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IJESD 2015 Vol.6(9): 706-709 ISSN: 2010-0264
DOI: 10.7763/IJESD.2015.V6.684

Specific Activities of Natural Radionuclides in Beach Sand Samples from Samila Beach in Songkhla Province (Thailand) after Nuclear Power Plant Accident in Japan

Prasong Kessaratikoon, Ruthairat Boonkrongcheep, Nikom Choosiri, Nureda Taehdeng, and Suchin Udomsomporn

Abstract—Specific activities of natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra and 232Th) in 30 beach sand samples collected from Samila beach of Songkhla province in southern region of Thailand, have been measured and evaluated. Experimental results were obtained by using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector and gamma spectrometry analysis system. The frequency distribution of specific activities of measured natural radionuclides (40K, 226Ra and 232Th) in all beach sand samples, have been also studied and analyzed. It was found that the frequency distribution of specific activities of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th were asymmetrical distribution with the skewness of 2.50, 4.28 and 4.11, respectively. The median values of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th were 868.51 ± 118.42 Bq/kg, 30.50 ± 4.22 Bq/kg and 23.31 ± 2.22 Bq/kg, respectively. Furthermore, four radiological hazard indices which are gamma-absorbed dose rate (D), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), external hazard index (Hex) and annual external effective dose rate (AEDout), were evaluated for Samila beach by using the median values of specific activities of 40K, 226Ra and 232Th. Moreover, the results were also compared with the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) annual report data, Thailand and global radioactivity measurement and evaluations. From this study, the corresponding annual external effective dose rate (AEDout) was equal to 0.08 ± 0.01mSv/y, significantly lower than the worldwide average as reported by United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

Index Terms—Beach sand, gamma spectrometry, natural radionuclide, radiological hazard index, specific activity.

P. Kessaratikoon, R. Boonkrongcheep, and N. Choosiri are with the Nuclear and Material Physics Research Unit (NuMPRU), Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Thaksin University, Songkhla Campus, Muang, Songkhla, 90000 Thailand (e-mail: prasong_mi@hotmail.com, ruthairat.b@hotmail.com, nikom@tsu.ac.th).
N. Taehdeng is with Faculty of Education, Thaksin University, Songkhla Campus, Muang, Songkhla, 90000, Thailand (e-mail: n_da007@hotmail.com).
S. Udomsomporn is with the Office of Atoms for Peace (OAP) 16 Vibhavadi Rangsit Rd, Chatuchak, Bangkok, 10900, Thailand (e-mail: suchin@oaep.go.th).

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Cite:Prasong Kessaratikoon, Ruthairat Boonkrongcheep, Nikom Choosiri, Nureda Taehdeng, and Suchin Udomsomporn, "Specific Activities of Natural Radionuclides in Beach Sand Samples from Samila Beach in Songkhla Province (Thailand) after Nuclear Power Plant Accident in Japan," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 6, no. 9, pp. 706-709, 2015.

General Information

  • ISSN: 2010-0264 (Print); 2972-3698 (Online)
  • Abbreviated Title: Int. J. Environ. Sci. Dev.
  • Frequency: Bimonthly
  • DOI: 10.18178/IJESD
  • Editor-in-Chief: Prof. Richard Haynes
  • Managing Editor: Ms. Cherry L. Chen
  • Indexing: Scopus (CiteScore 2022: 1.4), Google Scholar, CNKI, ProQuest, EBSCO, etc. 
  • E-mail: ijesd@ejournal.net

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