Abstract
The artificial radioactive contamination produced, namely by nuclear accident as happened by the Chernobyl, especially artificial (_ ^137)Cs radionuclide pollution. Due to having a long half-life, it still continues to remain in soil. This study measured radioactivity concentrations of (_ ^137)Cs and calculated the absorbed dose rate and the annual effective dose rate for (_ ^137)Cs for soil samples from different locations in Zintan City and Awiniya Region, Libya. The activity concentration of (_ ^137)Cs radionuclide was measured by gamma spectrometry using HPGe detector. The outdoor annual effective dose rate was found below the world's average level comparison with ICRP. It is concluded that soil contamination by artificial (_ ^137)Cs radionuclide does not pose radiation hazards in the investigated areas.