Abstract:
The natural radioactivity in soil samples collected from the Khasa River, which flows in the Kirkuk city of Iraq, was studied using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector and a spectroscopy system. The activity concentrations (Bq kg−1) of 214Pb, 226Ra, 212Pb, 228Ac, and 40K varied from 10.1 ± 0.6 to 27.5 ± 3.2, from 23.4 ± 2.8 to 44.1 ± 6.1, from 13.2 ± 0.7 to 26.4 ± 1.8, from 12.5 ± 0.9 to 28.1 ± 4.3, and from 206.5 ± 12.8 to 332.2 ± 7.2, respectively. The results have been compared to the average worldwide values. The hazard indices have also been calculated. The average of radium equivalent activity (Raeq) was 81.2 Bq kg−1; the absorbed gamma dose rate (D) was 42.8 nGy h−1; the annual effective dose rates (AEDE) outdoor and indoor were 0.05 and 0.2 mSv year−1, respectively; the external hazard (Hex) was 0.2; the internal hazard (Hin) was 0.3; the gamma radiation representative level index (Iγ) was 0.5. Our results for some sites were found to be higher than the worldwide values.
