AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 455 RELIEVE AND REMOVE RADON-222 RESULTING THE DECAY OF THE DEPLETED URANIUM-238 FROM WELLS OF BABYLON INSTITUTE DRILLED BY KERBALA FOUNDATION OF GROUND WATER COMPANY ABSTRACT Radon gas is unstable, it releases energy by emitting alpha particles, and is soluble in water and is often found in the ground water. Decays of radon emits alpha particles and beta particles. The energy released from these decay products results in damage to biological tissues which may lead to cancer. The health consequences of radon are well documented. Measurements of natural radioactivity in soil and ground water have been studied. Radionuclides present in soil include Ra226 , Th232 , and K40. Gamma rays dose depends on the geological and geographical and appears in many levels in soils , the knowledge of gamma distribution in soils and well water play important role for protection against radiation. Drilling company drills 4 wells in Babylon Institute. Doses, statistical information's about these wells are studied, also contours between real and estimated values are drawn. Testes are done in Babylon Environmental Office الخالصة ان فى المياه الجوفية. وكذلك يتواجدفى الماء يذوبغير مستقر حيث يحرر الطاقة على شكل دقائق الفا وهو هو غاز غاز الرادون يعمل على تدمير بيولوجية االنسجة للكائن ةمنتج الطاقة المتحرران بيتا. كذلك دقائق الفا و انبعاث لىيؤدى ا انحالل غاز الرادون الى االصابة بمرض السرطان. ان العواقب الصحية الخطيرة للرادون موثقة توثيقا جيدا. لقد تم دراسة يؤدىالحى وبالتالى ان ). Ra226 , Th232 , and K4ية. النويدات المشعة الموجودة فى التربة هى (النشاط االشعاعى للرادون فى التربة والمياه الجوف تركيز اشعة كاما يعتمد على مجموعة من العوامل الجيولوجية والجغرافية وممكن ان يظهر هذا التركيز فى مستويات االعماق ر يساعد على الحماية من مخاطر هذا االشعاع. لقد تم المختلفة للتربة. ان النظام المعرفى لتوزيع اشعة كاما فى التربة ومياه االبا ابار من قبل شركة حفر متخصصة فى المعهد التقنى بابل. لقد تم دراسة تراكيز اشعة كاما والبيانات االحصائية لهذة االبار. 4حفر حليل فى دائرة بيئة بابل باشراف فريق بيئى لقد تم رسم مالمح هذة التراكيز والمقارنة بين القيم الحقيقية والمقدرة. لقد تم القياس والت متخصص. Key words: Wells, Statistical values, Radiation, Dose, Gamma ray 1. INTRODUCTION Uranium and other underground miners were subject to elevated cancer risks, due to exposure to high concentrations in air of the radioactive decay products of the natural radioactive gas radon. Dr. Abbas Ali Mahmood/ Ph.d Nuclear Engineering /Assistant Professor/Technical Institute of Babylon-Hilla Dr. Eman Mohammed Abdullah/ Ph.d Accounting/Assistant Professor/Technical Institute of Babylon-Hilla AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 456 Radon is a naturally occurring radioactive noble gas which exists in several isotopic forms [Nero.1989]. Only two of these isotopes occur in significant concentration in the general environment; radon-222 a member of the radioactive decay chain of uranium-238, and radon-220 is a member of the decay chain of thorium-232 .Radon is the first and only gaseous and inert element of the radioactive chains, so that it can easily leave the place of production like ,soil, rock and building material which enter the indoor air. Contribution is made by thoron (half life is 55 seconds) which is small when compared with the radon (half life is 3.82 days). The main source of indoor radon is its immediate parent radium-226 in the ground of the site and in the building materials [CastrBn, Winqist, and Miikelainen, 1985]. In most situations it appears that elevated indoor radon levels originate from radon in the underlying rocks and soils. This radon may enter living spaces in dwellings by diffusion or pressure driven flow if suitable pathways between the soil and living spaces are present. It should be noted, however, that in a minority of cases elevated indoor radon levels may arise due to the use of building materials containing high levels of radium- 226. For those who live close to the ground, the radium concentration in soil usually lies in the range 10 Bq/kg to 50 Bq/kg, but it can reach values of hundreds Bq/kg, with an estimated average of 40 Bq/kg. Typical radon concentrations in soil gas range from 10000 Bq/m3 to 50000 Bq/m3 [CastrBn, 1993]. The potential for radon entry from the ground depends mainly on the activity level of radium-226 in the subsoil and its permeability with regard to air flow. The ground could also be contaminated with waste tailings from uranium or phosphate mining operations with enhanced activity levels. Under pressure occurs in most houses if either the adjustment of inlet and outlet of air in forced ventilation systems or the outdoor air supply for vented combustion appliances is inappropriate. The under pressure may be considerable for all types of ventilation systems when the inlet air is restricted too much [CastrBn and Finnish1993]. In wells drilled in rock the radon concentration of the water may be high, when such water is used in the household, radon will be partially released into the indoor air, causing an increase in the average radon concentration. Radon concentrations in tap-water from deep wells can range from 100 kBq/m3 to 100 MBq/m3. The indoor radon concentration in these regions may already be high due to high rates of radon entry from the ground. The world average radon concentration in all types of water supplies is assumed to be 10 kBq/m3. The main sources of indoor radon are; soil and water from deep wells. Experimental work carried out and show that radon from soil represents generally the most important source of indoor radon [Asikainen and Kahlos 1980], [Bruno1983], [Damkjaer, and Korsbech1985], and [Nazaroff 1987]. The actions to reduce indoor radon concentration are mainly oriented to limit the ingress of radon from soil. When we use water radon is released into the air, we use a dishwasher, washing machine, or take a shower or bath the radon in the water raises the level of radon in the air. The two processes methods used to capture radon atoms are; Aeration and Gac tank processes. 2. EXPERIMENTAL WORK Radon is responsible for most of the mean public exposure to ionizing radiation [Wang, Setlow, Berwick, Polsky, Marghoob, and Kopf 2001 ] and[Toxological 1990]. Its concentration is variable according to location and it is often the single biggest contributor to the amount of background radiation an individual receives. Radon gas from natural sources [A Citizen’s2007] and [Font2009 ] can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as basements. No one can avoid the exposure to radon even though this may potentially cause damage. Breathing high concentrations of radon can cause lung cancer and could even be the second most frequent cause of lung cancer according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency [A Citizen’s2007]. There are such techniques used to measure dose. Alpha guard technique is one of radon measurements. Radon detector is based on a design optimized pulse ionization chamber. The signals are transmitted to an electronic network for further digital processing. Radon monitor is a AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 457 compact portable measuring system and can be completed by further external sensors for pressure and temperature. The systematic design to less the radon dose from groundwater out of wells to supply people with clean and pure water with no radioactive particles is shown in Figure 1. Figs (2- 7) show processes of drilling wells (1-4). 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Chemical Testes for Wells of Babylon Institute Site Results showed that wells 1, 3, and 4 had given the worst values for each chemical variables listed in (Table 1), while we note through (Figure 8) that well No2 has given acceptance values for all variables. These variables are associated to assess the validity of well water for drinking or other purposes. 3.2 Testes of Radon for Soil and Water Wells of Babylon Institute Site Iraq's future will see the adoption of the majority of the population of Iraq on groundwater for lack of water reaching the river, so we must maintained these waters from radioactive contamination and other pollutions like radon gas because the area in question are contaminated with depleted uranium-238. Foundation is digging a four wells up to a depth of 10 m. Conducting tests of soil has been done by using sensitive devices to gas where the screening process can take up to 45 minutes. After the end of each test data are stored and transferred to computer to analyze the results to compare them to get the perfect location to invest and continue work. There are different techniques for radon measurements, the liquid scintillation technique has been used to determine radon dose in groundwater. It is important that the reasons urged for this research is the proliferation of cancer diseases significantly in the areas of pollution that have been selected. A number of wells are drilled in these sites to make sure that the groundwater is valid for drinking and irrigation operations and free from radioactive contamination. Wells are drilled to maximum depth of 10 m. From several tests, we see that the high dose is at the maximum depth as shown in (Tables 2 to7) and (Figures 9 to 14) , this means that the dose is proportional directly to the depth. We see that the humidity of air inside well is the most influential physical variable affected on the dose in the remote depths. We conclude that the dose is directly proportional to the humidity of air which increases the risk of this gas. This gas causes lung cancer which is the most common among the population, while the relationship between pressure inside well and depth, this relationship is reversible. Technical Institute site soil test results show that the critical time of maximum dose is at 15-19 minutes, while the less dose value is at 1-6 minutes. Figures (15 to 20) show that the standard deviation of well No2 is high enough in case of soil or water testes, this mean that this well is Ok to use, others show according to real values, we can see for soil test that the contour of (Figures 21 and 22) show high error rate between real and estimated values of radon concentration in wells No 2 and 3. Also ground water test contour show there is high rate errors in wells No2 and 3. This error causes as a result of variation of depleted uranium concentration at the moment. Outdoor air usually acts as a diluting factor, due to its normally low radon concentration, but in some cases, as in high rise apartments built with materials having very low radium content, it can act as a real source. The radon concentration in outdoor air is mainly related to atmospheric pressure. Alpha guard radon monitor was used as an important technique to measure radon concentration in ground water, temperature, pressure, and humidity of Babylon Institute wells . Such short term measurements are commonly carried out to provide both cost and rapid results .It was found that the AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 458 radon concentration with maximum value, while temperature with low limits. The humidity measure values with high levels .Each test need 35 minutes to collect data .The number of data taken during operation is 35 value for each variable studied. Varying proportion. (Figures 21 to 26) show the error in estimating radon concentration 4. Conclusion Radium, radon and uranium are grouped together because they are radionuclides, unstable elements that emit ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation can cause toxicity when the particles pass into or through the body at high speed. If a collision occurs with the molecules of living cells, they may be damaged. These particular radionuclides emit radioactivity primarily in the form of alpha particles. Alpha radiation cannot pass through the dead outer layers of the skin. Therefore, these substances are a health risk only if taken into the body by ingestion or inhalation. Radium has been used as a source of radiation to treat certain cancers. Radon gas can be found in the soil because of decay from the parent element uranium. Radon can also migrate from soil into groundwater, which can become another route of exposure if the groundwater is used as a water supply source. Radionuclides are undetectable by the human senses, so only analytical testing can determine if they are present in water. Because they are associated with rock, wells drilled into bedrock are more likely to contain elevated levels of radionuclides than shallow or dug wells. References [1] Nero, A.V. Jr., Earth, Air, Radon and Home, Physics Today, April, (1989). [2] CastrBn, O., Voutilainen, A., Winqist, K. and Miikelainen, I., Studies of high indoor radon areas in Finland, Sci. Total. Environ, (1985). [3] CastrBn, 0., Radon reduction potential of Finnish dwellings, Proceedings of the First International Workshop on Indoor Radon Remedial Action, Rimini, Italy, 27th June - 2th July 1993 (in press on Radiat. Prot. Dosim.), (1993). [4] CastrBn, 0., Finnish Centre for Radiation and Nuclear Safety, Helsinki, personal communication, ( 1993). [5] Asikainen, M. and Kahlos, H., Natural radioactivity of drinking Waters in finland, Health Phys. (1980). [6] Bruno, R.C., Sources of indoor radon in houses, a review, J. Air Poll. Contr. Assoc, (1983). [7] Damkjaer, A. and Korsbech, U., Measurement of the emanation of radon-222 from danish soils, Sci. Total Environ, (1985). [8] Nazaroff et al, Experiments on pollutant transport from soil into residential basements by pressure driven air flow, Environ. Sci. Technol., (1987). [9] Wang S, Setlow R, Berwick M, Polsky D, Marghoob A, Kopf A, Bart R ,Ultraviolet and melanoma: a review, J Am Acad Dermatol 44 (5): 837–46, (2001). AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 459 [10] Toxological profile for radon, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, U.S. Public Health Service, In collaboration with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, December, (1990). [11] A Citizen’s Guide to Radon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,( 2007). [12] C.Papaste Fanon, Measurement radon in soil and ground waters: a review 50, (2007). [13] Font, LI, On radon surveys: Design and data interpretation, 67 (968-964), (2009). Well No PH E.C T.D.S NO3 PO4 SO4 1 6.4 29530 23624 1.37 0.24 7700 2 6.7 20670 15502. 5 1.58 0.22 5700 3 7.02 28500 22515 2.03 0.25 7350 4 6.8 28800 22752 1.46 0.20 7150 Time (min) Rn222(kB/ m3) Rn222+error in Bq(bq/m3) Tempera ture (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Humidit y % 1 0.00013 30.00 18.8 1018 29.6 2 0.00013 3.00 18.4 1018 29.9 3 0.02638 41.00 18.5 1018 29.1 4 0.00013 3.00 19.1 1018 29.6 5 0.02350 35.00 19.6 1018 29.8 6 0.02238 40.00 19.5 1018 29.1 7 0.11100 105.50 19.8 1018 29.0 8 0.21600 163.00 20.4 1018 28.0 9 0.34800 208.00 20.3 1018 28.6 10 0.05325 71.50 19.6 1018 27.4 11 0.29400 194.00 19.4 1018 28.0 12 0.24100 197.00 20.3 1018 29.1 13 0.37800 222.00 20.8 1018 28.0 14 0.50800 258.00 20.6 1018 27.5 15 0.52800 244.00 20.6 1018 27.0 16 0.58400 280.00 20.6 1018 26.9 17 0.86000 340.00 20.9 1018 27.0 18 1.08800 388.00 21.6 1018 26.9 19 0.91600 360.00 21.6 1018 26.4 20 0.89600 360.00 22.0 1018 28.0 21 0.63600 310.00 21.8 1018 26.4 Table. 1: Chemical results of wells No (1-4) for Babylon Institute site-Hilla T AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 460 Time (min) Rn222(kB /m3) Rn222+err or in Bq(Bq/m3) Temper ature (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Hum idity % 1 176.00 133.00 20.8 1018 24.8 2 7.06 180.00 21.4 1018 25.9 3 95.50 193.00 21.6 1018 24.8 4 134.00 222.00 21.3 1018 25.3 5 5.81 163.00 21.1 1018 24.8 6 2.19 71.00 21.6 1018 24.1 7 1.02 40.75 21.9 1018 24.1 8 120.50 208.00 22.0 1018 24.1 9 3.42 105.00 21.9 1018 24.1 10 5.84 163.00 21.6 1018 24.3 11 2.22 71.50 22.1 1018 24.1 12 62.25 169.00 22.6 1018 23.8 13 3.45 105.50 22.8 1018 23.6 14 49.50 179.00 22.4 1018 23.6 15 233.00 234.00 22.0 1018 23.1 16 42.00 179.00 21.9 1018 23.1 17 2.22 71.50 22.1 1018 23.3 18 7.03 163.00 22.6 1018 23.8 19 6.56 163.00 22.9 1017 23.6 20 4.66 142.00 22.9 1017 23.6 21 3.42 105.00 22.9 1017 23.1 Table. 3: Soil test of well No. 2 for Babylon Institute site AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 461 Time (min) Rn222(kB /m3) Rn222+err or in Bq(Bq/m3) Temper ature (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Humi dity % 1 0.01663 0.08100 21.1 1017 24.1 2 0.00227 0.07150 21.5 1017 24.1 3 27.39200 3.79200 22.0 1017 23.1 4 57.08800 2.73600 22.1 1017 23.3 5 60.41600 1.90400 22.1 1017 23.0 6 56.32000 1.81600 21.8 1017 22.5 7 49.40800 2.68800 21.5 1017 22.6 8 53.76000 1.81600 21.6 1017 23.1 9 55.29600 1.53600 21.8 1017 23.1 10 59.13600 2.04800 21.6 1017 23.1 11 63.48800 2.17600 21.5 1017 23.1 12 48.64000 2.49600 21.5 1017 22.4 13 33.79200 3.52000 21.4 1017 22.0 14 16.76800 3.48800 21.4 1017 22.0 15 7.55200 3.00800 21.3 1017 22.5 16 3.74400 2.27200 21.3 1017 22.0 17 2.32000 1.96800 21.1 1017 22.5 18 3.28000 1.86400 21.5 1017 22.0 19 3.24800 1.90400 21.9 1017 21.8 20 1.93600 1.36000 22.4 1017 21.6 21 5.18400 1.93600 22.5 1017 21.4 Table. 4: Soil test of well No. for Babylon Institute site AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 462 Tim e (min) Rn222(kB /m3) Rn222+err or in Bq(Bq/m3) Temper ature (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Hum idity % 1 9.50 30.00 17.3 1020 27.5 2 10.55 42.25 17.4 1020 28.0 3 262.00 208.00 17.5 1020 26.9 4 17.00 71.50 17.5 1020 26.9 5 9.50 41.00 17.5 1020 26.5 6 16.75 60.25 17.5 1020 26.9 7 42.00 105.50 17.5 1020 26.9 8 10.25 41.00 17.5 1020 26.9 9 21.50 72.00 17.5 1020 26.9 10 22.00 72.00 17.6 1020 26.9 11 80.50 142.00 17.6 1020 26.9 12 44.25 105.50 17.6 1020 26.9 13 124.50 163.00 17.6 1020 26.9 14 42.50 105.50 17.6 1020 26.5 15 167.00 179.00 17.8 1020 26.4 Table. 5: Water test of well No. 1 for Babylon Institute site AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 463 16 181.00 170.00 17.8 1020 26.4 17 38.50 105.50 17.8 1020 26.9 18 39.25 105.00 17.8 1020 26.9 19 258.00 208.00 17.9 1020 26.9 20 16.75 71.00 17.9 1020 26.9 21 350.00 234.00 17.9 1020 27.5 Tim e (min) Rn222(kB /m3) Rn222+err or in Bq(Bq/m3) Temper ature (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Hum idity % AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 464 1 0.07050 0.41800 23.5 1017 17.6 2 0.08750 0.77600 23.5 1017 17.6 3 22.40000 3.45600 23.6 1017 17.6 4 37.63200 3.58400 23.6 1017 17.6 5 43.77600 3.15200 23.4 1017 18.1 6 42.24000 3.28000 22.9 1017 18.1 7 37.37600 3.24800 23.3 1017 18.6 8 41.72800 3.26400 23.8 1017 18.9 9 46.33600 2.43200 24.0 1017 19.3 10 37.12000 3.58400 23.9 1017 19.8 11 37.12000 3.29600 23.9 1017 19.3 12 38.65600 3.08800 24.1 1017 18.6 13 22.78400 3.53600 24.8 1017 18.6 14 13..05600 3.04000 25.1 1017 18.6 15 7.90400 2.84800 25.4 1017 18.1 16 7.77600 2.89600 25.3 1016 17.6 17 3.76000 2.41600 25.0 1016 17.6 18 4.16000 2.33600 24.8 1016 17.0 19 4.04800 2.09600 25.5 1016 17.6 20 5.08800 2.19200 25.5 1016 17.6 21 4.51200 2.22400 26.0 1016 17.0 Table. 6: Water test of well No. 2 for Babylon Institute site Table. 7: Water test of well No. 3 for Babylon Institute site AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 465 Tim e (min) Rn222(kB /m3) Rn222+err or in Bq(Bq/m3) Temper ature (Co) Air pressure (mbar) Humid ity % 1 38.75 66.00 19.6 1019 28.5 2 10.00 41.25 19.6 1019 28.5 3 21.38 72.00 19.8 1019 28.0 4 45.25 105.50 19.6 1019 28.5 5 80.00 142.00 19.6 1019 28.5 6 37.50 88.00 19.6 1019 28.6 7 11.00 41.00 19.6 1019 28.5 8 0.13 3.00 19.8 1019 28.1 9 51.25 105.50 19.6 1019 28.3 10 25.63 72.00 19.8 1019 28.6 11 0.13 3.00 19.6 1019 28.6 12 27.88 72.00 19.8 1019 28.0 13 13.13 41.00 19.8 1019 28.0 14 29.00 72.00 19.8 1019 28.0 15 48.25 88.00 19.8 1019 28.0 16 0.13 3.00 19.8 1019 28.0 17 30.38 72.00 19.8 1019 28.0 18 143.00 163.00 19.8 1019 28.0 19 28.63 72.00 19.8 1019 27.5 20 12.94 40.50 19.8 1019 27.5 21 13.94 41.00 19.9 1019 28.0 t Motor to draw water Fund graphite Air compresso Fan to pull moist air AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 466 Figure. 3 Soil and ground water radon test for well No 2. Figure. 2 Soil and ground water radon test for well No 1. Figure. 1 Systematic design to less radon dose AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 467 Figure. 5 Soil and ground water radon test for well No 4. Figure. 4 Soil and ground water radon test for well No 3. Figure. 6 Space photo of Netherland and foundation of ground water companies Figure. 7 Soil and ground water radon test for 80 street-Almarashedah Babylon Institute- engraved by company of drilling wells- Foundation of ground water- Kerbala city-(10m) 80 street – Almarashedah by Netherland company – (35m) AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 468 Figure. 9 Plot of well soil No1 Figure. 10 Plot of well soil No2 AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 469 Figure. 11 Plot of well soil No3 Figure. 12 Plot of well water AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 470 Figure. 15 Probability plot for well soil No1 AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 471 Figure. 17 Probability plot for well soil No3 Figure. 18 Probability plot for well water No1 AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 472 Figure. 19 Probability plot for well water No2 Figure. 20 Probability plot for well water No3 Figure. 22 Soil well No 2 contour plot Figure. 21 Soil well No 1 contour plot AL-Qadisiya Journal For Engineering Sciences Vol. 6 No. 4 Year 2013 473