Determination of the mass attenuation coefficients, total photon interaction cross sections, effective atomic numbers and electron densities of Aktaş, Çıldır Lake and Kura River water with the help of WinXCom

In this study, elemental analyzes of water samples taken from Aktaş, Çıldır Lake, and Kura River basins in Ardahan province were carried out using ICP-MS. The mass attenuation coefficients, total photon interaction cross sections, effective atomic numbers, and electron densities were determined with the help of WinXCom for the main γ-ray energies released when Ra-226, which is an important source of natural radiation, decays into Rn-222, Bi-214, and Po-214 (186.211 for Rn-222, 53.2275, 241.997, 295.224, 351.932, 785.96 for Bi-214, 609.312, 665.453, 768.356, 806.174, 934.061, 1120.287, 1155.19, 1238.111, 1280.96, 1377.669, 1401.50, 1407.98, 1509.228, 1661.28, 1729.595, 1764.494, 1847.420, 2118.55, 2204.21 and 2447.86 keV for Po-214). Keywords: Aktaş Lake, Çıldır Lake, Kura River, WinXCom, Radiation, Mass Attenuation Coefficient, Total Photon Interaction Cross Section, Effective Atomic Number, Electron Density.