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Seasonal variations of 222Rn concentrations in the air of a tunnel located in Nagano city
- Source :
- Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 60:263-274
- Publication Year :
- 2002
- Publisher :
- Elsevier BV, 2002.
-
Abstract
- The seasonal variation of 222Rn concentrations in the air of tunnels constructed during World War II at Nagano City has been investigated. The determination of 222Rn concentrations in tunnel air was performed using a solid-state nuclear track detector technique. The monthly radon concentrations changed smoothly, decreasing towards winter and increasing towards summer, and it was found that the concentrations strongly correlate with the temperature difference between the inside and the outside of the tunnel. In the innermost areas of the tunnel, the maximum concentration was observed in July, its value being about 6500 Bq m (-3). The concentrations of radon in the tunnel air decrease exponentially towards the openings of the tunnel, which indicates that the radon concentration in the tunnel is basically governed by diffusion and mixing of radon gas with air. These observations lead to the conclusion that the seasonal variation of the radon concentration in the tunnel air is mainly caused by a convection current due to a stack effect induced by the temperature difference between the tunnel air and the outside air.
- Subjects :
- Convection
Meteorology
Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis
chemistry.chemical_element
Radon
Stack effect
Atmospheric sciences
Diffusion
Japan
medicine
Environmental Chemistry
Temperature difference
Diffusion (business)
Waste Management and Disposal
Air Movements
Temperature
Radon gas
General Medicine
Seasonality
medicine.disease
Pollution
Solid-state nuclear track detector
respiratory tract diseases
chemistry
Air Pollutants, Radioactive
Environmental science
Seasons
Environmental Monitoring
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 0265931X
- Volume :
- 60
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Environmental Radioactivity
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b691203710e609845040b5aa9dc18d4a