Evaluation of the activity of 238U, 40K, and 232Th in soil samples at Yanbu Al-Bahr City in KSA



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Submitted Jun 29, 2022
Published Aug 9, 2022
10.24018/ejphysics.2022.4.4.191

Abstract viewed = 141 times

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The activity of radionuclides Uranium-238, Thorium-232, and Potassium-40 in soil samples collected from different areas in Yanbu city were analyzed using Gamma Spectrometry based on the HPGe detector CANBERRA model, with a relative efficiency of 40%. The activity concentrations for these radionuclides were compared with the world average activity of the soil, it was found that the activity of 238U in samples ranged from (19.4 - 30.8) Bq/kg. And for 232Th, the activity in samples ranged from (8.7 – 26.6) Bq/kg. While the activity of 40K in samples ranged from (332.1 - 638.0) Bq/kg. In addition, the average dose rate in the air is 50.84 nGy/h. It can be said that the activity of 238U, 232Th, and 40K in the study areas and the dose rate in the air is within the average world limits, (UNSCEAR 2000).

Keywords: Activity; Concentration; Potassium-40; Uranium-238; Thorium-232; Soil.

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