TY - JOUR
T1 - An evaluation of the natural radioactivity in Andaman beach sand samples of Thailand after the 2004 tsunami
AU - Malain, D.
AU - Regan, P. H.
AU - Bradley, D. A.
AU - Matthews, M.
AU - Al-Sulaiti, H. A.
AU - Santawamaitre, T.
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - Following the 2004 'Boxing day' tsunami, a determination has been made of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in beach sand samples which have been collected from various locations along the Andaman coast of the Thai peninsula. Use has been made of a HPGe detector-based, low-background gamma-ray counting system. The natural radioactivity levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K measured from these samples was found to lie in the range 1.6-52.5, 0.3-73.9and 2.8-1111.9Bq/kg respectively for the west coast and 3.5-83.1, 4.5-42.0, and 9.6-1376Bq/kg respectively for the east coast. The radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K along the Andaman coast are comparable to that of the east coast, which was not exposed to the tsunami. The corresponding annual effective dose varies from 1.6-105.9μSv/y with a mean value of 59.1±0.3μSv/y, significantly lower than the worldwide average as reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (2000).
AB - Following the 2004 'Boxing day' tsunami, a determination has been made of the activity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K in beach sand samples which have been collected from various locations along the Andaman coast of the Thai peninsula. Use has been made of a HPGe detector-based, low-background gamma-ray counting system. The natural radioactivity levels of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K measured from these samples was found to lie in the range 1.6-52.5, 0.3-73.9and 2.8-1111.9Bq/kg respectively for the west coast and 3.5-83.1, 4.5-42.0, and 9.6-1376Bq/kg respectively for the east coast. The radioactivity concentrations of 226Ra, 232Th and 40K along the Andaman coast are comparable to that of the east coast, which was not exposed to the tsunami. The corresponding annual effective dose varies from 1.6-105.9μSv/y with a mean value of 59.1±0.3μSv/y, significantly lower than the worldwide average as reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) (2000).
KW - Gamma-ray intensities
KW - Gamma-ray spectroscopy
KW - Hyper-pure germanium detector
KW - Naturally occurring radioactive materials
KW - Secular equilibrium
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84862333745&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.apradiso.2012.04.017
DO - 10.1016/j.apradiso.2012.04.017
M3 - Article
C2 - 22728129
AN - SCOPUS:84862333745
SN - 0969-8043
VL - 70
SP - 1467
EP - 1474
JO - Applied Radiation and Isotopes
JF - Applied Radiation and Isotopes
IS - 8
ER -