Gamma dose rate due to natural and manmade radiation sources from a nuclear facility in Mexico

The environmental external gamma dose rate has been determined at the Mexican Nuclear Research Centre and surrounding communities, located in a forest area. Outdoor direct measurements of external gamma exposure and absorbed dose rates in air were performed using passive integrating thermoluminescent dosimeters. Radiological measurements were also carried out with a portable high pressure ionization chamber. The gamma dose rate was evaluated from data obtained along 10 years measurements. The activity concentrations of 40K, 226Ra, 232Th, 137Cs, and 235U in surface soil samples at sampling sites are also presented. The radionuclide activity concentrations were determined by low background gamma spectrometry with hyper-pure germanium detectors. A site specific lineal model to describe the relationship between the external gamma dose rate and the 226Ra concentration values in the soil is proposed.