Measurement of Radioactivity Concentration in Soil Samples from Merowe City - Sudan

Abstract

This study aimed to measure the concentration of natural radioactive elements in soil in Merowe City. Thirty soil samples were collected from different locations. The specific activity was determined by using the gamma ray spectroscopy with high purity Germanium detector (HPGe), The activity ranged from 10.7 to 28.6 BqKg-1 for 226Ra, from 12.3 to 53.5 Bq/Kg for 232Th, and 148 to 807 Bq/Kg for 40K. The average absorbed dose of the terrestrial natural existing radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th and 40K) were found to be 48.152 nGy/h. The evaluated annual effective dose is 28.08 µSv/y. The mean absorbed dose is 58.321 nGy/h, and the mean radium equivalent activity is 99.975 Bq/Kg. The external hazard index is 0.757 which is less than one. The representative gamma index was 0.757 also less than one. The results of this study were compared with other studies and found that the concentrations of 226Ra and 232Th were average with a slight increasing in Potassium 40K .