Estimation of atomic concentration ratio (¹³⁷Cs/K) of cesium-137 and potassium in soil around Kaiga

The study presents the atomic concentration ratio (N(¹³⁷Cs)/N(K)) of ¹³⁷Cs and total K in soils around the Kaiga site. Soil samples were collected from various locations in the surroundings of the Kaiga environment. The samples were processed and analyzed as per standard procedures. The activity concentration of ¹³⁷Cs (i.e. A(¹³⁷Cs)) and ⁴⁰K (i.e. A(⁴⁰K)) in soil samples was determined using HPGe detector. ⁴⁰K, which is aprimordial and naturally occurring radionuclide, having a long half-life of 1.28 billion years. The ratio (R) was found to be lowest for the Karwar location, which is a consequence of relatively high A(⁴⁰K) and low spectrometry, the mean A(⁴⁰K)in soil. Atomic concentration ratio (R) of ¹³⁷Cs and K at various Karwar location was observed to be highest (466±1.6 Bq.kg^-1d.w.), whereas, it was found to be lowest for the Hartuga location (98±1.8 Bq.kg^-1d.w.). The spatio-temporal variation in mean A(¹³⁷Cs) was found to be varying from 1.4–4.7 (Bq.kg^-1 d.w.) during the study period of 2015 to 2021. The mean A(¹³⁷Cs) was observed to be higher in soil at Bare South (4.7±3.4 Bq.kg^-1d.w.) and Harur (4.1±2.2 Bq.kg^-1 d.w.) as compared to soil at Hartuga (3.9±2.7 Bq.kg^-1d.w.) location. By looking only at the data, one could conclude that soils at Bare South and Harur locations are less favorable concerning the plant uptake of ¹³⁷Cs, as compared to the Hartuga location