Presentation Title

Evaluation Of A Non-Destructive Xrf Analytical Tool For Uranium And Thorium Abundances And Radioactivity Assessment In Dimension Stone

Author(s) Information

Mary Jane Cooney

Presentation Type

Poster Presentation

College

College of Natural Sciences

Major

Geological Sciences

Location

Event Center A & B

Start Date

5-21-2015 1:00 PM

End Date

5-21-2015 2:30 PM

Abstract

The increasing popularity of “granite” dimension stone countertop materials, and their use in homes, illustrates the need for a nondestructive test for radioactivity and potentially harmful elements. The range of values for uranium and thorium in common countertop materials are within appropriate ranges of reliability for portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) units. The correction curve for uranium has a correlation coefficient of 0.993, showing that raw XRF values may be corrected with a high degree of reliability. The correction curve for thorium also had a very strong correlation value of 0.999. Plots of U, Th, and U+Th vs. radioactivity measured for individual samples, shows correlation between radioactivity and the abundance of these elements. Specifically, there is moderate correlation of radioactivity with U abundance, stronger correlation with Th, and the best correlation with U+Th. This suggests that portable XRF units can serve as a useful screening tool for granite countertop materials with respect to U and Th levels, and can serve as a proxy for Geiger counter measurements of radioactivity within these same materials. This should prove useful for this presently unregulated industry, should future regulations require these types of measurements.

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May 21st, 1:00 PM May 21st, 2:30 PM

Evaluation Of A Non-Destructive Xrf Analytical Tool For Uranium And Thorium Abundances And Radioactivity Assessment In Dimension Stone

Event Center A & B

The increasing popularity of “granite” dimension stone countertop materials, and their use in homes, illustrates the need for a nondestructive test for radioactivity and potentially harmful elements. The range of values for uranium and thorium in common countertop materials are within appropriate ranges of reliability for portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) units. The correction curve for uranium has a correlation coefficient of 0.993, showing that raw XRF values may be corrected with a high degree of reliability. The correction curve for thorium also had a very strong correlation value of 0.999. Plots of U, Th, and U+Th vs. radioactivity measured for individual samples, shows correlation between radioactivity and the abundance of these elements. Specifically, there is moderate correlation of radioactivity with U abundance, stronger correlation with Th, and the best correlation with U+Th. This suggests that portable XRF units can serve as a useful screening tool for granite countertop materials with respect to U and Th levels, and can serve as a proxy for Geiger counter measurements of radioactivity within these same materials. This should prove useful for this presently unregulated industry, should future regulations require these types of measurements.