• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.29-36
• /
• 1986

GESS-a computer code for simulation of energy spectra for gamma-ray in NaI(T1) scintillator has been developed. The Monte Carlo method was employed to simulate physical behaviours of particle transport in a medium. In the processes of simulation, all the interaction processes such as Rayleigh and Compton scattering, photoelectric effect and pair production were considered. The resulting electron slowing down spectrum was also considered with the CSDA model. For the purpose of verification of the code, a measurement gamma spectrum for incident gamma energy of 1.33 MeV was performed. The measured values appeared to be slightly higher than the theoretically calculated values.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.29-32
• /
• 1978

A shielding calculation has been carried out for a storage vault of $5292(42{\times}42{\times}3)$ waste drums in which the mixed radioactive gamma-emitters are contained. The required ordinary concrete shielding thickness seems to be approximately 50cm. The results in terms of dose rate for polyenergy gammas appear to be considerably higher than those of the averaged energy gamma.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.215-224
• /
• 2001

In order to comply with revised national regulationson radiological protection and to implement recent nuclear data and dose conversion factors, KOPEC developed a new point kernel gamma and beta ray shielding analysis computer program. This new code, named VisualShield, adopted mass attenuation coefficient and buildup factors from recent ANSI/ANS standards and flux-to-dose conversion factors from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) Publication 74 for estimation of effective/equivalent dose recommended in ICRP 60. VisualShieid utilizes graphical user interfaces and 3-D visualization of the geometric configuration for preparing input data sets and analyzing results, which leads users to error free processing with visual effects. Code validation and data analysis were performed by comparing the results of various calculations to the data outputs of previous programs such as MCNP 4B, ISOSHLD-II, QAD-CGGP, etc.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.51 no.3
• /
• pp.853-859
• /
• 2019

A comprehensive study of photon interaction features has been made for some alloys containing Pd and Ag content to evaluate its possible use as alternative gamma radiations shielding material. The mass attenuation coefficient (${\mu}/{\rho}$) of the present alloys was measured at various photon energies between 81 keV-1333 keV utilizing HPGe detector. The measured ${\mu}/{\rho}$ values were compared to those of theoretical and computational (MCNPX code) results. The results exhibited that the ${\mu}/{\rho}$ values of the studied alloys are in the same line with results of WinXCOM software and MCNPX code results at all energies. Moreover, Pd75/Ag25 alloy sample has the maximum radiation protection efficiency (about 53% at 81 keV) and lowest half value layer, which shows that Pd75/Ag25 has superior gamma radiation shielding performance among the other compared alloys.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2003.04a
• /
• pp.159.1-159.1
• /
• 2003

This study deals with the radiation protection effect of the pretreatment of $\beta$-carotene and combination with selenium on the DNA damage in mice after whole body ${\gamma}$-irradiation. This was obtained the radioprotective effect by evaluation of DNA damage levels in mice spleen and blood after irradiation. Six-week-old ICR male mice were administrated with $\beta$-carotene and combination with selenium orally once a day for 5 days and then irradiated with 8.0 Gy of $\gamma$-ray at a dose rate of 1.0 Gy/min. (omitted)

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.6
• /
• pp.1966-1973
• /
• 2023

Virtual reality technology has been widely used in the field of nuclear and radiation safety, dose rate computing in virtual environment is essential for optimizing radiation protection and planning the work in radioactive-controlled area. Because the CPU-based gamma dose rate computing takes up a large amount of time and computing power for voxelization of volumetric radioactive source, it is inefficient and limited in its applied scope. This study is to develop an efficient gamma dose rate computing code and apply into fast virtual simulation. To improve the computing efficiency of the point kernel algorithm in the reference (Li et al., 2020), we design a GPU-based computing framework for taking full advantage of computing power of virtual engine, propose a novel voxelization algorithm of volumetric radioactive source. According to the framework, we develop the GPPK(GPU-based point kernel gamma dose rate computing) code using GPU programming, to realize the fast dose rate computing in virtual world. The test results show that the GPPK code is play and plug for different scenarios of virtual simulation, has a better performance than CPU-based gamma dose rate computing code, especially on the voxelization of three-dimensional (3D) model. The accuracy of dose rates from the proposed method is in the acceptable range.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.46 no.2
• /
• pp.48-57
• /
• 2021

Background: In this study, the complexities of step-and-shoot intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) plans in magnetic resonance-guided radiation therapy systems were evaluated. Materials and Methods: Overall, 194 verification plans from the abdomen, prostate, and breast sites were collected using a ⁶⁰Co-based ViewRay radiotherapy system (ViewRay Inc., Cleveland, OH, USA). Various plan complexity metrics (PCMs) were calculated for each verification plan, including the modulation complexity score (MCS), plan-averaged beam area (PA), plan-averaged beam irregularity, plan-averaged edge (PE), plan-averaged beam modulation, number of segments, average area among all segments (AA/Seg), and total beam-on time (TBT). The plan deliverability was quantified in terms of gamma passing rates (GPRs) with a 1 mm/2% criterion, and the Pearson correlation coefficients between GPRs and various PCMs were analyzed. Results and Discussion: For the abdomen, prostate, and breast groups, the average GPRs with the 1 mm/2% criterion were 77.8 ± 6.0%, 79.8 ± 4.9%, and 84.7 ± 7.3%; PCMs were 0.263, 0.271, and 0.386; PAs were 15.001, 18.779, and 35.683; PEs were 1.575, 1.444, and 1.028; AA/Segs were 15.37, 19.89, and 36.64; and TBTs were 18.86, 19.33, and 5.91 minutes, respectively. The various PCMs, i.e., MCS, PA, PE, AA/Seg, and TBT, showed statistically significant Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.416, 0.627, -0.541, 0.635, and -0.397, respectively, with GPRs. Conclusion: The area-related metrics exhibited strong correlations with GPRs. Moreover, the AA/Seg metric can be used to estimate the IMRT plan accuracy without beam delivery in the ⁶⁰Co-based ViewRay radiotherapy system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.9
• /
• pp.3051-3057
• /
• 2021

The concrete is considered as an important radiation shielding material employed widely in nuclear reactors, particle accelerators, laboratory hot cells and other different radiation sources. The present research is dedicated to the shielding properties study of the ordinary concrete reinforced with different weight fractions of lead oxide micro/nano particles. Lead oxide particles were fabricated by chemical synthesis method and their properties including the average size, morphological structure, functional groups and thermal properties were characterized by XRD, FESEM-EDS, FTIR and TGA analysis. The gamma ray mass attenuation coefficient of concrete composites has been calculated and measured by means of the Monte Carlo simulation and experimental methods. The simulation process was based on the use of MCNP Monte Carlo code where the mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) has been calculated as a function of different particle sizes and filler weight fractions. The simulation results showed that the employment of the lead oxide filler particles enhances the mass attenuation coefficient of the ordinary concrete, drastically. On the other hand, there are approximately no differences between micro and nano sized particles. The mass attenuation coefficient was increased by increasing the weight fraction of nanoparticles. However, a semi-saturation effect was observed at concentrations more than 10 wt%. The experimental process was based on the fabrication of concrete slabs filled by different weight fractions of nano lead oxide particles. The mass attenuation coefficients of these slabs were determined at different gamma ray energies using ²²Na, ¹³⁷Cs and ⁶⁰Co sources and NaI (Tl) scintillation detector. The experimental results showed that the HVL parameter of the ordinary concrete reinforced with 5 wt% of nano PbO particles was reduced by 64% at 511 keV and 48% at 1332 keV. Reasonable agreement was obtained between simulation and experimental results and showed that the employment of nano PbO particles is more efficient at low gamma energies up to 1Mev. The proposed concrete is less toxic and could be prepared in block form instead of toxic lead blocks.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.179-183
• /
• 2016

Background: As an important detecting device, TLD is a widely used in the radiation monitoring. It is essential for us to study the property of detecting element. The aim of this study is to calculate the thermo-luminescence efficiency of TL elements. Materials and Methods: A batch of thermo-luminescence elements were irradiated by the filtered X-ray beams of average energies in the range 40-200 kVp, 662 keV $^{137}Cs$ gamma rays and then the amounts of lights were measured by the TL reader. The deposition energies in elements were calculated by theory formula and Monte Carlo simulation. The unit absorbed dose in elements by photons with different energies corresponding to the amounts of lights was calculated, which is called the thermo luminescent efficiency (${\eta}^{(E)}$). Because of the amounts of lights can be calculated by the absorbed dose in elements multiply ${\eta}^{(E)}$, the ${\eta}^{(E)}$ can be calculated by the experimental data (the amounts of lights) divided by absorbed dose. Results and Discussion: The deviation of simulation results compared with theoretical calculation results were less than 5%, so the absorbed dose in elements was calculated by simulation results in here. The change range of ${\eta}^{(E)}$ value, relative to 662 keV $^{137}Cs$ gamma rays, is about 30% in the energy range of 33 keV to 662 keV, is in accordance by the comparison with relevant foreign literatures. Conclusion: The ${\eta}^{(E)}$ values can be used for updating the amounts of lights that are got by the direct ratio assumed relations with deposition energy in TL elements, which can largely reduce the error of calculation results of the amounts of lights. These data can be used for the design of individual dosimeter which used TLD-2000 thermo-luminescence elements, also have a certain reference value for manufacturer to improve the energy-response performance of TL elements by formulation adjustment.

• Analytical Science and Technology
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.39-47
• /
• 2003

The measurement of radium ($^{226}Ra$) in the groundwater was established using ${\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy without sample preparation. The background interference by air borne radon daughter nuclides was reduced by $N_2$ gas flow into the counting chamber. Leakage of radon gas produced in the radioactive equilibrium with radium and its daughter nuclides was prevented by use of the air-tighted aluminium container. We investigated the effect of air layer in the counting container. Radioactivity variation due to emanation of radon into the air layer was within the counting error range 5%. When the nitrogen gas was flowed around the detector, peak counts of ${\gamma}$-rays from the daughters of airborne radon was decreased and detection limit was decreased to 0.02 Bq/L. The detection limit of detector was lower than 0.74 Bq/L, the $^{226}Ra$ Maximum Contaminant Level (MCL) in the groundwater proposed by US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It was confirmed that $^{226}Ra$ radioactivity in the groundwater could be determined by the ${\gamma}$-ray spectroscopy.