Measurement of natural radioactivity concentrations in walnut collected from different markets in Sulaimanya city-Kurdistan region-Iraq

Abstract

Walnut is one of the most important and necessary foodstuffs in our daily lives and there are many species in Iraqi Kurdistan from different sources. Therefore, the significant point in this works is gamma rays measuring to estimate various radiation hazards via walnut consumption for different markets. The samples have been collected from different markets and locations in Sulaimanya governorate in Kurdistan region-Iraq. The average specific activities for nuclides found with high probability for the walnut by using a vertical coaxial cylindrical High Purity Germanium Radiation Detector (HPGe). The specific activity for the shell of the walnut were for the three most important radionuclides 232Th, 226Ra and 40K were 14.842 9.450, 7.226 1.805, 107.2 2.563 (Bq/kg) respectively, and for walnut pulp 232Th, 226Ra and 40K were 16.053 8.861, 5.105 1.540, 143.6 2.884 (Bq/kg) respectively. The total average activities were within the average ranges of the accepted values in the world (45, 33 and 420 Bq/kg for 232Th, 226Ra and 40K respectively).