Study of radioactivity levels in granite of Gable Gattar II in the north eastern desert of Egypt

The present work deals with the radioactivity of granites in Gable Gattar II, which is located in the north eastern desert of Egypt. Fifty samples from the area of Gable Gattar II were investigated. The radionuclides of the samples, in Bq/kg, have been measured using a hyper-pure germanium spectrometer. The dose obtained for 238U and 232Th ranged from 165±5 to 27851±836 and 71±2 to 274±8 Bq/kg, respectively. The dose of 40K only changes slightly. To assess the radiological hazard of the natural radioactivity in the samples, the radium equivalent activity, the absorbed dose rate and the external hazard index were calculated. This study provides a baseline map of radioactivity background levels in the Egyptian environment and will be used as reference information to assess any changes in the radioactive background level due to geological processes. The Gable Gattar granite, from uranium mineralization, has high economic potential.