Assessment of Rn and U Concentrations in the Soil of Qadafery, Kalar and Zarayan Located in Sulaimani Governorate of Kurdistan Region- Iraq

Abstract

The profile of radon (222-Rn) and uranium (238-U) concentrations in15 surface soil samples collected from the three agricultural areas of town Qadafery, Kalar and Zarayan which are located at the east of Sulaimani governorate in Kurdistan Region-Iraq has been determined using solid-state nuclear track detector (CR-39), where Qadafery located in the margin of Suren Mountain, also located in the north of the famous plain of the Middle East region called Sharazoor plain and Zarayan located in the west north of the Sharazoor plain, also its surrounds in another direction by Qaradagh and Barznja mountains. They (Qadafery, Kalar and Zarayan) have been shown that the maximum and minimum values of radon concentration of the air inside the tube were 2242.263±143.152 Bq/m^3 and 154.099±2.579 Bq/m^3, respectively, with average value 741.709±27.234 Bq/m^3 while the maximum and minimum values of uranium concentration are 18.225±12.905 ppm and 1.253±0.233 pmm, respectively, with average value 6.029±2.455 pmm. It appears that higher concentrations of radon and uranium was in soil sample Qadafery_5 and the minimum value was in soil sample Kalar_4 and by comparison with the world values there are some positions in Qadafery and Zarayan with higher level concentrations that is due to the geology information of these regions.