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Natural radioactivity in sediment of Wei River, China

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Environmental Geology

Abstract

The concentrations of natural radionuclides in sediment of Wei River of China were measured using γ-ray spectrometry with the aim of estimating the radiation hazard as establishing a database for radioactivity levels of river sediment of China. The activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in sediment samples ranged from 10.4 to 39.9 Bq kg−1, 15.3 to 54.8 Bq kg−1 and 514.8 to 1,175.5 Bq kg−1, respectively. The concentrations of these radionuclides were compared with the typical world values and the average activities of Chinese soil and Shaanxi soil. Radium equivalent activity (Raeq), external hazard index (H ex) and representative level index (I γr) were calculated for the samples to assess the radiation hazards arising due to the use of these sediment samples in the construction of dwellings. All the sediment samples have Raeq lower than the limit of 370 Bq kg−1, H ex less than unity and I γr close to 1 Bq kg−1. The overall mean outdoor terrestrial gamma dose rate is 64.8 nGy h−1 and the corresponding outdoor annual effective dose is 0.079 mSv. None of the studied location is considered a radiological risk and sediment can be safely used in construction.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University under Grant NCET-05-0861 and the Provincial Natural Sciences Foundation of Shaanxi Province under Grant 2006D14. Gratitude is expressed to L. Wang and K. Lei for assisting in sampling.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Tourism and Environment, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi’an, 710062, People’s Republic of China

    Xinwei Lu, Xiaolan Zhang & Fengling Wang

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  1. Xinwei Lu
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  2. Xiaolan Zhang
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  3. Fengling Wang
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Correspondence to Xinwei Lu.

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Lu, X., Zhang, X. & Wang, F. Natural radioactivity in sediment of Wei River, China. Environ Geol 53, 1475–1481 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0756-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00254-007-0756-0

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