Assessment the Natural Radioactivity of Radionuclides (226Ra, 232Th, 40K, and 137Cs) in Wheat Grain.

This paper investigates the activity concentration of radionuclides (²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, ⁴⁰K, and ¹³⁷Cs) in the wheat grain samples using a high-purity germanium detector. Thirty-six wheat grain samples were collected from different locations of Koya City, Iraqi Kurdistan region. Average activity concentrations of ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K in wheat grain are found to be 0.407 ± 0.097 Bq.kg^-1, 0.36 ± 0.14 Bq.kg^-1, and 109.25 ± 2.214 Bq.kg^-1 for 226Ra, 232Th, and 40K, respectively. The measured activity concentrations for the radionuclides are compared with the reported data from other countries. In addition, the fallout radionuclide of ¹³⁷Cs has no detection of in the wheat grain samples. The radium equivalent activity Raeq, internal and external hazard indices Hin and Hex, and annual gonadal dose equivalent are calculated for the measured samples. The total ingestion dose is 113.19 µSv.y^-1, which is below the world average value of 290 µSv.y^-1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]