Greener Journal of Physical Sciences

Greener Journal of  Physical Sciences  Vol. 3 (5), pp. 165-176, August 2013.  

ISSN: 2276-7851 © 2011 Greener Journals

Research Paper

Manuscript Number: 080613769

 

Measurement of the Natural Radioactivity in Cataclastic Rock Samples using RS-230 Spectrometer

 

Hesham A. Yousef¹ and Gehad M. Saleh²*

 

¹Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Suez University, Suez, Egypt.

²Nuclear Materials Authority, P.O. Box: 530 El-Maadi, Cairo, Egypt.

 

¹Email: h_yosef2013 @ yahoo.com
 

*Corresponding Author’s Email: drgehad_m @ yahoo.com

Abstract:

Natural radioactivity levels for radioactive samples occurring in construction material have been carried out for forty cataclastic rock samples from Abu Rusheid area in the Eastern Desert. In the present study the concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th and ⁴⁰K (%) were measured using RS-230 gamma ray spectrometer with high accuracy. Radiation exposure rate, absorbed dose rate and the annual absorbed dose rate were calculated from the measured concentrations of natural radioactivity. From the results, the concentration of uranium in ppm ranged from 1.80 to 222.60 and thorium ranged from 2.40 to 487.40 ppm. The values of radiation exposure rate ranged from 2.88 to 245.97 µRh^-1 and the annual absorbed dose rate ranged from 0.24 to 20.50 mSvy^-1. The values of the absorbed dose rate are higher than the acceptable limit. From the obtained results, we can conclude that the area under study can be used as a mine of natural radioactive elements.

 

Keywords: Radioactivity, ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, Exposure, Dose.

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