Author(s)

Sabina Yasmin^1,2*, Bijoy Sonker Barua², Masud Kamal², Md. Abdur Rashid¹

¹Department of Physics, Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology, Chittagong, Bangladesh.
²Atomic Energy Centre, Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission, Chittagong, Bangladesh.

A HPGe (High Purity Germanium) detector based, low background gamma-ray counting system was used for activity measurement in soil, sand and sediment samples collected from Potenga sea beach area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. The specific radioactivities of Radium (²²⁶Ra), Thorium (²³²Th) and Potassium (⁴⁰K) were measured in the above samples. The investigation reflects the lower deposition of minerals exist in the collected samples. From the measured specific radioactivities of the above three natural radionuclides, the radium equivalent activity (Ra_eq), the external hazard index (H_ex), the external gamma absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose were calculated. The obtained mean values of gamma absorbed dose rate in soil and sand samples and annual effective dose in soil, sand and sediment samples were found higher than the worldwide average as reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR, 2000). The Ra_eq values were in the range of 47.86 to 293.76 Bq·kg^-1 and the H_ex varied from 0.13 - 0.81, which indicated that the study area was radiologically safe for human being.

Natural Radioactivity, Specific Radioactivity, HPGe γ-Ray Detector, Radiation Hazard Index, Dose Rate, Potenga Sea Beach

Yasmin, S. , Barua, B. , Kamal, M. and Rashid, M. (2014) An Analysis for Distribution of Natural Radionuclides in Soil, Sand and Sediment of Potenga Sea Beach Area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Journal of Environmental Protection, 5, 1553-1563. doi: 10.4236/jep.2014.517147.