External exposure from radionuclides in soil: analytical vs

The external gamma irradiation resulting from radionuclides deposited on the ground surface can be an important source of radiation exposure. The assessment of this irradiation is extremely complex due to the large number of environmental factors which affect the gamma photon flux in air originating from the ground. The source energy affects the interaction between the radiation and the medium, and the characteristics and the properties of the soil are the most relevant factors to determine the energy and the angular distribution of gamma radiation in air 1 m above the ground surface. From an analytical point of view the calculations are based on the point-kernel integration method and assume that the source concentration at any depth in soil is uniform over an infinite surface parallel to the ground plane. The dose-rate factor is applied to environmental dose assessments by means of the general equation: H(t) = χ(t) x DRF where H is the external dose rate at time t, χ is the source concentration at the location of the exposed individual, and DRF is the dose-rate factor. Dose-rate factors in air at a height of 1 m above ground are tabulated for discrete photon energies between 0.01 and 10 MeV and for source depths in soil between 0 and 300 cm. These factors were determined for sources distributed in a slab of finite thickness and sources which are exponentially distributed with depth. A Monte Carlo algorithm was developed to simulate the gamma photons transport calculation for the soil/air configuration. In this case the soil constituents were assumed to be similar to those on the earth’s crust. The model considers the gamma photons source distributed uniformly in the soil profile, from the ground surface to a depth beyond which the soil is considered uncontaminated. Source gamma photons were randomly selected from the contaminated soil zone and their subsequent interactions determined by the probability of occurrence via photoelectric effect, Compton scattering, and pair-production processes. In this work both methodologies were applied to assess external irradiation due to Cs and K in sampling sites located along the Calabria and Basilicata Regions coastal beaches (south of Italy). Mean values for the gamma dose rate were: (76 ± 30) nGy h. Cs and K depositions density in sand samples were determined for each sampling site (mean values (0.24 ± 0.22) kBq m and (178 ± 88) kBq m respectively). The dose rate associated with the Cs content in sand was (0.16 ± 0.14) nGy h.