210PO concentration in soil samples of Botswana

Abstract

Botswana’s economy mainly depends on diamonds, which involves huge mining activity which in turn involves excavating huge amounts of soil. It is well known that soils do possess radioactivity. Due to this, it is important to assess the activity levels of radionuclides. This paper deals with the distribution and enrichment of 210Po in soil samples of Botswana. Soil samples were collected along the road strip (200 kms.) Gaborone-Lobatse-Kanye-Jwaneng and analysed for 210Po radionuclide using radiochemical analytical techniques. The activity of 210Po in surface soil varies from 2.5 Bq kg-1 to 18.6 Bq kg-1 with a mean value of 7.0 Bq kg-1. The results obtained are compared with the literature values reported for other environs and discussed.

Keywords: Natural Radioactivity; soils; ENORM