International Journal of Physical and Social Sciences
  • Year: 2016
  • Volume: 6
  • Issue: 2

Measurement of Gamma Radiation Levels in the Dust of Khamaseen Storm Hitting Jordan on 15-April 2015

  • Author:
  • A. N. Akour
  • Total Page Count: 8
  • Page Number: 101 to 108

Department of Basic Sciences, Al-Huson University Colledge, Al-Balqa Applied University, Jordan

Online published on 21 April, 2016.

Abstract

The activity concentration of 40k, 232Th, 238U, 137Cs and 7Be were measured for 9 samples of Khamaseen dust which were collected from a Northern Jordan town called AL-Sarih 32°52’N, 35°88’E lies 607m above sea level. High purity germanium (HPGe) spectrometer coupled to a PC was used to analyze the obtained gamma-ray spectra. The activity for each 9 samples was obtained and corrected for efficiency and background. The results showed that dust was radioactive. Considerable deposition of 137Cs was observed reaching 12.9±3.1 Bq.Kg−1. A high level of 7Be of Cosmogenic origin at 580.9±191.5 Bq.Kg−1 was measured. The activity of 40K was 600.8±261.5 Bq.Kg−1. The activity of 232Th and 238U were 28.0±3.4 and 32.4±3.4 Bq.Kg−1 respectively.

Keywords

Sand Storm, Radioactivity, Concentration, HPGe, , Jordan, Khamseen