Analysis of natural radionuclides and <sup>137</sup> Cs using HPGe spectrometer and radiological hazards assessment for Al-Nigella site, Egypt
Ahmed N. Shabaka, A.M. Omar, Sayed A. El‐Mongy, A. F. Tawfic
Abstract
This study aims to evaluate the specific activity levels in soil and shore-sediment samples due to natural radionuclides; 238U, 232Th and 40K, and man-made 137Cs of Al–Nigella site, Marsa Matrouh government, Egypt. Soil and shore sediment sample selection, preparation, energy and efficiency calibration, Minimum Detectable Activity (MDA) of the HPGe detector was carried out according to the standard approaches. The activity concentrations of the samples ranged from 3.16 ± 0.04 to 36.28 ± 0.83 Bq kg−1 for 238U series, 0.582 ± 0.01 to 33.35 ± 0.62 Bq kg−1 for 232Th series and 7.38 ± 0.18 to 477.64 ± 8.12 Bq kg−1 for 40K and 0.088 ± 0.002 to 3.98 ± 0.09 Bq kg−1 for the artificial 137Cs. The Radiological contour maps for Al–Nigella were drawn using Surfer_13 software and the hazards index was estimated according to the results of the radioactivity measurements and their levels. All results obtained are within the permissible world average values and compared with the activity concentrations in different countries. The values of the calculated air absorbed gamma dose rate D, Annual effective dose E, Radium equivalent (Raeq), External hazard index (Hex) and Gamma index (Iγ) are below the average international recommended limits as reported by UNSCEAR 2008.