Calculation and determination of radioactivity in the old district of Najaf by using the track detector CR-39 and geographical information systems (GIS) methods

Abstract

This research aims to study the radiation concentration distribution of the old District of Najaf (Iraq), where 15 samples were taken from featured sites in the District, which represents archaeological, religious, and heritage sites. Track detector CR-39 was used to calculate the concentration of three different soil weights for each sample site after being exposed for a month. Geographical information systems (GIS) were used to distribute the radioactive concentration on the sites of the samples, where two interpolation methods, namely the inverse distance weight method (IDW) and the triangle irregular network method (NIT), to study the distribution of the radioactivity concentration. The study showed that the western part of the district, which includes the old cemetery and the areas adjacent to the Najaf water depression, are characterized by a relatively high amount of radioactivity concentration compared to the eastern part, which represent the residential areas, and for all sample weights.