Determination of Natural Radioactivity in Soil Samples from Different Locations in Al-Qadisiyah Governorate

Abstract

In the present work, the radioactivity of four soil specimens has been measured, which were collected from various sites from Al-Qadisiyah Governorate. The qualitative activity of natural radionuclides ²³⁸U, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K for soil specimens were evaluated by utilizing gamma-ray spectroscopy with NaI(Tl) detector of 3"×3" dimensions. The results revealed that the qualitative activity for ²³⁸U was varied from 9.290 to 22.980 Bq/kg, for ²³²Th was varied from 4.550 to 7.880 Bq/kg, for ⁴⁰K was varied from 95.328 to 336.550 Bq/kg, with an average values of 15.945±2.98, 5.925±3.93, and 190.720±22.20 Bq/kg, respectively. To survey the radiological peril in soil, radium effective activity, absorbed gamma dose in air, annual effective dose equivalent (inner and outer), gamma concentration level index and both interior and exterior radiation peril index have been computed, and all the existed results were less than recommended by the International Committee for the Radiation Protection (ICRP).