Study on radioactivity content of soil samples in the coastal region near Brahmagiri, Puri

Heavy mineral sand deposits occur underwater or may form part of sea beaches or coastal dunes created by wind action over long period of time. They may also occur inland in coastal strip upto few tens of kilometres wide. The highest heavy mineral concentration are found in beach deposits. Deposits of heavy mineral sand may occur in populated areas, leading to high levels of natural background exposure due to the relative high thorium content of the monazite component. Recently AMD has reported that a large amount of heavy mineral deposit is available in coastal region of Brahmagiri, Puri. Monazite is a high value mineral as it contains the rereearth elements, uranium and thorium which are very important in present global scenario. To study the environmental effects of mining these high valued heavy minerals it is highly essential to generate background radiological data. Our baseline study represents radiological condition of soil properties of the pre-mining area stretched over 26 km² in the coastal area near Brahmagiri, Puri, Odisha, India