Title: Radioactivity levels of ²³⁸U, ²³⁴Th, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷C in the soil surface of selected regions from Baghdad governorate

Authors: Noor Adil Mohammed; Sameera Ahmed Ebrahiem

Addresses: Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Science, University of Baghdad, Ibn-Al-Haitham, Baghdad, Iraq ' Department of Physics, College of Education for Pure Science, University of Baghdad, Ibn-Al-Haitham, Baghdad, Iraq

Abstract: Gamma radiation emitted by the radionuclides that exist in the soil is the biggest contributor to ionising radiation exposure which has enough energy to ionise or excited the atoms of the substance. Eighteen topsoil samples were taken from some locations in Baghdad to analyse and determine the specific activity of the radionuclides (²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs) using gamma spectroscopy systems with an HPGe at the efficiency of 40%. The mean value results of the specific activity for ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs are 15.692±1.755 Bq/kg, 22.560±3.22 Bq/kg, 386.053±21.58 Bq/kg, and 12.0773±1.23 Bq/kg, respectively. The mean value results of indicators gamma (Ra_eq, D_y, D_Cs, AEDE_in, AEDE_out, H_ex, H_in, and I_γ) are 74.383 Bq/kg, 36.320 nGy/h, 2.042 nGy/h, 0.178 mSv/y, 0.045 mSv/y, 0.248, 0.206, and 0.577. The mean values of specific activities and indicators of gamma hazard are within the acceptable limit given by UNSEAR, so, there is no hazard to humans lives in areas under study.

Keywords: radioactivity levels; exposure; HPGe detector; indicators hazard; Baghdad governorate.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNEST.2020.108794

International Journal of Nuclear Energy Science and Technology, 2020 Vol.14 No.1, pp.15 - 27

Received: 17 Aug 2019
Accepted: 05 Feb 2020
Published online: 03 Aug 2020 *

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