Field experience with soil gas mapping using Japanese passive radon/thoron discriminative detectors for comparing high and low radiation areas in Serbia (Balkan Region).

Based on results of fieldwork in the Balkan Region of Serbia from 2005 to 2007, soil gas radon and thoron concentrations as well as gamma dose rates were measured. Campaigns were conducted in two different geological regions: Niska Banja, considered a high natural radiation area, and Obrenovac around the TentB Thermal Power Plant (TPP), a low natural radiation area. Radon and thoron gas measurements were made by using two types of Japanese passive radon/thoron detectors, which included GPS data and gamma dose rates. The concentrations of soil radon gas in Niska Banja ranged from 1.8 to 161.1 kBq m(-3), whereas the concentrations for soil thoron gas ranged from 0.9 to 23.5 kBq m(-3). The gamma dose rates varied from 70 to 320 nGy h(-1). In the TentB area, radon concentration was found to range from 0.8 to 24.9 kBq m(-3) and thoron from 0.6 to 1.9 kBq m(-3). The gamma dose rate ranged from 90 to 130 nGy h(-1). In addition, the natural radioactivity of the soil was investigated at the low background area. The radium and thorium contents in collected soil samples ranged from 23 to 58 and 33 to 67 Bq kg(-1), respectively. As a result of correlation analyses between the measured values, the highest correlation coefficient (R > 0.95) was found for thorium in the soil and the thoron gas concentration.