Investigation of uranium concentrations in selected soil samples of Al-Diwaniyah governorate, Iraq using CR-39 detector

Abstract

In the present investigation, neutron activation technique for nuclear track detectors CR-39 has been applied to determine the uranium concentration in selected soil samples collected from different areas residential, industrial and agricultural of Al-Diwaniyah governorate southern Iraq, with various depths of soil (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 cm), respectively. The results show that the uranium contents in soil samples ranged from 3.66 ± 0.13 ppm to 0.71 ± 0.16 ppm, with an average value of 2.1 ± 0.12 ppm. Results of this work showed a decrease of uranium concentration with increased depth of soil. The results were compared with the published data and they were found to be within the safety levels.