Mapping of natural radioactivity in soil samples of Badra oil field project using GIS program

Abstract

The study focuses on measuring the values of 238 U, 232 Th and 40 K natural radionuclides in soil samples in Badra oil field area (Iraq). Also, the radiological risk data were calculated for all samples in this study. The technique used in this study was gamma-ray spectrometry with NaI(Tl) detector. The averages of specific activity are: 24.7 Bq/kg for 238 U, 13.6 Bq/kg for 232 Th, and 538.9 Bq/kg for 40 K. Besides, the estimations of radiological effects like the radium equivalent (Ra eq ), the absorbed dose rate (D r ), external hazard index (H ex ), internal hazard index (H in ), representative gamma hazard index (I γ ) and the total annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE) are 85.5 Bq/kg, 42.1 nGy/h, 0.23, 0.30, 0.66 and 0.26 mSv/y respectively. When comparing the results in the study area with the world mean values specified by the UNSCEAR, OCDE and ICRP, the study terminates that the limits of health risk are safe and may not menace the workers at these locations due to these radionuclide limits. The values were subjected to GIS environment under the WGS1984 coordinate system for the sake of results' coordination, and processed in Inverse Distance Weighted interpolation as the best processing.

Measurements of natural radioactivity in soil samples around Kufa cement factory sites in Najaf governorate, Iraq

“…for all samples were less than unity which is the Max. Value of the permissible safety limit recommended by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR 2000) (18) .When comparing the results of the average specific activity of elements 238 U, 232 Th, and 40 k in the current study with the results recorded in different locations of Iraq (19)(20)(21)(22) , it is found that all results are larger than other previous studies. The increase or decrease of the recorded values is due to many factors such as the soil type, the geological nature of the area, the region selected (industrial or agricultural) or maybe exposure to other external factors.…”