An assessment of the external radiological impact in areas of Greece with elevated natural radioactivity

Abstract In the present study, the radiological impact assessment in three selected areas of elevated natural radioactivity in Greece is attempted, based on measurements, theoretical relations, and simple model application. These areas are Milos e an island of volcanic origin in Cyclades Archipelago, Ikaria e an island in the Eastern Aegean Sea and Loutraki e a coastal area in mainland Greece. These areas are characterized by their geothermal springs and vents, which emit fluids into the littoral and sublittoral zones. The results include: (a) the exposure dose rates assessed by a car-borne scintillation spectrometry system; (b) laboratory measurements of the activity concentrations of the gamma-emitters of 238 U and 232 Th series and 40 K in soil, spring water, seawater and sediments by gamma-spectrometry; (c) estimations of the effective dose rate equivalents and health risk assessment for humans and external dose rates for natural aquatic populations in relation to organism habitat; and (d) a radiological evaluation for the environmental quality, in terms of the discrete zones of impact of ionizing radiation

Indoor radiation measurements in Greece

A home-made, low cost, high speed, etched track detector measuring system, equipped with automatic track counting and classification procedures, was developed to measure and analyse quickly and accurately CR-39 etched track detectors used in indoor radon concentration surveys. The system provides increased detector throughput along with high measuring accuracy and it can therefore serve as a platform for the large scale measurements of the Greek National Radon Survey that will take place in the near future. In this context, pilot measurements of indoor radiation were performed in selected Greek regions. Indoor radon concentrations were found in the range of 4 to 583 Bq.m-3 with the highest levels observed near the water springs of Ikaria island. The indoor absorbed dose rate in air due to external irradiation from terrestrial sources was measured simultaneously, using thermoluminescence dosemeters (LiF TLD-100), and was found to be in the range of 19 to 107 nGy.h-1 with an arithmetic mean value equal to 49 ± 22 (1σ) nGy.h-1, in good agreement with our previous study