Determination of the activity concentration levels of the artificial radionuclide 137Cs in soil samples collected from Qatar using high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry

The goal of this study was to establish the first baseline measurements for radioactivity concentration of the artificial radionuclide Cs-137 in soil samples collected from the Qatarian peninsula. The work focused on the determination of the activity concentrations levels of man-made radiation in 129 soil samples collected across the landscape of the State of Qatar. All the samples were collected before the most recent accident in Japan, "the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant accident". The activity concentrations have been measured via high-resolution gamma-ray spectrometry using a hyper-pure germanium detector situated in a low-background environment with a copper inner-plated passive lead shield. A radiological map showing the activity concentrations of Cs-137 is presented in this work. The concentration was found to range from 0.21 to 15.41 Bq/kg. The highest activity concentration of Cs-137 was observed in sample no. 26 in North of Qatar. The mean value was found to be around 2.15 +/- 0.27 Bq/kg. These values lie within the expected range relative to the countries in the region. It is expected that this contamination is mainly due to the Chernobyl accident on 26 April 1986, but this conclusion cannot be confirmed because of the lack of data before this accident.