Radon Measurements in the Gran Sasso Underground Laboratory

Arpesella, C.; Bam, B. B.; Bassignani, A.; Cecchini, S.; Colombo, G.; Dekhissi, H.; Fantoni, Roberto; Giacomelli, Giulia; Lembo, L.; Maltoni, Giulia; Mandrioli, G.; Patrizii, L.; Sartorio, Camillo; Serra, P R M; Togo, V.; Vilela, E.

doi:10.1097/00004032-199704000-00016

Cited by 14 publications

(17 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…An average value of 28 Bq/m 3 (0.77 pCi/l) was obtained [6]. As a reference, this can be compared with the maximum acceptable 45 Bq/m 3 in US households, or with the lowest values achieved in the Gran Sasso underground laboratory, 20-50 Bq/m 3 [7]. Similar results have been obtained in April 1999.…”

Section: Airborne Radonsupporting

confidence: 59%

See 1 more Smart Citation

First characterization of the ultra-shielded chamber in the low-noise underground laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel-Pays d'Apt

Waysand

Bloyet

Bongiraud

et al. 2000

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In compliance with international agreements on nuclear weapons limitation, the French groundbased nuclear arsenal has been decommissioned in its totality. One of its former underground missile control centers, located in Rustrel, 60 km east of Avignon (Provence) has been converted into the "Laboratoire Souterrainà Bas Bruit de Rustrel-Pays d'Apt" (LSBB). The deepest experimental hall (500 m of calcite rock overburden) includes a 100 m 2 area of sturdy flooring suspended by and resting on shock absorbers, entirely enclosed in a 28 m-long, 8 m-diameter, 1 cm-thick steel Faraday cage. This results in an unparalleled combination of shielding against cosmic rays, acoustic, seismic and electromagnetic noise, which can be exploited for rare event searches using ultra low-temperature and superconducting detectors. The first characterization measurements in this unique civilian site are reported.

show abstract

Section: Airborne Radonsupporting

confidence: 59%

“…The radon concentration in the atmosphere of the capsule was measured during three weeks in January 1998 using a RAD7 NITON radonmeter (a self-contained continuousmonitoring solid state alpha detector [5] [7]. Similar results have been obtained in April 1999.…”

Section: Airborne Radonmentioning

confidence: 94%

First characterization of the ultra-shielded chamber in the low-noise underground laboratory (LSBB) of Rustrel-Pays d'Apt

Waysand

Bloyet

Bongiraud

et al. 2000

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, most significantly, the low level of 238 U contributes to a low ambient background from airborne 222 Rn of only 2.4 Bq m −3 [10]. This is significantly lower than the lowest radon activity values measured in the Gran Sasso laboratory of (20 -50) Bq m −3 [11].…”

Section: Boulby Underground Laboratorymentioning

confidence: 71%

Low-background gamma spectroscopy at the Boulby Underground Laboratory

Scovell

Meehan²,

Araújo

et al. 2018

Astroparticle Physics

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Boulby Underground Germanium Suite (BUGS) comprises three low-background, high-purity germanium detectors operating in the Boulby Underground Laboratory, located 1.1 km underground in the north-east of England, UK. BUGS utilises three types of detector to facilitate a high-sensitivity, high-throughput radio-assay programme to support the development of rare-event search experiments. A Broad Energy Germanium (BEGe) detector delivers sensitivity to low-energy gamma-rays such as those emitted by 210 Pb and 234 Th. A Small Anode Germanium (SAGe) well-type detector is employed for efficient screening of small samples. Finally, a standard p-type coaxial detector provides fast screening of standard samples. This paper presents the steps used to characterise the performance of these detectors for a variety of sample geometries, including the corrections applied to account for cascade summing effects. For low-density materials, BUGS is able to radio-assay to specific activities down to 3.6 mBq kg −1 for 234 Th and 6.6 mBq kg −1 for 210 Pb both of which have uncovered some significant equilibrium breaks in the 238 U chain. In denser materials, where gamma-ray self-absorption increases, sensitivity is demonstrated to specific activities of 0.9 mBq kg −1 for 226 Ra, 1.1 mBq kg −1 for 228 Ra, 0.3 mBq kg −1 for 224 Ra, and 8.6 mBq kg −1 for 40 K with all upper limits at a 90% confidence level. These meet the requirements of most screening campaigns presently under way for rare-event search experiments, such as the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment. We also highlight the ability of the BEGe detector to probe the X-ray fluorescence region which can be important to identify the presence of radioisotopes associated with neutron production; this is of particular relevance in experiments sensitive to nuclear recoils.

show abstract

“…More detailed studies on the radon concentration in Callio Lab are also needed since the reported radon level (50-300 Bq/m3) [22] is at least 10-15 times higher than that in LNGS [26]. It is known as well that the radon-level in a lab generally varies quite a lot.…”

Section: Radon Effectmentioning

confidence: 99%