Abstract

Cement based materials may contain varying levels of radionuclides, mainly (226) Ra (from the U-238 series), 232 Th and K-40, which are used to determine the Activity Concentration Index ("ACI"). According to the European directive Euratom 2013/59 in these materials, the "ACI" must be 1 to be suitable for their use in construction. In this paper, data on the activity concentration of natural radionuclides in cement-based materials (i.e. cements, additions, pigments and aggregates) as well as their chemical composition are presented. Radioactivity measurements have been determined by using gamma spectroscopy the chemical compositions have been determined by X-Ray Fluorescence. Data for cements measured shown that white cements present a lower concentration of activity than conventional CEM I. In addition, the CAC (Calcium aluminate cements) present high activity concentration in the Th-232 series. Regarding additions, FA (Fly Ash) are those that present the highest concentration of activity in the U-238 and Th-232 series, while olive biomass ashes are those supplementary cementitious materials that show the highest concentration of activity for 40 K. Some pigments used in mortar and concrete technology were also characterized. Granitic and volcanic rocks, potentially used as aggregates present much higher activity concentration than the siliceous aggregate. (C) 2020 Published by Elsevier Inc.