Title: Radioactivity concentrations and dose assessment for agricultural soil samples around the Jordanian petroleum refinery in Zarqa, Jordan
Authors: Feras Afaneh; Mashour Al-Momani; Jamal Al-Jundi; Allayth Aldrabee; Hassan Juwhari
Addresses: Physics Department, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan ' Physics Department, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan ' Physics Department, The Hashemite University, Zarqa 13133, Jordan ' Jordan Atomic Energy Commission, P.O. Box 70, Shafa Bdran, Amman 11934, Jordan ' Physics Department, University of Jordan, Amman 11942, Jordan
Abstract: The activity concentrations of the natural radionuclides (238U, 232Th, 40K) in the agricultural soils around the Jordanian petroleum refinery in Zarqa city, Jordan, were investigated. The soil samples were collected from three different agricultural regions (X, Y and Z). The 232Th activity concentration was found to be too low in all samples. The average activity concentrations in Bq/kg were found to be: 40.1±1.6 for 238U and 372.6±11.9 for 40K in X-site, 38.3±1.9 for 238U and 486.4±15.0 for 40K in Y-site, and 45.4±1.3 for 238U and 313.3±11.1 for 40K in Z-site. Our findings are within the worldwide average values (UNSCEAR, 2000). The absorbed dose rates were calculated and found to be in the range of 20.86-47.62 nGy/h with an overall average value of 34.66 nGy/h. The average outdoor annual effective dose equivalent was estimated to be 41.13 ± 11.64 μSvy−1 which is below the world average of 70 μSvy−1.
Keywords: natural radioactivity; low radiation; dose assessment; agricultural soil samples; agriculture; petroleum refineries; HPGe detector; Jordan; natural radionuclides.
International Journal of Low Radiation, 2016 Vol.10 No.3, pp.234 - 243
Received: 30 Apr 2016
Accepted: 29 Aug 2016
Published online: 09 Jan 2017 *