title: Assessment of gamma dose rates from terrestrial exposure in Serbia and Montenegro.
abstract: The gamma dose rates due to naturally occuring terrestrial radionuclides ((226)Ra, (232)Th and (40)K) were calculated based on their activities in soil samples, determined by gamma-ray spectrometry. A total of 140 soil samples from 21 different regions of Serbia and Montenegro were collected. The gamma dose rates ranged from 7.40 to 29.7 nGy h(-1) for (226)Ra, from 12.9 to 46.5 nGy h(-1) for (232)Th and from 12.5 to 37.1 nGy h(-1) for (40)K. The total absorbed gamma dose rate due to these radionuclides varied from 34.5 to 97.6 nGy h(-1) with mean of 66.8 nGy h(-1). Assuming a 20% occupancy factor, the corresponding annual effective dose varied from 4.23 x 10(-5) to 11.9 x 10(-5) Sv with mean of 8.19 x 10(-5) Sv, i.e. the dose was lower than world wide average value. According to the values of external hazard index (mean: 0.39) obtained in this study, the radiation hazard was found to be insignificant for population living in the investigated area.
authors.affiliation: Institute for the Application of Nuclear Energy - INEP, Banatska 31b, 11080 Belgrade, Serbia and Montenegro. sdragovic@inep.co.yu
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dragović
authors.forename: Lj
authors.initials: Lj
authors.lastname: Janković
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Onjia
mesh_terms: D001417:Background Radiation; D005720:Gamma Rays; D006801:Humans; D011197:Potassium Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis*; D011834:Radiation Monitoring; D011886:Radon / Q000032:analysis*; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis*; D013051:Spectrometry, Gamma; D013910:Thorium / Q000032:analysis*; D015022:Yugoslavia
chemical_list: D011197:Potassium Radioisotopes; D012990:Soil Pollutants, Radioactive; D013910:Thorium; D011886:Radon