Gamma-spectrometric measurements of natural-radionuclide contents in soil and gamma dose rates in Yangjiang, PR China

The average concentration of natural radionuclides in a high-radiation-background area and a control area in Yangjiang and the Enping county of the province Guangdong, PR China, have been measured by in-situ gamma spectrometry and by sampling analysis in our laboratory. Average data on surface and depth distributions in soil have been obtained. The exposure rates to the environmental gamma-radiation field in both areas have been calculated from in-situ gamma spectra with Beck's conversion factor and by the method of total spectrum energy. The averaged total absorbed dose rates, including the cosmic-ray contribution obtained from in-situ gamma spectroscopy, are (18.2±5.0)x10-8 and (6.6±1.2)x10-8 Gy/h in the high-background and control areas, respectively. (orig.)