monitoring the concentration of 238u, 232th, 40k and 137cs of soil in anarak-khour district, central iran

this study was conducted to determine the radioactivity concentration in soil samples of anarak-khour district located at central iran. 48 soil samples from a depth of 10-15 cm were taken from seven different sites for monitoring. the radioactivity concentration of 238u, 232th, 137cs and 40k in soil samples was determined, using a high resolution (hpge detector, p-type) γ-spectrometry by detectors with 55% and 38.5% relative efficiencies. the results showed that the radioactivity concentration ranged from 9.91 ± 0.11 to 4479.95 ± 0.15 bq.kg-1 for 238u, from 5.95 ± 0.14 to 389.72 ± 0.10 bq.kg-1 for 232th, ≤mda to 8.89 ± 0.13 bq.kg-1 for 137cs and from 123.18 ± 0.27 to 5201.42 ± 0.27 bq.kg-1 for 40k in soil samples. the calculated internal and external hazard indices were more than 1 in some sites which showed a high dose for this area. these results could be used as a database of this area because it might be used as a nuclear waste site in the future.