Measuring of radioactive contamination by Gamma-ray Spectroscopy for many water projects in Baghdad City

The study aims to provide the effective monitoring of radioactive contents in refining water stations. Attempts were made to measure the radionuclide’s concentrations level which indicates to radioactive contamination in the samples of raw water taken from the Tigris River and samples of river sediments. The radionuclides contents have been obtained using the gamma-ray spectroscopy technique. Analysis system (HPGe) has been applied to measure the radioactivity concentration of Uranium, Radium, and Thorium in water and sediment samples. For solid samples (sediments), results have shown that the activity for238U the range was from (52±5.31Bq/kg)In S4 to(120±8)in S3, for 232Th the range was from(26±2.4Bq/kg)in S1to (48±3.1Bq/kg) in S3, for 40K, the range was from (247±17Bq/kg) in s4 to (453±18Bq/kg) in S3, for 137Cs the range was from(1.28±0.1Bq/kg) in S3 to (7.8±0.67) in S2. For liquid samples (water), the activity for 238U was from (10±1 Bq/l) in Kh1to(38±4.2Bq/l) in D1, for 232Th was from (1±0.35Bq/l) in kD1 to (1.8±0.60Bq/l) in D1, for 40K was from (10±0.3 Bq/l), in ka1to(48±5.7Bq/l) in KD1. In the final step (drinking water) showed only 40K isotope appeared at range(18±0.03 - 55±0.06Bq/l).

Gamma-ray Spectroscopy Using Inorganic Scintillator Coated with Reduced Graphene Oxide in Fiber-Optic Radiation Sensor

In this study, we developed a remote gamma-ray spectroscopy system based on a fiber-optic radiation sensor (FORS) that is composed of an inorganic scintillator coated with reduced graphene oxide (RGO) and a plastic optical fiber (POF). As a preliminary experiment, we measured the transmitted light intensities using RGO membranes of different thicknesses with different wavelengths of emitted light. To evaluate the FORS performance, we determined the optimal thickness of the RGO membrane and measured the amounts of scintillating light and gamma energy spectra using radioactive isotopes such as 60Co and 137Cs. The amounts of scintillating light from the RGO-coated inorganic scintillators increased, and the energy resolutions of the gamma-ray spectra were enhanced. In addition, the gamma-ray energy spectra were measured using different types of RGO-coated inorganic scintillators depending on the lengths of the POFs for remote gamma-ray spectroscopy. It was expected that inorganic scintillators coated with RGO in FORS can deliver improved performance, such as increments of scintillating light and energy resolution in gamma-ray spectroscopy, and they can be used to identify nuclides remotely in various nuclear facilities.

Proximal Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy: An Effective Tool to Discern Rain from Irrigation

Proximal gamma-ray spectroscopy is a consolidated technology for a continuous and real‑time tracing of soil water content at field scale. New developments have shown that this method can also act as an unbiased tool for remotely distinguishing rainwater from irrigation without any meteorological support information. Given a single detector, the simultaneous observation in a gamma spectrum of a transient increase in the 214Pb signal, coupled with a decrease in the 40K signal, acts as an effective proxy for rainfall. A decrease in both 214Pb and 40K signals is, instead, a reliable fingerprint for irrigation. We successfully proved this rationale in two data-taking campaigns performed on an agricultural test field with different crop types (tomato and maize). The soil moisture levels were assessed via the 40K gamma signal on the basis of a one-time setup calibration. The validation against a set of gravimetric measurements showed excellent results on both bare and vegetated soil conditions. Simultaneously, the observed rain-induced increase in the 214Pb signal permitted to identify accurately the rain and irrigation events occurred in the 8852 h of data taking.