Title: Assessment of radiation dose due to natural radionuclides in various cement samples

Authors: Rohit Mehra; Pankaj Bala; Komal Badhan; R.G. Sonkawade

Addresses: Department of Physics, B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 144011, Punjab, India. ' Department of Physics, B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 144011, Punjab, India. ' Department of Physics, B.R. Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar 144011, Punjab, India. ' Health Physics Lab, Inter University Accelerator Centre, New Delhi, India

Abstract: Samples of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) and Portland Pozzolana Cement (PPC) from five companies were analysed for the measurement of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K using a HPGe detector based on high-resolution gamma spectrometry system. The measured activity in the selected OPC cement samples varies from 19.24 Bq kg^?1 (JK Laxmi) to 40.73 Bq kg^?1 (JayPee), 29.49 Bq kg^?1 (JK Laxmi) to 42.17 Bq kg^?1 (JayPee) and 228.25 Bq kg^?1 (JK Cement) to 304.98 Bq kg^?1 (Binani) for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K, respectively. The concentration of radium, thorium and potassium in the selected PPC cement samples varies from 22.50 Bq kg^?1 (JK Laxmi) to 48.83 Bq kg^?1 (Binani), 30.74 Bq kg^?1 (JK Laxmi) to 70.48 Bq kg^?1 (Binani) and 267.94 Bq kg^?1 (Binani) to 328.88 Bq kg^?1 (JayPee), respectively. Radium equivalent, annual effective dose, absorbed dose and hazard indices were also calculated for the measured samples.

Keywords: natural radioactivity; gamma ray spectroscopy; HPGe detector; OPC cement; PPC cement; absorbed dose; low radiation; ordinary Portland cement; Portland pozzolana cement; radium equivalent; annual effective dose; hazard indices; radionuclides.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLR.2011.044196

International Journal of Low Radiation, 2011 Vol.8 No.2, pp.156 - 168

Published online: 07 Feb 2015 *

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