Radioactivity of the Baszkówka meteorite

In January 1996 a fragment, and in May 1996 a cut slab of the Baszkówka meteorite, were delivered for the radioactivity analysis to the Dosimetry Department of the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection (CLOR) in Warsaw. The measurement method was gamma spectrometry using HPGe (High Purity Germanium) detectors. The CLOR prepared volume calibration source identical to the cut slab of the meteorite delivered for analyses. The presence of 40K and the cosmogenic radionuclides such as 54Mn and 22Na was detected in the Baszkówka meteorite. The results and measurement method are discussed

Analiza 23. Cyklu aktywności słońca w oparciu o pomiary Be-7 w przyziemnej warstwie powietrza atmosferycznego

Monitoring promieniotwórczości przyziemnej warstwy powietrza w Polsce jest prowadzony przez Centralne Laboratorium Ochrony Radiologicznej, które do tego celu wykorzystuje system sieci wysokoczułych stacji wczesnego ostrzegania ASS-500. Pobór i pomiar aerozoli powietrza wykonywany jest w sposób ciągły w Warszawie od lat siedemdziesiątych, a od 1992 r. w 12 stacjach w całym kraju. Stacje monitorują m.in. stężenie berylu-7 o czasie połowiczego rozpadu 53 dni, który powstaje w wyniku reakcji promieniowania kosmicznego (GCR oraz SEP) z azotem i tlenem w górnych warstwach stratosfery i troposfery. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki pomiarów Be-7 w Warszawie, Katowicach oraz Gdyni w okresie 2002-2004, gdzie największa sezonowa depozycja Be-7 pojawia się cyklicznie w okresie wiosennym, co jest spowodowane m.in procesami mieszania się mas powietrza w troposferze i stratosferze. Przedstawiono również wyniki pomiarów stężenia Be-7 z okresu 2000-2009, w którym została zaobserwowana anomalia aktywności Słońca w postaci wystąpienia tzw. podwójnego maksimum w cyklu 11 -letnim

Natural radioactivity of wastes

By-products of the combustion of coal (wastes) are often used for various types of construction (dwellings, roads, etc.). The legal regulations (The Ordinance of the Council of Ministers of 2 January 2007 “On the requirements for the content of natural radioactive isotopes of potassium K-40, radium Ra-226 and thorium Th-228 in raws and materials used in buildings for the residence of people and livestock, as well as in the industrial by-products used in the construction, and the control of the content of the aforementioned isotopes” – Law Gazette no. 4/2007 item 29) are in force in Poland. The regulations permit the possibility of utilization of raws and by-products basing upon the level of the natural radioactivity of the examined raws and materials. The article is a survey of the results obtained during the measurements of many types of raws and building materials for almost 30 years by the network of the laboratories in Poland. It is based upon the results stored in the database of the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection (CLRP), Warsaw. The article tends to outline the radioactivity of the waste materials with respect to other raws and materials used in the construction industry. The article shows the possibilities for the use of by-products originating in the power stations and heat- and power stations (mainly ashes, slag and hinter) in the construction of dwellings and roads

Practical experience and improvement in aerosol sampling for trace analysis of airborne radionuclides in ground level air. Pt. 2: 1993 - 1998

In November 1989 the Polish government and the German government signed a bilateral agreement on scientific and technological co-operation. In the framework of this co-operation the Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection (Centralne Laboratorium Ochrony Radiologicznej, CLOR), Warsaw, the company physik-technik-innovation (PTI), Erlangen, and the physikalisch-technische bundesanstalt (PTB), Braunschweig, conducted a co-operation project in the field of monitoring of the airborne radioactivity in ground level air. This progress report deals with the history, the scientific activities and the results of the project covering the period from July 1993 to December 1998. The co-operation, which is still continued, is based on an agreement between CLOR, PTB and PTI. (orig.)Available from TIB Hannover: RA 3143(42) / FIZ - Fachinformationszzentrum Karlsruhe / TIB - Technische InformationsbibliothekSIGLEDEGerman

Potential source apportionment and meteorological conditions involved in airborne 131 I detections in January/February 2017 in Europe.

Traces of particulate radioactive iodine (I-131) were detected in the European atmosphere in January/February 2017. Concentrations of this nuclear fission product were very low, ranging 0.1 to 10 mu Bq m(-3) except at one location in western Russia where they reached up to several mBq m(-3). Detections have been reported continuously over an 8-week period by about 30 monitoring stations. We examine possible emission source apportionments and rank them considering their expected contribution in terms of orders of magnitude from typical routine releases: radiopharmaceutical production units > sewage sludge incinerators > nuclear power plants > spontaneous fission of uranium in soil. Inverse modeling simulations indicate that the widespread detections of I-131 resulted from the combination of multiple source releases. Among them, those from radiopharmaceutical production units remain the most likely. One of them is located in Western Russia and its estimated source term complies with authorized limits. Other existing sources related to I-131 use (medical purposes or sewage sludge incineration) can explain detections on a rather local scale. As an enhancing factor, the prevailing wintertime meteorological situations marked by strong temperature inversions led to poor dispersion conditions that resulted in higher concentrations exceeding usual detection limits in use within the informal Ring of Five (Ro5) monitoring network