M. Al-Rashidi¹ , M. Al-Sudairawi¹ , G. Al-Qadeeri¹ , M. Shlash¹

¹Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research (KISR), Kuwait

Abstract:

The State of Kuwait has a typical dry desert climate which involves deposition and re-suspension of atmospheric particulate matter. The International Data Centre (IDC) of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), has been processing radionuclides data received from the RN40 station located in the state of Kuwait. The data include gamma-ray spectrometry, meteorological data, as well as the backward trajectory atmospheric modelling (ATM) results. This paper presents a trend analysis for the measured Cs-137 concentrations for the years 2008 to 2014 collected from RN40, before and after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The aim of this work is to evaluate the potential impact of the Fukushima incident on the concentrations of terrestrial deposition of Cs-137 in Kuwait. The activity of this radionuclide was present in the soil and atmosphere due to the past nuclear testing and/or accidental reactor releases into the atmosphere.