Natural Radioactivity in Spanish Soils

Abstract

The program of studies and surveys of natural radiation and radioactivity in Spain organized by our research group at the end of the 1980s included a 4-y national survey to determine the concentrations of natural radionuclides in soil. Results obtained from measurements of soil samples collected nationwide at > 900 sampling sites are reported and discussed in this paper. Correlations between absorbed dose rates in air calculated from natural radionuclide concentrations in soil and terrestrial gamma dose rates measured experimentally outdoors are shown for the different autonomous regions of Spain. Assessment is also made of the dose to the Spanish population from outdoor exposure to terrestrial gamma rays.

Mobility of Natural Radionuclides and Selected Major and Trace Elements Along a Soil Toposequence in the Central Spanish Pyrenees

“…Texture is silt loam and bulk density ranges between 1 and 1.2 g cm -3 . Table 1 shows the values of background levels of natural gamma radionuclides found in these profiles fall within the range for Spanish soils (Quindós et al, 1994) and also agree with values reported by Litaor (1995) and de Jong et al (1994) in North America.…”

“…The methodology for determining natural gamma-emitting radionuclides is described by Quindós et al (1994). Soil samples were packed in 100 mL PVC cylindrical containers.…”

“…Rosholt et al 1966;Sully et al, 1987) studied the distribution of natural radioisotopes in soil profiles. In Spain, natural radioactivity has been studied at a nation-wide scale survey (Quindós et al, 1994) and Elejalde et al (1996) analysed the radionuclide content in soils from Biscay.…”

Radium and Uranium Concentrations Measurements in Vegetables Samples of Iraq

“…Such information is essential in understanding human exposure from natural and man-made sources of radiation and necessary in establishing rules and regulations relating to radiation protection [1].…”

Analysis of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in soil samples for the assessment of the average effective dose

“…These doses vary depending upon the concentrations of the natural radionuclides, 238 U, 232 Th, their daughter products and 40 K, present in the soils and rocks, which in turn depend upon the local geology of each region in the world [2,3].…”