out the window.
>  >
> >  Cheers
> > cja
> > ----------  Forwarded message ----------
> >  From: Brennan, Mike   (DOH) <Mike.Brennan at doh.wa.gov>
> > Date:  Tue, Jan 7,  2014 at 11:59 AM
> > Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [New post]   Raised radiation level found
> > inMissouri Snow
> > To:  "The  International Radiation Protection (Health Physics)
> >  MailingList"  <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
> > I don't  know the answer to this  offhand, but how does the response of
>  > a GM tube change with  temperature?  The reason I ask is that  it is
> > currently COLD in  much of the Midwest, and it  wouldn't surprise me if
> > things are  different at  -20C.
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>
> --
> Joseph J. Shonka,   Ph.D.
> Shonka Research Associates, Inc.
> 119 Ridgemore  Circle
> Toccoa,  GA 30577
> 770-509-7606
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-- 
Joseph J. Shonka,  Ph.D.
Shonka Research Associates, Inc.
119 Ridgemore Circle
Toccoa,  GA 30577
770-509-7606

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