Assessment of Radium Isotopes in Some Hot Springs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Radioactivity measurements have been conducted to determine the activity concentrations of radium isotopes ⁽²²⁶Ra and ²²⁸Ra) in water Samples acquired from some hot springs at the south and south-western area of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The radium isotopes were measured by gamma spectrometry using high purity germanium detector, after radiochemical separation of the isotopes with ion-exchange chromatography using a strong cation resin.  The ²²⁶Ra showed an average activity concentration of 82.4mBq/L, while the average activity concentration of ²²⁸Ra was 236.4 mBq/L. These values were comparable to the values of radium activities in thermal waters reported in literature. The chemical analyses showed that good correlations have been observed between the radium activities and the concentrations of sulphates and total dissolved soilds in the investigated thermal waters. Further studies regarding The radon concentrations, the immersion time for bathers and the resulting annual committed effective dose are considered.

Keywords: Hot springs, radium, cation exchange resin, TDS, Sulphates, Saudi Arabia.