Measurements for Natural Radioactive Materials at the East & West banks of The River Nile

Soil samples were collected along the East and West banks of the River Nile region starting from Bait Al-mal in the West side and the second East bank of the River Nile Shambat. Gamma radiation measurements were performed using high resolution HPGe detector with low background PC multichannel spectrometer. The gamma measurements of the soil revealed the presence of the natural long-lived radioisotopes 238U, 232Th and 40K. The ranges of their activity concentrations were 3.32±1.1~6.3±2.1 Bqkg -1, 5.61±1.7~10.76±2.13 Bqkg -1 and 180±7.77~291±11.6 Bqkg -1 ‘respectively’. The other factors controlling the distribution of the detected natural radioisotopes have been discussed. Absorbed dose rates have been calculated for each location with range 15.27±0.82~21.07±1.53 nGyh -1. Also, the estimated activity utilization indexes have been presented. The ratios between the detected radioisotopes have been calculated.