Abstract (eng)
In the frame of this thesis, measurements of the radon daughter activity concentrations in the radon gallery and its adjacent therapy centre in Böckstein near Bad Gastein, Austria were performed. The three measuring sites in the therapy centre (foyer, gym and doctor’s office 5) as well as the measuring site in the radon gallery were proposed by the Austrian Social Insurance for Occupational Risks (AUVA) control surveys. For these measurements, three Instruments were purchased and provided by the AUVA.
The attached and the unattached short-lived radon daughters were measured and the potential alpha energy concentration was calculated. Consequently, the attached and the unattached fraction were calculated from these results. In addition, aerosols were collected on aluminium foils with a cascade impactor. 210Pb, 210Bi and 210Po were leached from this aluminium foils and measured by liquid scintillation counting. The aerosol particle concentration was calculated.
The equilibrium equivalent radon activity concentration and the potential alpha energy concentration can be reduced through sufficient ventilation. This can be observed in the radon gallery during daytime, when the ventilation is turned on, or in the gym, where the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration increases during the night. However, in the gallery, atmospheric pressure has a higher influence to the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration as well as the PAEC than the ventilation. Additionally, in October, an increase of the equilibrium equivalent radon concentration with decreasing atmospheric pressure could be seen during the measurements in the foyer, the gym, and doctor's office 5.
This thesis shows the strong influence of the aerosol particle concentration on both the unattached fraction as well as the equilibrium factor and calculates the attachment rate.
Due to the higher dose conversion factors of the short-lived unattached radionuclides, high unattached fractions play an important role in the calculation of the effective dose. Different methods exist for the calculation of the effective dose, some of which simply ignore the different values of dose conversion factors for the attached and unattached radionuclides. In this thesis, different types of model calculations for the effective dose are compared and the contributions of the effective dose resulting from the unattached fraction to the total dose are calculated.
The effective dose from the long-lived radionuclides is negligible. The activity size distributions of the long-lived radon daughters are analysed. The activity median aerodynamic diameter (AMAD) of 210Po is shifted to smaller particle sizes compared to the AMAD of 210Pb and 210Bi. This effect was observed before by Wallner et al. during previous measurements and published in 2002.