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SUMMARY:Use of Environmental Measurements as a Tool to Understand Factors 
 Influencing Radionuclides Concentrations
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260519T080000Z
DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260519T082000Z
DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20260624T105742Z
UID:indico-contribution-3828@indico.tlabs.ac.za
DESCRIPTION:Speakers: Paballo Marakalla (National Nuclear Regulator (CNSS)
 )\nRadon (Rn-222) is a radioactive gas that originates from uranium (U-238
 ) and is ranked as a major source of natural ionising radiation and identi
 fied among the leading causes of lung cancer. It is therefore essential fo
 r its occurrence and concentration levels present in the environment to be
  well understood\, quantified and assessed. This study characterised indoo
 r radon levels regionally in the gold mining sites of Gauteng Province and
  coal mining sites in the Mpumalanga Province using the solid-state nuclea
 r track detectors\, which were deployed predominantly during summer and wi
 nter months. Moreover\, radon parent nuclides were determined in mine tail
 ing residues\, soils\, rocks and water to help in the understanding of the
  primary sources and controls of radon.\n \nThe study aimed to evaluate th
 e extent to which the local conditions such as the underlying lithology\, 
 content of the parent radioisotopes in primary sources\, mining activities
 \, seasonal variations and building characteristics affect indoor radon. I
 t was found that the gold tailings residues and coal related operations ha
 ve no drastic effect on indoor radon concentrations measured in the dwelli
 ngs studied\, other than at a localized location where contamination resul
 ting from tailings materials was observed. The major contributing factors 
 were the uranium content in geological formations and soil\, which depicte
 d a positive correlation with indoor radon concentrations at R² = 0.7827 
 for rocks and R² = 0.5302 for soil. The uranium content in the ground sur
 face was proven to be a good first indicator of indoor radon. Contribution
 s from water to indoor radon were found to be negligible. Variations in me
 teorological conditions with seasons\, ventilation rate of the house and t
 he rooms where measurements are conducted\, the age of the dwelling and ty
 pe of building materials were found as additional contributors and control
 s to indoor radon concentrations.\n\nhttps://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/
 contributions/3828/
LOCATION:NRF-iThemba LABS\, Old Faure Road\, Cape Town Auditorium
URL:https://indico.tlabs.ac.za/event/139/contributions/3828/
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