Volume 13 (ISTJN)

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http://hdl.handle.net/11070/2619

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Browsing Volume 13 (ISTJN) by Author "Hamunyela, Roswita H."

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    Assessment of natural radioactivity levels and radiation hazards in shore sediments from the Zambezi River, Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2019) Amwaalanga, Maria N.; Onjefu, Sylvanus A.; Zivuku, Munyaradzi; Hamunyela, Roswita H.
    In this study, the radioactivity concentrations and the potential health hazards of primordial radionuclides; 238U, 232Th and 40K were measured using a gamma ray spectrometer in 30 soil samples collected from the Zambezi River, Namibia. The average activity concentrations for 238U, 232Th and 40K was found to be 18.91 Bq/kg, 15.58 Bq/kg and 79.17 Bq/kg respectively. The activity concentrations of the measured radionuclides were used to calculate the radiological hazards in soil samples i.e. absorbed dose rate, annual effective dose equivalent, radium equivalent activity and hazard indices (Hex and Hin). From the values obtained, all the radiological hazard parameters were within the world acceptable average values. However, the mean annual effective outdoor and indoor dose equivalent was found to be 0.26 mSv/y and 1.05 mSv/y, respectively, which both exceed the recommended world average United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) values of 0.07 mSv/y for outdoor and 0.45 mSv/y for indoor.