ESTIMATION THE CONCENTRATION OF URANIUM IN THE SEDIMENTS OF THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE SHATT AL-ARAB RIVER, SOUTH OF BASRAH GOVERNORATE USING SSNTDS(CR-39)TECHNIQUES
The present work deals with measuring concentrations of uranium in 20 samples taken from sediments of different sites of southern Shatt al-Arab located south of Basra Governorate Located in the southern part of Iraq, using a uranium fission fragment U-235 (n-f), obtained by the bombardment of U-235 with thermal neutrons. Irradiation was performed, then chemical etching was performed, and then the number of tracks was counted using a microscope. The results computed through the solid state nuclear track detector (SSNTDs) techniques For 20 samples were taken from 20 different sediment sites in the southern part of the Shatt al-ArabIn the southern part of Basra Governorate, southern Iraqindicated that the uranium concentrations in the study area ranged between 1.886 ppm near Al-Shahiniya Road and 3.290 ppm at the AL-Dora 2 site. The t results of the study have shown that the uranium concentrations in the studied surface soil samples were less than the allowed value (11.7 ppm) recommended by UNSCEAR, 1993.
Keywords: Uranium, Soil Samples, CR-39 Detector, Shatt Al-Arab River, Basrah Governorate.