Radiation Physics and Engineering
A peer-reviewed journal published by K. N. Toosi University of Technology

Determination of radiation hazard indicators in naturally occurring radionuclides in sediments of the Al-Adhaim river tributary

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

Haydar Hameed Saeed 1
Mustafa Mohammed Jabbar 2
Zainab F. Abd-Sada 1

1 Department of Laser Physics, College of Science for Girls, University of Babylon, Babylon, Iraq

2 Ministry of Education, Al-Qadisiyah Directorate of Education, Al-Diwaniyah, Iraq

https://doi.org/10.22034/rpe.2026.598668.1430
Abstract
This study was conducted to establish a radiological baseline for the investigated area and determine the concentrations. concentrations of naturally occurring radionuclides, together with their associated gamma-radiation hazard indices in sediment samples collected from a tributary of the Al-Adhaim River. Twenty sediment samples were obtained from different locations along the river course. A systematic random sampling approach to ensure adequate representation of the sediment characteristics across the investigated sections. Gamma-ray measurements were performed using a NaI(Tl) detector connected to a multichannel analyzer (MCA), with the Genie 2000 software used for spectral analysis. The measured activity concentrations showed considerable variation between the sampling locations. The mean activity concentrations of the investigated radionuclides were from 23892U(22688Ra), 23290Th(22889Ac), 4019K and 13755Cs in (Bq.kg-1) samples sediment 26.23, 18.25, 361.29, and 5.99 Bq.kg-1 respectively. All measured mean concentrations were below the corresponding world average values reported by UNSCEAR. In addition, the calculated radiological hazard parameters were within the internationally recommended limits, indicating that the investigated sediments do not represent a significant radiological hazard under the conditions of the present study

Highlights

  • Natural radionuclides were quantified in Al-Adhaim River sediments.
  • Mean U-238, Th-232 and K-40 activities were 13.116, 11.863 and 361.29 Bq.kg−1.
  • Cs-137 showed a mean activity of 3.897 Bq.kg−1 in the studied sediments.
  • Radionuclide distributions varied spatially across the sampling sites.
  • Radiological hazard indices indicated low radiological risk.

Keywords

Keywords: Hazard indices
Natural radioactivity
River sediment
NaI (Tl) detector
Subjects

Copyright
RPE is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC 4.0).

Conflict of Interest
The authors declare no potential conflict of interest regarding the publication of this work‎.

Funding
‎The authors declare that no funds‎, ‎grants‎, ‎or other financial support were received during the preparation of this manuscript‎.

Radiation Physics and Engineering

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 05 November 2026

  • Receive Date 23 August 2026
  • Revise Date 24 October 2026
  • Accept Date 31 October 2026

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