• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.1634-1641
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• 2021

Exposure to gamma-rays is hazardous for humans and other living beings because of their high penetration through the materials. For this reason, shielding materials (usually lead, copper and stainless steel) are used to protect against gamma rays. This study's objective was to prepare ceramic materials for gamma radiation shielding by using different natural bentonite clays. Gamma-ray attenuation performances of the prepared shielding materials at different thicknesses were investigated and evaluated for different gamma-ray energies from different standard point gamma radiation sources (²⁵¹Am, ⁵⁷Co, ¹³⁷Cs, ⁶⁰Co, and ⁸⁸Y). The mass and linear attenuation coefficients of the prepared ceramics vary between 0.238 and 0.443 cm² g^-1 and between 0.479 and 1.06 cm^-1, respectively, depending on their thicknesses. Results showed that these materials could be prioritized because of their evidential properties of gamma radiation protection in radiation applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.282-293
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• 2021

This paper examines gamma-ray shielding properties of SBC-Bx glass system with the chemical composition of 40SiO₂-10B₂O₃-xBaO-(45-x)CaO- yZnO- zMgO (where x = 0, 10, 20, 30, and 35 mol% and y = z = 6 mol%). Mass attenuation coefficient (µ/ρ) which is an essential parameter to study gamma-ray shielding properties was obtained in the photon energy range of 0.015-15 MeV using PHITS Monte Carlo code for the proposed glasses. The obtained results were compared with those calculated by WinXCOM program. Both the values of PHITS code and WinXCOM program were observed in very good agreement. The (µ/ρ values were then used to derive mean free path (MFP), electron density (N_eff), effective atomic number (Z_eff), and half value layer (HVL) for all the glasses involved. Additionally, G-P method was employed to estimate exposure buildup factor (EBF) for each glass in the energy range of 0.015-15 MeV up to penetration depths of 40 mfp. The results reveal that gamma-ray shielding effectiveness of the SBC-Bx glasses evolves with increasing BaO content in the glass sample. Such that SBC-B35 glass has superior shielding capacity against gamma-rays among the studied glasses. Gamma-ray shielding properties of SBC-B35 glass were compared with different conventional shielding materials, commercial glasses, and newly developed HMO glasse. Therefore, the investigated glasses have potential uses in gamma shielding applications.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.41 no.2
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• pp.129-134
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• 2018

The present study made a phantom for gamma ray of 140 keV radiated from $^{99m}Tc$, examined shielding effect of lead by thickness of the shielding material, and measured surface dose and depth dose by body depth. The OSL Nano Dot dosimeter was inserted at 0, 3, 15, 40, 90, and 180 mm depths of the phantom, and when there was no shield, 0.2 mm lead shield, 0.5 mm lead shield, The depth dose was measured. Experimental results show that the total cumulative dose of dosimeters with depth is highest at 366.24 uSv without shield and lowest at 94.12 uSv with 0.5 mm lead shield. The shielding effect of 0.2 mm lead shielding was about 30.18% and the shielding effect of 0.5 mm lead shielding was 74.30%, when the total sum of the accumulated doses of radiation dosimeter was 100%. The phantom depth and depth dose measurements showed the highest values at 0 mm depth for all three experiments and the dose decreases as the depth increases. This study proved that the thicker a shielding material, the highest its shielding effect is against gamma ray of 140 keV. However, it was known that shielding material can't completely shield a body from gamma ray; it reached deep part of a human body. Aside from the International Commission on Radiation Units and Measurements (ICRU) recommending depth dose by 10 mm in thickness, a plan is necessary for employees working in department of nuclear medicine where they deal with gamma ray, which is highly penetrable, to measure depth dose by body depth, which can help them manage exposed dose properly.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.228-236
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• 1995

In this paper the method to evaluate shielding deficiency by gamma scanning test was presented and verified theoretically by Monte Carlo code which is one of the best effective method for radiation shielding calculation. The cylindrical shielding model was selected to evaluate shielding deficiency by gamma scanning test. First, the reference shielding according to the design requirement of cask was fabricated specially and reference values were measured with Co-60 source and scintillation detector. As a result with which calculated the reference values, it is shown that maximum deficiency thickness for lead of true cylindrical shielding model was 12mm. To verify this, thickness of lead was calculated by MCNP code and maximum deficiency thickness was 11.6mm. The experimental result obtained by the use of reference shielding was in good agreement with the theoretical result within 4.1%. So, this method can be applied to inspect the shielding ability for great shielding or cask which the radioactive material is used. To perform measurement more exactly, the further work on the development of measuring equipment to display the results on the screen will be required.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.11
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• pp.2613-2619
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• 2020

This work investigated the gamma-ray shielding performance, and the physical and mechanical properties of poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) composites embedded with 0-44.0 wt% bismuth trioxide (Bi₂O₃) fabricated by the fast ultraviolet (UV) curing method. The results showed that the addition of Bi₂O₃ had significantly improved the gamma shielding ability of PMMA composites. Mass attenuation coefficient and half-value layer were examined using five gamma sources (Cs-137, Ba-133, Cd-109, Co-57, and Co-60). The high loading of Bi₂O₃ in the PMMA samples improved the micro-hardness to nearly seven times that of the pure PMMA. With these enhancements, it was demonstrated that PMMA/Bi₂O₃ composites are promising gamma shielding materials. Furthermore, the fast UV curing exerts its great potential in significantly shortening the production cycle of shielding material to enable rapid manufacturing.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2613-2620
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• 2023

Excellent thermal neutron absorption performance of boron expands the potential use of boron rich slag to prepare epoxy resin matrix nuclear shielding composites. However, shielding attenuation behaviors and mechanism of the composites against gamma rays are unclear. Based on the radiation protection theory, Phy-X/PSD, XCOM, and ⁶⁰Co gamma ray source were integrated to obtain the shielding parameters of boron rich slag/epoxy resin composites at 0.015-15 MeV, which include mass attenuation coefficient (µ_t), linear attenuation coefficient (µ), half value thickness layer (HVL), electron density (N_eff), effective atomic number (Z_eff), exposure buildup factor (EBF) and exposure absorption buildup factor (EABF).µ_t, µ, HVL, N_eff, Z_eff, EBF and EABF are 0.02-7 cm²/g, 0.04-17 cm^-1, 0.045-20 cm, 5-14, 3 × 10²³-8 × 10²³ electron/g, 0-2000, and 0-3500. Shielding performance is BS4, BS3, BS3, BS1 in descending order, but worse than ordinary concrete. µ and HVL of BS1-BS4 for ⁶⁰Co gamma ray is 0.095-0.110 cm^-1 and 6.3-7.2 cm. Shielding mechanism is main interactions for attenuation gamma ray by BS1-BS4 are elements with higher content or higher atomic number via Photoelectric Absorption at low energy range, and elements with higher content via Compton Scattering and Pair Production in Nuclear Field at middle and higher energy range.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3058-3067
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• 2021

Sodium zinc borate glasses doped with dysprosium and modified with different concentrations of barium oxide (0-50 mol %) were fabricated using the melting quenching technique. The structural properties of the prepared glass systems were characterized using XRD and FTIR methods. The absorption spectra of the prepared glasses were measured to determine their energy gap and their related optical properties. The density of the glasses and other physical parameters were also reported. Additionally, with the help of Photon Shielding and Dosimetry (PSD) software, we investigated the radiation shielding parameters of the prepared glass systems at different energy values. It was found that an increase in the density of the glasses by increasing the concentration of BaO significantly improved the gamma ray shielding ability of the samples. For practical results, a compatible irradiation set up was designed to check the shielding capability of the obtained glasses using a gamma ray source at 662 keV. The experimentally obtained results strongly agreed with the data obtained by PDS software at the same energy. These results demonstrated that the investigated glass system is a good candidate for several radiation shielding applications when comparing it with other commercial shielding glasses and concretes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.792-800
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• 2017

The essential requirement of a material to be used for engineering purposes at nuclear establishments is its ability to attenuate the most penetrating ionizing radiations, gamma $({\gamma})-rays$. Mostly, high-Z materials such as heavy concrete, lead, mercury, and their mixtures or alloys have been used in the construction of nuclear establishments and thus termed as nuclear engineering materials (NEM). The NEM are classified into two categories, namely opaque and transparent, depending on their behavior towards the visible spectrum of EM waves. The majority of NEM are opaque. By contrast, various types of glass, which are transparent to visible light, are necessary at certain places in the nuclear establishments. In the present study, ${\gamma}-ray$ shielding behaviors (GSB) of six glass samples (transparent NEM) were evaluated and compared with some opaque NEM in a wide range of energy (15 keV-15 MeV) and optical thickness (OT). The study was performed by computing various ${\gamma}-ray$ shielding parameters (GSP) such as the mass attenuation coefficient, equivalent atomic number, and buildup factor. A self-designed and validated computer-program, the buildup factor-tool, was used for various computations. It has been established that some glass samples show good GSB, thus can safely be used in the construction of nuclear establishments in conjunction with the opaque NEM as well.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2020

The purpose of this research is to analyze the gamma ray shielding effect of heavy concrete containing magnetic aggregate and to confirm the applicability to the military protective facilities. In general, a military concrete structure protects combatants from bullets, and also it provides some radiation shielding. In this research, experiments were conducted using a Cs-137 source to check the gamma ray shielding effect. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) modeling was applied to evaluate the gamma ray shielding effect of a military structure. As a result, as the concrete thickness increased, the shielding performance improved according th the linear attenuation law. With that, as the ratio of magnetic aggregate was increased, gamma ray shielding performance was also improved. Therefore, this research verified that the application of magnetic aggregate concrete to military facilities for radiation shielding purposes would be useful.

• Journal of Ceramic Processing Research
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.363-371
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• 2019

In this study, physical properties of normal concrete, magnetite concrete, EAF concrete, and EAF concrete with added iron powder were evaluated and a feasibility of radiation shielding is also evaluated through irradiation tests against X-rays and gamma-rays. While the unit weight of EAF concrete (3.21 t/㎥) appeared lower than that of magnetite concrete (3.50 t/㎥), the results in compressive strength of EAF concrete were greater than those in magnetite and normal concrete. While the radiation transmission rate of normal concrete reaches 26.0% in the X-ray irradiation test, only 6.0% and 9.0% of transmission rate were observed in magnetite concrete and linear relationship with unit volume weight and radiation shielding. In the gamma-ray irradiation test, the performance of EAF and magnetite concretes appeared to be similar. Through the results on the excellent physical properties and radiation shielding performance a potential applicability of EAF concrete to radiation shielding was verified.