ALI YAHYA SALMAN, ANWAR QASIM AHMED, SHAYMAA AWAD KADHIM AND ALI ABID ABOJASSIM
Physics Department, Faculty of Science, University of Kufa, Najaf, Iraq
*(e-mail : ali.alhameedawi@uokufa.edu.iq; Mobile : 00964-7801103720)
(Received : June 12, 2019; Accepted : August 12, 2019)
ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the natural radioactivity measurement of radionuclide to 226Ra, 232Th and 40K. This work has been done on different types of rice t grown in different locations in Iraq, using Gamma spectrometry with NaI (TI) detector. The results showed that the ranges of specific activities of 238U, 232Th and 40K were 0.207±0.103 to 11.835±2.595 Bq/kg, with an average of 4.580±1.253 Bq/kg, from 1.005±0.944 to 19.899±1.036 Bq/kg with an average of 7.342±1.956 Bq/kg and from 594.2993±12.225 to 1576.611± 18.613 Bq/kg with an average of 1029.205±15.203 Bq/kg, respectively. The maximum value of annual effect dose ranges of 238U, 232Th, 40K and total for adults age were 106.89, 53.37, 93.91 µSv/y and 0.25 mS/y, respectively. The average value of specific activity for 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in rice samples was found in the worldwide range for radioactivity in food 30, 32 and 400 Bq/kg, respectively. The values of the annual effective radiation dose for persons eating these rice samples were found below the limit of (1.0 mSv/y) which is the value suggested by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. Therefore, it was concluded that the implemented technique presented in this research illustrated better results. Thus, it was obvious that the foodstuffs studied were safe for human consumption since their radioactivity levels were located within the permitted level.
Key words : Natural radioactivity, gamma ray spectroscopy, rice, Iraq