Estimation of radiation hazard indices from sedimentary rocks in Upper Egypt

The radiological effects from 103 samples of sedimentary rocks from Upper Egypt were estimated. The mean values of radium equivalent and representative level indices in G. Sarai area are 315.3 Bq/kg and 2.2 while in G. Anz area are 299.4 Bq/kg and 2.1, respectively. The average absorbed dose rate are 136 and 141.4 nGy/h for G. Anz and G. Sarai, respectively. These average values give rise to a mean effective dose 166.8 and 173.5 μSv/y which are just about 16.7% and 17.4% of the 1.0 mSv/y recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (Radiation Protection: 1990 Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection, Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1990) as the maximum annual dose to members of the public. The results indicate no radiological anomaly. The data presented here will serve as a baseline survey for primordial radionuclide concentrations in rocks of the areas.