• 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.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
• /
• v.41 no.2
• /
• pp.135-140
• /
• 2018

In this study, the dose of antimony shielding sheet was measured and the shielding rates according to the distance between the radioisotopes and the detector was analyzed according to the type of $^{99m}Tc$, $^{18}F$, $^{201}Tl$, $^{131}I$, $^{123}I$ using the antimony shielding sheet. The detector was used with an inspector. Six sheets of 0.25 mmPb were prepared with 20 cm width and length. Measurement results using $^{99m}Tc$, $^{201}Tl$, and $^{123}I$ showed that as the thickness of the sheet became thicker, the farther the distance from the source to the sheet was, the smaller the transmitted dose amount was measured. It was analyzed that a thickness of 1.50 mm or more was required to obtain a shielding rates of 90% or more. In the experiments of $^{18}F$ and $^{131}I$, the dose value was highest when 0.25 mm sheet was used, and the shielding rates was negative, unlike the results of other radioisotopes. Since $^{201}Tl$ are used when using antimony sheet and $^{18}F$ and $^{131}I$ have no shielding effect, it is thought that it is effective to reduce dose by repeating training and simulation training so that work can be done in a short time.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.191-199
• /
• 2021

The purpose of this research is to analyze the radiation shielding effect of soft magnetic material to confirm the applicability to the military facilities. The soft magnetic material is known to be effective in shielding EMP. If this material is also effective in radiation shielding, it is expected that it has a lot of applicability in military protection. In particular, this material contains boron, so it will be effective in shielding neutrons. In this research, experiments were conducted using Cs-137 and Co-60 sources to check the gamma ray shielding effect. In addition, the Monte Carlo N-Particle(MCNP) modeling was applied to evaluate the gamma ray and neutron shielding effect of a military command tent. As a result, as the soft magnetic thickness increased, the shielding performance improved according the linear attenuation law of gamma ray and neutron. Therefore, this research verified that the application of soft magnetic material for military purposes in radiation shielding would be effective.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Information and Commucation Sciences Conference
• /
• 2016.05a
• /
• pp.773-774
• /
• 2016

In this study, we perform the weight reduction and miniaturization of the shielding element that is applied for gamma-ray detectors for imaging of gamma-ray source. Through previous studies, we implemented a lead-based shielding element that represents the shielding effectiveness and performance of commercially available gamma-ray imaging apparatus similar to the shielding body. In this paper, we designed a tungsten-based shield for weight reduction and miniaturization than lead-based shield. We performed the MCNP simulation for shield design and then we obtained the results of reducing the weight of the 17% and 51% of the volume.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.283-292
• /
• 2022

Advanced radiation applications have been widely used and extended to many fields. As a result of this fact, choosing an appropriate shielding material based on the radiation application has become vital. In this regard, the integration of elements into polymer composites has been investigated and contributed to the quantity and quality of radiation shielding materials. This study reports photon attenuation parameters and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of a novel polymer composite prepared with a matrix reinforced with three different proportions (5, 10, and 15 wt%) of niobium content. Addition of Nb dopant improves both photon attenuation and electromagnetic shielding effectiveness for the investigated composites. Therefore, Nb(15%) polymer composite with highest concentration has been found to be the best absorber for ionizing and non-ionizing radiations. Consequently, the performed analyzes provide evidences that the prepared Nb-reinforced polymer composite could be effectively used as photon radiation attenuator and electromagnetic shielding material.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.85 no.1
• /
• pp.29-53
• /
• 2023

High-strength shielding concrete against gamma radiation is a priority for many medical and industrial facilities. This paper aimed to investigate the gamma-ray shielding properties of high-strength hematite concrete mixed with silica fume (SF) with nanoparticles of lead dioxide (PbO₂), tungsten oxide (WO₃), and bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃). The effect of mixing steel fibres with the aforementioned binders was also investigated. The reference mixture was prepared for high-strength concrete (HSCC) containing 100% hematite coarse and fine aggregate. Thirteen mixtures containing 5% SF and nanoparticles of PbO₂, WO₃, and Bi₂O₃ (2%, 5%, and 7% of the cement mass, respectively) were prepared. Steel fibres were added at a volume ratio of 0.28% of the volume of concrete with 5% of nanoparticles. The slump test was conducted to workability of fresh concrete Unit weight water permeability, compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity tests were conducted to assess concrete's engineering properties at 28 days. Gamma-ray radiation of 137Cs emits photons with an energy of 662 keV, and that of 60Co emits two photons with energies of 1173 and 1332 keV were applied on concrete specimens to assess radiation shielding properties. Nanoparticles partially replacing cement reduced slump in workability of fresh concrete. The compressive strength of mixtures, including nanoparticles was shown to be greater, achieving 94.5 MPa for the mixture consisting of 7.5 PbO2. In contrast, the mixture (5PbO₂-F) containing steel fibres achieved the highest values for splitting tensile, flexural strength, and modulus of elasticity (11.71, 15.97, and 42,840 MPa, respectively). High-strength shielded concrete (7.5PbO2) showed the best radiation protection. It also showed the minimum concrete thickness required to prevent the transmission of radiation.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
• /
• v.48 no.4
• /
• pp.184-196
• /
• 2023

Background: Radiation protection is crucial in various fields due to the harmful effects of radiation. Shielding is used to reduce radiation exposure, but gamma radiation poses challenges due to its high energy and penetration capabilities. Materials and Methods: This work investigates the radiation shielding properties of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) samples containing different weight fraction of tungsten carbide (WC), tungsten trioxide (WO₃), and tungsten disulfide (WS₂). Parameters such as the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z_eff), and macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutrons (Σ_R) were calculated using the Phy-X/PSD software. EpiXS simulations were conducted for MAC validation. Results and Discussion: Increasing the weight fraction of the additives resulted in higher MAC values, indicating improved radiation shielding. PVDF-xWC showed the highest percentage increase in MAC values. MFP results indicated that PVDF-0.20WC has the lowest values, suggesting superior shielding properties compared to PVDF-0.20WO₃ and PVDF-0.20WS₂. PVDF-0.20WC also exhibited the highest Z_eff values, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ showed a slightly higher increase in Z_eff at energies of 0.662 and 1.333 MeV. PVDF-0.20WC has demonstrated the highest Σ_R value, indicating effective shielding against fast neutrons, while PVDF-0.20WS₂ had the lowest Σ_R value. The Monte Carlo N-Particle Transport version 5 (MCNP5) simulations showed that PVDF-xWC attenuates gamma radiation more than pure PVDF, significantly decreasing the dose equivalent rate. Conclusion: Overall, this research provides insights into the radiation shielding properties of PVDF mixtures, with PVDF-xWC showing the most promising results.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.889-896
• /
• 2023

Changes in the energy spectrum were analyzed using ^99mTc as a point source and a scattering phantom, and the shielding effect of the lead apron according to the changed gamma ray energy was evaluated. In the gamma ray energy spectrum of the scattering phantom, the photo peak area decreased and the compton scattering area increased compared to the point source. The coefficients for each energy range according to the change in the shape of the gamma ray source showed a reduction rate of up to 66.1 % at a distance of 20 cm compared to the coefficient of the point source, and in the compton scattering area, the coefficient of the scattering phantom was 122.2 % at a distance of up to 40 cm compared to the coefficient of the point source. In the difference in shielding rate according to the distance between the source and the scattering phantom using a gamma camera, the photo peak area showed similar results, but in the Compton scattering area, the shielding rate of the scattering phantom at a distance of 20 cm increased by 29.2 % compared to the shielding rate of the point source. As the distance increased, the difference in shielding rate decreased. In measuring the shielding rate of the lead apron using a radiation dosimeter, the difference in the shielding rate of the scattering phantom was up to 15.3 %, and as the distance increased, the difference in the shielding rate between the two sources decreased. The shielding rate of the lead apron of the scattering phantom is higher than that of the point source, and the effectiveness of the lead apron increases as the distance to the source increases. As a result, wearing a lead apron when directly confronting a patient who has injected radioactive pharmaceuticals is expected to be helpful in reducing radiation exposure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.1
• /
• pp.278-284
• /
• 2023

The synthetic B₂O₃-As₂O₃ glass ceramic are prepared to investigate the physical properties and the radiation shielding capabilities with the variation of concentration of the As₂O₃ with 10, 20, 30, and 40%, respectively. XRD analyses are performed on the fabricated glass-ceramic and depicted the improvement of crystallinity by adding As₂O₃. The radiation shielding properties are studied for the B₂O₃-As₂O₃ glass ceramic. The values of linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) are varied with the variation of incident photon gamma energy (23.1-103 keV). The LAC values enhanced from 12.19 cm^-1-37.75 cm^-1 by raising the As₂O₃ concentration from 10 to 40 mol% at low gamma energy (23.1 keV) for BAs10 and BAs40, respectively. Among the shielding parameters, the half-value layer, transmission factor, and radiation protection efficiency are estimated. Furthermore, the fabricated samples of glass ceramic have low manufacturing costs and good shielding features compared to the previous work. It can be concluded the B₂O₃-As₂O₃ glass ceramic is appropriate to apply in X-ray or low-energy gamma-ray shielding applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.1763-1774
• /
• 2023

In this study, a series of flexible neutron/gamma shielding composites are fabricated through the doping of Gd₂O₃ into the matrix of SEBS with (M_Gd2O3: M_SEBS) % from 5% to 100%. Neutron transmittance test shows an exponential attenuation with the increase of areal density of Gd, in which the transmittance T ranges from 59.1440% to 35.3026%, with standard deviation less than 2.2743%, mass attenuation coefficient 𝜇_m from 0.3194 cm²/g to 0.4999 cm²/g, and half value layer-HVL value from 2.4530 mm to 1.1313 mm. Shielding efficiency of the Gd₂O₃/SEBS composites is basically improved in comparison with that of B₄C/SEBS. The transmittance T, mass/linear attenuation coefficient 𝜇_m and 𝜇, HVL and effective atomic number Z_eff for the shielding of γ rays (39 keV, 59 keV and 122 keV) are measured and calculated with XCOM as well as MCX programs. Finally, plots of the three dimensional relationships between transmittance, doping amount and thickness are provided to the guidance for engineering shielding design. In summary, the Gd₂O₃/SEBS composite is proved to be an effective flexible neutron/low energy γ rays shielding material, which could be of potential applications in the field of nuclear technology and nuclear engineering.