Assessment of Natural Radioactivity and radiation hazards in beach sand samples from Kanyakumari District, TamilNadu

Natural radionuclides of terrestrial origin have very long half – lives or driven from very long – lived parent radionuclides, which have been created in stellar processes before the earth formation. The study of natural radioactivity in marine and coastal environments is of significant importance for better understanding of oceanographic and sedimentological processes. The sampling sites are selected to cover randomly to cover the southern part. The soil samples have been collected in beach sides. In situ gamma measurements were conducted using a high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector (coaxial cylinder of 50.1 mm in diameter and 44 mm in length) with a relative efficiency of 50% and an energy resolution (FWHM) of 1.8 keV at the 1.33 MeV reference transition of 60 Co. The measurements shows that the values of the absorbed dose rates in air in the investigated area are lower than the recommended limit by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effect of Atomic Radiation.