Radioactive investigation of NORM samples from Southern Kuwait soil using high-resolution gamma-ray spectroscopy

Activity concentrations of soil and sand samples from southern part of Kuwait have been deduced for members of the U-238(Ra-226) and Th-232(Ac-228) decay chains, together with initial evaluations also provided of the concentrations for members of the U-235, 4n+1 chain. Additional activity concentration measurements have also been established for the single primordial radionuclide K-40 and the anthropogenic radionuclides 137Cs from the same samples. The calculated activity concentration values and associated radiation hazard indices calculated were evaluated. The current results indicate activity concentrations ranging from 0.15 +/- 0.04 to 9.97 +/- 0.20 Bq/kg for Cs. For 226's Ka, Th-232 and K-40 this ranges from 9.02 +/- 0.13 to 17.48 +/- 0.18, 7.90 +/- 0.10 to 14.29 +/- 0.22, and 259.6 +/- 4.7 137Cs to 347.3 +/- 6.0 Bq/kg, respectively. The mean values for dose rates, radium equivalent, hazard indices, and annual effective dose equivalent are 24.65 +/- 0.26 nG/h, 50.72 +/- 0.50 Bq/kg, 0.17, 0.14, and 30.0 +/- 0.3 gSv/yr, respectively. These are compared with analogous measurements from other locations both in the Middle Eastern Region and far-afield. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.