Measurement of radioactivity in the soil of Bahawalpur division, Pakistan

Bahawalpur is the largest division of the Punjab province in Pakistan. It is larger than many countries of the world. Gamma activity from the naturally occurring radionuclides namely 2 2 6 Ra, 2 3 2 Th, the primordial radionuclide 4 0 K and the artificial radionuclide 1 3 7 Cs was measured in the soil of the Bahawalpur division using gamma spectrometry technique. The mean activity of 2 2 6 Ra, 2 3 2 Th, 4 0 K and 1 3 7 Cs were found to be 32.9′0.9, 53.6′1.4, 647.4′14.1 and 1.5′0.2 Bq kg - 1 , respectively. The mean radium equivalent activity Ray, external hazard index, internal hazard index and terrestrial absorbed dose rate for the area under study are 158.5′4.1 Bq kg - 1 , 0.4, 0.5 and 77.32 nGy h - 1 , respectively. The annual effective dose equivalent to the public was found to be 0.5 mSv.