Background <p>Decontamination of concrete structures from radionuclides represents the most important task of decommissioning nuclear hazardous facilities. Relevant decontamination results obtained preferably without using radionuclide-contaminated building materials are needed to assess the effectiveness of developed decontamination methods.</p> Aim <p>To develop a&#xa0;technique for simulating concrete surface layers contaminated with radioactive elements, including the subsequent assessment of element penetration depth.</p> Materials and methods <p>The object of the study involves concrete blocks saturated with specially selected radioactive simulants using an aqueous suspension at different durations of exposure. The research method is X‑ray fluorescence spectrometry, which is applicable to quantify the content of radioactive simulants in concrete layers depending on the distance to the surface treated with a&#xa0;suspension.</p> Results <p>The selected simulants suitable for aqueous suspension include SrO, Nd₂O₃, ZrO₂, and Cs₂MoO₄; the exposure time of 1 h required to contaminate the concrete surface to a&#xa0;depth of 3 cm was established sufficient for decontamination studies.</p> Conclusion <p>The developed technique can be used to simulate the concrete surface layers contaminated with radioactive elements, followed by the analysis of the composition of these layers and assessment of the element penetration depth for assessing the effectiveness of decontamination methods.</p>