Assessment of natural radioactivity and associated radiation indices in soil samples from the high background radiation area, Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, India

摘要

Assessment of natural radioactivity is very important from different points of view, especially for assessment of radiation exposure to human. In the present study, natural radionuclide concentrations of ~(238)U, ~(232)Th, and ~(40)K were measured by gamma spectrometry using HPGe detector in soil samples collected from Southwest coast of Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu. The radiological index parameters due to natural radionudides such as radium equivalent activity, absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose rate, external hazard index, internal hazard index, and gamma index were calculated for the soil samples. All the calculated radiological index values are higher than world average values and the recommended safety limits. Multivariate statistical techniques such as Pearson correlation, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis were applied to know the relation between radionudides and radiological parameters and to study the spatial distribution of radionudides.