Natural Radioactivity in Clay and Building Materials Used in Latvia
Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical Sciences 2015
Daina Riekstiņa, Jānis Bērziņš, Tamāra Krasta, Ruta Švinka, Olga Skripņik

This paper presents the results of natural radionuclide concentration and activity index study in materials used for construction in Latvia. Special attention is given to clay and clay ceramics. Concentrations of K-40 and Th- 232, U-238 radioactivity were determined using gamma-spectrometry method. In some building ware, maximal concentration of K-40 was 1440 Bq/kg, and of U-238 – 175 Bq/kg. In granite, the determined maximum concentration of Th-232 was 210 Bq/kg. It was found that radionuclide content in different period clay deposits can differ by more than two times, and up to five times in different clay ceramics. The results obtained are compared with analogous data from the other Baltic and North European countries.


Keywords
Activity index, building materials, clay, environment, natural radionuclides.
DOI
10.1515/LPTS-2015-0018
Hyperlink
http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/lpts.2015.52.issue-3/lpts-2015-0018/lpts-2015-0018.xml?format=INT

Riekstiņa, D., Bērziņš, J., Krasta, T., Švinka, R., Skripņik, O. Natural Radioactivity in Clay and Building Materials Used in Latvia. Latvian Journal of Physics and Technical Sciences, 2015, Vol.52, Iss.3, pp.58-66. e-ISSN 0868-8257. Available from: doi:10.1515/LPTS-2015-0018

Publication language
English (en)
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