The activity concentrations of natural radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, and 40K)
for a set of 31 agricultural soil samples from the Nile River banks in the
area of El-Sebaiya city, Aswan Governorate, Egypt were measured by
gamma-spectrometry. The study revealed that the average activity
concentrations of natural radionuclides 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K were 23.2 ?
2.8Bq/kg, 21.1 ? 2.8 Bq/kg, and 218.6 ? 3.7 Bq/kg, respectively. The obtained
results of the activity concentrations are within the range of values
reported for neighbouring areas in Egypt. The values obtained for the hazard
indices and the representative level index in all sampling sites were lower
than unity, showing that there is no significant risk arising from the
exposure to the soil in the studied area. The absorbed dose rate and annual
effective dose in air outdoors and indoors were calculated from 226Ra, 232Th,
and 40K in soil, the average values being 32.64 nGy/h, 40.06 ?Sv, and 160.25
?Sv, respectively. The absorbed dose rate at the eastof El-Sebaiya city is
higher than that obtained for the west because of higher concentrations of
tri-calcium phosphate in the soil. The studied area is not significantly
affected by the industrial activities, except for a few isolated spots.