Abdul Jabbar CIIT /SP05-PPH-001/ISB Phd Thesis
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Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity and Assessment of Doses to the General Public in Rechna Doab, Pakistan By Abdul Jabbar CIIT /SP05-PPH-001/ISB PhD Thesis COMSATS Institute of Information Technology Islamabad, Pakistan Fall, 2010 In The Name Of Allah, The Beneficent The Merciful Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity and Assessment of Doses to the General Public in Rechna Doab, Pakistan 120 100 -1 ) h 80 100 CIIT /SP05-PPH-001/ISB 60 By Dose rate (nGy Abdul Jabbar 51.5 40 86.5 20 PhD Thesis 107 COMSATS Institute of Information81 0 N. Jordan Department of Physics 93 Turkey Indian Punjab Islamabad, Pakistan Bangladesh 54 Technology 70 Hong Kong September,M a2010laysia 46.1 68 Taiwan 65 World average 75 S. Punjab, Pakistan Punjab, Pakistan Lahore, Pakistan Present study Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity and Assessment of Doses to the General Public in Rechna Doab, Pakistan A Thesis Presented to COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Department of Physics By Abdul Jabbar CIIT /SP05-PPH-001/ISB September, 2010 ii Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity and Assessment of Doses to the General Public in Rechna Doab, Pakistan A Post Graduate thesis submitted to the Department of Physics As partial fulfillment for the award of Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Name Registration Number Abdul Jabbar CIIT/SP05-PPH-001/ISB Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti, Dean, Faculty of Science CIIT, Islamabad Campus Co-Supervisor: Dr. Syed Salman Ahmad, Advisor to DG DOS Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Islamabad COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad iii Final Approval This thesis titled Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity and Assessment of Doses to the General Public in Rechna Doab, Pakistan By Abdul Jabbar has been approved for the COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Islamabad Supervisor: ________________________________________________ Prof. Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti CIIT, Islamabad Co-Supervisor: _____________________________________________ Dr. Syed Salman Ahmad Advisor to DG DOS, PAEC, Islamabad External Examiner: __________________________________________ Dr. Gul Feroze Tariq External Examiner: __________________________________________ Dr. Masood Iqbal HoD: ______________________________________________ Dr. Ishaq Ahmed Dean: ______________________________________________ Prof. Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti iv Declaration I Abdul Jabbar, hereby declare that I have produced the work presented in this thesis, during the scheduled period of study. I also declare that I have not taken any material from any source except referred to wherever due. If a violation of HEC rules on research has occurred in this thesis, I shall be liable to punishable action under the plagiarism rules of the HEC. Date: _________________ Signature of the student: ____________________ (Abdul Jabbar) (CIIT /SP05-PPH-001/ISB) v Certificate It is certified that Mr. Abdul Jabbar has carried out all the work related to this thesis under our supervision at the Department of Physics, CIIT, Islamabad. Supervisor: Co-Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti Dr. Syed Salman Ahmad Dean, Faculty of Science Advisor to DG DOS CIIT, Islamabad, Pakistan Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC), Islamabad, Pakistan Submitted through: Dr. Ishaq Ahmed Head, Department of Physics CIIT, Islamabad Prof. Dr. Sajid Qamar Chairman, Department of Physics CIIT, Islamabad vi Dedicated To My beloved parents (late) (May Allah rest their souls in eternal peace!) and my caring wife & children vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS All praises are for ALMIGHTY ALLAH, the most Benevolent, the most Compassionate, whose blessings and graciousness flourished my ideas and endowed me with the strength required to complete this work. My humble respects are for the Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him) who enlightened our scruples with the essence of faith in ALMIGHTY ALLAH and emphasized to seek knowledge, from cradle to the grave, for betterment of oneself and the humanity at large. The research work presented in this thesis has been carried out under the kind supervision of worthy Prof. Dr. Arshad Saleem Bhatti, Dean, Faculty of Science, CIIT, Islamabad. His kind attitude, positive and thoughtful criticism, sincere advices, and valuable suggestions always guided me and served as source of encouragement throughout my studies. I would also like to pay gratitude to Dr. S. Salman Ahmad, Co-supervisor, advisor to DG DOS, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission, Islamabad for his keen interest, scholarly comments and constructive promptings during my studies. I acknowledge the cooperation, technical guidance, valuable suggestions and encouragement extended by Dr. M. Tufail, DCS, DNE, PIEAS, Islamabad and Dr. Shahid Manzoor, PS, PD, PINSTECH. I am also thankful to Dr. Waheed Arshed, DCS, Head SSDL, Health Physics Division, PINSTECH, Islamabad, for his much needed guidance and his keen involvement in my work, which resulted in completion of this thesis. I am thankful to Dr. I.E. Qureshi, Executive Director COMSATS who was instrumental in establishing a MoU between CIIT and PINSTECH, which facilitated tuition fee concession and accomplishment of PhD studies smoothly. I am thankful to viii Dr. S.M. Junaid Zaidi, Rector CIIT for providing a dynamic scientific research environment, Head of Department and the faculty members of the Department of Physics, CIIT, Islamabad, for their nice cooperation. I am obliged to PAEC and PINSTECH authorities who allowed me to complete this study and provided support in performing the field work. I pay special gratitude to Dr. Perveen Akhter, CS, Head Health Physics Division, PINSTECH for extending experimental facilities required to accomplish this research work. My heartiest thanks to my colleagues at HPD and PhD fellows at CIIT, specially Mr. M. Dilband, Mr. M. Iftikhar, Mr. Tanveer Ahmad, Dr. M. Munir, Dr. Jahan Zeb Khan, Mr. Qaiser Bashir, Mr. Zahid Hussain, Mr. Ijaz Haider, Mr. M. Tariq, Mr. M. Hanif, Mr. S.U. Rehman, Mr. Zafar Wazir, Mr. Faisal, Mr. Rizwan, Dr. Narjis, Mr. Shahid, Mr. Hafeez and Mr. Awais for their cooperation and valuable suggestions. I acknowledge the nice cooperation extended by Dr. Manzoor Ahmad, Technical Officer, IAEA and Dr. Masood Iqbal, PS, NED, PINSTECH, Islamabad. Last but not the least; I am greatly indebted to all my relatives, friends and well-wishers. I can never forget my caring wife and lovely children for their love, support and special attention throughout my PhD studies. I would like to pay special tribute to my beloved father (Allah rest his soul in eternal peace) and my teacher Mr. Muhammad Younis (Retd.); both played a vital role in my early education. (Abdul Jabbar) ix CONTENTS List of Figures ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xv List of Tables ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xviii Publications ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xxi Abstract ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xxiii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Environmental radioactivity -------------------------------------------------------- 2 1.1.1 Radioactivity in air --------------------------------------------------------- 3 1.1.2 Radionuclide concentration in soil --------------------------------------- 4 1.1.3 Radionuclide concentration in water ------------------------------------- 5 1.1.4 Transfer of radioactivity from soil to vegetation ----------------------- 6 1.1.5 Radioactivity levels in staple food --------------------------------------- 7 1.1.6 Strontium-90 levels in different environmental media ---------------- 9 1.2 Measurement techniques ----------------------------------------------------------- 10 1.2.1 Gamma measurement ------------------------------------------------------ 10 1.2.2 Beta measurement ---------------------------------------------------------- 11 1.3 Motivation of study ----------------------------------------------------------------- 12 1.4 Objectives of study ------------------------------------------------------------------ 12 1.5 Thesis layout ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 Chapter 2: AREA UNDER STUDY AND SAMPLING 14 2.1 Area under study --------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 2.1.1 Area --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 2.1.2 Location ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 2.1.3 Geology ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 x 2.1.4 Climate ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 2.1.5 Irrigation System ----------------------------------------------------------- 18 2.1.6 Agriculture ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 2.1.7 Population ------------------------------------------------------------------- 19 2.2 Sampling of different environmental media ------------------------------------- 20 2.2.1 Soil sampling ---------------------------------------------------------------- 20 2.2.1.1 Representative soil sampling ---------------------------------- 20 2.2.1.2 Benefits of representative soil sampling --------------------- 21 2.2.1.3 Methodology involved in soil sampling ---------------------- 21 2.2.1.3.1 Site selection criteria -------------------------------