A STUDY ON IONIZING EMISSIONS FROM LIMESTONE SAMPLES USING CR-39 SOLID STATE NUCLEAR TRACK DETECTOR

摘要

Limestone is an item most commonly consumed by the people in the Barak Valley area of Assam along with betel leaves. Also limestone chips are extensively used for water treatment in filter beds of these areas. A preliminary investigation on the activity of the samples of limestone, collected from the local market at Silchar, Assam, indicated the presence of beta and gamma-ray activity, prompting further investigations for the presence of alpha particle emitting radionuclides. Also the study of the ionising emissions from these samples using solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTD) has revealed the presence of spontaneous fission fragments along with alpha particles. This paper presents an account of the results obtained from the SSNTD studies of these limestone samples.