Metrology infrastructure for radon metrology at the environmental level

Abstract

Since 2020 a large consortium has been engaged in the project EMPIR 19ENV01 traceRadon to develop the missing traceability chains to improve the sensor networks in climate observation and radiation protection. This paper presents results in the areas of: Novel 226Ra standard sources with continuous controlled 222Rn emanation rate, radon chambers aimed to create a reference radon atmosphere and a reference field for radon flux monitoring. The major challenge lies in the low activity concentrations of radon in outdoor air from 1 Bq∙m-3 to 100 Bq∙m-3, where below 100 Bq∙m-3 there is currently no metrological traceability at all. Thus, measured values of different instruments operated at different locations cannot be compared with respect to their results. Whin this paper, new infrastructure is presented, capable of filling this gap in traceability. The achieved results make new calibration services, far beyond the state of art, possible.

Investigation of the Performance of Various Low-Cost Radon Monitors under Variable Environmental Conditions

“…The technical characteristics of the AlphaGUARD radon monitor, which has been used as the standard that will provide the reference radon concentration at each instant in Room1 of the LNR, are shown in Table 1 . This radon monitor has been calibrated in the calibration chamber of the Laboratory of Environmental Radioactivity of the University of Cantabria (LaRUC) [ 13 , 14 , 15 ], which is accredited according to ISO/IEC 17025 [ 16 ].…”

Editorial to selected papers from the 2022 IMEKO TC11&TC24 Joint Conference

“…al. [3], presents results in the areas of novel 226 Ra standard sources with continuous controlled 222 Rn emanation rate, radon chambers aimed to create a reference radon atmosphere and a reference field for radon flux monitoring. The new infrastructure is capable of filling this gap in traceability.…”