Radiological baseline around the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant, UAE

Abstract

Destructive and non-destructive analysis techniques were used to establish a radiological baseline around the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant area in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The natural radioactivity concentrations of 238U (226Ra), 232Th and 40K were measured for shore, soil and bottom sediment samples, using gamma spectrometry with a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector. Alpha spectrometry was used to measure the 234U/238U ratio for some selected samples using a silicon surface-barrier detector. The measured gamma activity concentrations in shore samples are much lower compared to those in soil and bottom samples. The average activity concentrations of 238U (226Ra) are 4.43 ± 1.12, 13.54 ± 4.16 and 4.73 ± 3.01 Bq/kg in shore, soil and bottom sediment samples, respectively. The corresponding values for 232Th are 1.68 ± 0.49, 8.31 ± 3.87 and 1.83 ± 1.67 Bq/kg, and those for 40K, are 106.30 ± 50.68, 349.72 ± 107.16 and 105.23 ± 130.14 Bq/kg. The 234U/238U activity ratios span a wide range from 0.59 to 2.24, indicating a system where the daughter/parent is out of secular radioactive equilibrium. The hazard parameters, radium equivalent and absorbed dose rates, showed low levels compared to the world average level reported by the UNSCEAR in 2000. The estimated activity concentrations in this study were lower than the world average values and lower than the levels reported in nearby countries.