Natural radioactivity level in soils around Kolar Gold Fields, Kolar district, Karnataka, India

The study on natural radioactivity level in the soil plays a significant role in health physics. The present study has been carried out with the aim of estimating activity concentration of radionuclides in soil samples collected at 30 places around Kolar Gold Fields, Kolar district using gamma ray spectrometry. Average values of activity concentration of Ra-226, Th-232 and K-40 in soil samples of the present study are 27.3 +/- 1.8, 63.1 +/- 2.5 and 818 +/- 6 Bq kg(-1), respectively. The average radium equivalent activity (Ra-eq), absorbed dose rate and annual effective dose have been calculated and compared with the referred safe values.