Assessment of Radiation Risks at the Asalah Site Post-Decontamination Using RESRAD v7.2
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Abstract
Radiation is the emission of energy in the form of particles or photons, and it has two types: cosmic radiation and terrestrial radiation. Materials that emit radiation as they decay over time are called naturally occurring radioactive elements. This study, which was conducted at the Asalah site after removing radioactive contamination, included taking 15 samples from different locations at the site and conducting radiological tests on them using the HpGe (high-purity germanium) system available at the laboratory of Iraqi Atomic Energy Commission- Radiological and Nuclear Applications and Laboratories Directorate From this study one can see that the average value of specific activity for 226Ra was 15.51 Bq/kg, with the highest value for As 9, ranging between 22.2±1.9 Bq/kg and the lowest value for As 2, which was 12±1.4 Bq/kg. The average value (14.56) and the highest value of 228Ac were 25±4.2 Bq/Kg for As 11, while the lowest was 13.5±1.9 Bq/kg for As 12. The average value of 40K was 317.28 Bq/kg, with the highest value (391.6±30.7) Bq/kg in As11 and the lowest value (295±22.3) Bq/kg in As5. The average value for the dose rate was 0.14 µSv/h, ranging from 0.08 µSv/h in As 1 to 0.17 µSv/h. The dose and risk of cancer were elevated using the RESRAD 7.2 code. The external radiation dose at the site decontamination, according to the RESRAD calculations, is 2.5×10-7 Sv/year, which is the highest value of any pathway. The total dose from all pathways decreases to 1.1 × . After 100 years, it approaches zero after 1000 years. The total dose determined by RESRAD at the Al-Asalah site is less than the 1 mSv/year acceptable limit for public radiation exposure as established by the IAEA's International Basic Safety Standards.
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