Measurement of activity concentration levels of radionuclides in soil samples collected from Bethlehem Province, West Bank, Palestine

Authors : MOHAMMED MAHMUD ABU SAMREH, KHALIL MOHAMMED THABAYNEH, FATIMA WALEED KHRAIS

Pages : 113-125

Doi:10.3906/muh-1303-8

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Publication Date : 0000-00-00

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :In this study, we report on the activity concentrations of $^{238}$U, $^{232}$Th, $^{40}$K, and $^{137}$Cs in 50 soil samples of Bethlehem Province, West Bank, Palestine. Gamma-ray spectroscopy was employed to perform the measurements using an HPGe detector. On one hand, the activity concentrations of natural radionuclides were found to vary from 12.7 to 122.3 Bq kg$^{-1}$ with an average value of 41.4 Bq kg$^{-1}$ for $^{238}$U, from 2.0 to 32.2 Bq kg$^{-1}$ with an average value of 19.5 Bq kg$^{-1}$ for $^{232}$Th, and from 12.0 to 183.8 Bq kg$^{-1}$ with an average value of 113.3 Bq kg$^{-1}$ for $^{40}$K. On the other hand, the activity concentrations of the artificial $^{137}$Cs radionuclide were found between 1.0 and 12.2 Bq kg$^{-1}$, with an average value of 2.8 Bq kg$^{-1}$. The variations of the assessed radiological hazard parameters indices $Ra_{eq}$, $D_{r}$, $ H_{ex}$, and $I_{\gamma }$ of natural radionuclides were found to be as follows: 16-148, 7-65, 0.04-0.4, and 0.11-1.00, respectively. The results were found to be comparable to or lower than similar reported data worldwide. Accordingly, the investigated soil zones can be considered to have normal levels of natural background radiation.
Keywords : Natural radioactivity, activity concentration, hazardous indices, Bethlehem Province