Radon in water from Transylvania (Romania)

Radon is a radioactive noble gas of a natural origin that may be found anywhere in soil, air and in different types of water: surface, well and spring. It is worth to carry out surveys for the radon in natural waters for radiation protection as well as for geological considerations. The results present here are from a survey carried out in the Transylvania region in Romania for radon concentrations in natural waters. The measurements were made using the LUK-VR system that is based on radon gas measurement with Lucas cell. Due to the large number of water samples (1511 samples) collected for analysis, a short counting time had to be used, so that the measurements were made during the non-equilibrium state between radon and its progeny. The results show that the radon concentrations are within the range of 0.5-129.3 kBq/m(3) with an average value of 15.4kBq/m(3) for all types of water covered within this survey. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.