Aportaciones al estudio de los campos de radiación ionizante ambiental

Laburpena

This thesis contributes to the knowledge of environmental ionizing radiation fields from natural origin. It is focused on the characterization of stations for the environmental ionizing radiation surveillance. We have modeled time variations of the environmental doserate related with the atmospheric pressure, the radon concentration in air, and rain precipitation. The presence of the radon progeny (214Pb and 214Bi - gamma emitters) in rain implies an increase on the environmental doserate. The model has been validated by means of experimental data, measured at the ESCRA Station (located in Barcelona) during several years (1995 to 1999). At wet (rain) periods, we have reproduced the increments of natural environmental doserate, using data collected with the SARAC device. This device has been developed entirely in the mark of this thesis and has been settled in the station ESCRA; it allows the measurement of short lived gamma emitters in rainwater. One of the goals of this device is that it is automated allowing the measurement of gamma emitters "in situ" each 10 minutes. Gamma emitters in rainwater are detected by mains of a High Purity Germanium Detector cooled with liquid nitrogen. The operation of the SARAC device has allowed the measurement of natural gamma emitter concentration in rainwater along rain episodes at intervals of 10 minutes. To model the environmental doserate variations with time, is required to know some dose factors which relates the gamma emitters deposited on the soil, in the surroundings of the ESCRA Station, with the doserate measured at a point (the position of a gamma probe). These dose factors have been obtained by means of the simulation of the transport of the gamma and beta radiation emitted by the soil, and their interaction with gamma probes and the surroundings of the ESCRA Station. These simulations have been done with techniques of Monte Carlo (MC) for the transport of gamma and beta radiation, and also techniques of variance reduction to minimize the time of the simulations. To perform these simulations, we have used the simulation package PENELOPE. The results obtained with this thesis shows that each station for the surveillance of environmental ionizing radiation should be meteorological and radiological characterized prior to its exploitation. It also implies the knowledge of the dose factors (at each probe location) of the main radionuclides (gamma emitters) presents in the soil and buildings surrounding the surveillance station. Monte Carlo simulation techniques described in this thesis could be used. The knowledge of the origin of natural variations of environmental doserate in dry and wet episodes allows discriminate those variations from artificial origin. This allows to optimize the administration of alerts and to reduce the number of false alarms. The successful operation of the SARAC device is a goal that allows us to increase our knowledge of the environmental ionizing radiation fields during rain episodes.