Radiological Doses Assessment of NORM Waste for Soil Samples in Some of the Oil Fields

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material (NORM) wastes are generated during oil production operations and the unjustified radiation exposures resulting from it represent challenges facing many countries, including Iraq. This research deals with an evaluation of the absorbed dose rates and the total annual radiation dose resulting from this waste in the study area. The activity concentrations of radionuclides in 13 soil samples were measured by using the Falcon 5000 system containing an HPGe detector. For which, the samples were placed at a distance of 5 cm from the detector surface for 3 hours. Then, the radiation dose rates were calculated. It is found that the values of the average absorbed dose is 23.42 nGy/h and the average total annual effective outdoor and indoor doses are 0.029 mSv/y and 0.115 mSv/y, respectively. These values are lower than the limits set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) GSR Part3 standards and the recommended values in UNSCEAR 2000. The outputs of RESRAD-ONSITE software showed that the total dose values are 3.24 μSv/y , which is less than the permissible values for the total radiation dose for workers in the radiation field. The research recommended conducting continuous monitoring of absorbed dose rates and total annual effective doses for workers in work areas and continuous radiation evaluation of NORM waste sites through the use of appropriate radiation monitoring devices and taking samples to make the necessary measurements and spreading radiation awareness among workers in work areas.