Characterization of the Radioactivity of Natural Radionuclides in Some Building Materials using a High-Purity Germanium Detector

Abstract

The main objective of the current study is to characterize radioactivity in selected samples of building materials by measuring the amounts of natural radionuclides (²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K) using gamma spectroscopy with a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Samples selected for the models were collected from different origins and subjected to analysis to confirm average concentrations of radionuclides. Then, risk factors were calculated and these results were compared to international values for further analysis. The results of the study indicate that the quantities of radionuclides fall within the established global natural limits, which indicates that the levels of natural radioactivity fall within the globally accepted range.