NATURAL RADIONUCLIDE LEVELS IN SEDIMENTS OF CAUVERY RIVERINE ENVIRONMENT.

The paper presents the systematic measurement of activity concentrations of K, Ra and Th in sediment sample of Cauvery river of Karnataka, South India. Activity was measured using HpGe gamma ray spectrometer, and the mean values of K, Ra and Th in the sediment samples were found to be 144.31, 32.05 and 61.70 Bq kg, respectively. To assess the radiological hazards in the samples, radium equivalent (Ra), absorbed dose (D), annual effective equivalent dose (AEED), activity utilisation index (AUI) and annual gonadal dose equivalent (AGDE) values associated with the radionuclides were calculated and compared with international recommended values.