Assessment of primordial and anthropogenic radionuclide contents in the soil samples of lower Himalayas of Jammu & Kashmir, India

The present study deals with the assessment of primordial radionuclide contents (U-238, Th-232, and K-40) and anthropogenic radionuclide content (Cs-137) in the soil samples collected from the villages of Lower Himalayas of Jammu & Kashmir, India by using thallium doped sodium iodide (NaI(Tl)), a scintillator detector. The elemental concentration of U, Th, and K in soil samples has been calculated. The average values of radionuclide contents were found to be well within the average values suggested by UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiation, sources and effects of ionizing radiation, 1). All values of various calculated radiological hazards were found to be below the recommended limits suggested by various agencies.