Assessment of natural radioactivity in the soils of Rِssing Uranium Mine and its satellite town in western Namibia, southern Africa

The concentrations of the radionuclides 238U, 232Th and 40K in soil samples taken from the Rössing Uranium Mine and the neighbouring town of Arandis in western Namibia have been determined by means of an HPGe detector with the aim of providing a baseline data on radiation level in the area. In the samples, the concentrations vary from 45.9±3.0 to 1752.1±17.5 Bq kg−1 for 238U, 70.4±4.8 to 1865.5±56.0 Bq kg−1 for 232Th and 376.5±18.1 to 1300.7±50.7 Bq kg−1 for 40K. These concentrations were used to calculate the absorbed dose rates and the annual effective dose rates in the mine and town. The annual effective dose rates vary from 0.12±0.01 to 1.60±0.04 mSv y−1 with a mean of 0.30±0.21 mSv y−1 which indicates that the area has a normal background radiation.