FUW TRENDS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(A Peer Review Journal)
e–ISSN: 2408–5162; p–ISSN: 2048–5170
keywords: Activity concentrations, dose rate, gamma-ray spectrometry, hazard index
There was speculation that the Kerri-Kerri Formation is a potential host of uranium mineralization hence the need to assess the radiological hazard in the rocks of the area. Activity concentrations of radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K were measured by laboratory gamma spectrometry for rock samples collected from the southwest of the Kerri-Kerri Formation, Northeastern Nigeria. The average activity concentrations of 238Ra, 232Th and 40K were found to be 27.00±2.50Bqkg–1,61.91±3.33Bqkg–1 and 91.70±8.47Bq kg–1, respectively. These values were used to evaluate the radiological hazard parameters in the study area. The mean values of the radiological parameters; absorbed dose rate (D), radium equivalent activity (Raeq), outdoor annual effective dose equivalent (AEDE), radioactivity level index (Iγ), external hazard index (Hex) and internal hazard index (Hin) were found to be 53.69 nGyh-1, 122.60 Bq kg–1, 0.006 mSv y-1, 0.86, 0.331 and 0.404, respectively. These results were compared with values obtained for different countries of the world and were found to be lower than the world average values. On the basis of low levels of natural radioactivity, the study area can be considered as a less natural background radiation hazard area.
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