Radiation shielding properties of selected alloys using EPICS2017 data library

Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF

A radiation source based on the inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IECF) system is being developed for multidisciplinary research applications. The radiation outputs from the IECF system are 2.45 MeV fast neutrons and the associated co-generated X-rays with an energy less than 3 MeV. A radiation shielding study has been performed on five types of concrete to define the most efficient material for the shielding design of the system. The proposed materials were ilmenite-magnetite concrete (IMC), ordinary concrete-1 (OC-1), barite-containing concrete (BC), ordinary concrete-2 (OC-2), and serpentine-containing concrete (SC). A numerical model was applied to determine the effective removal cross-section coefficients (∑_Rt) for the fast neutrons and the total mass attenuation coefficients (µ_m), the half-value layer (HVL), the mean free path (MFP), the effective atomic number (Z_eff), and effective electron density (N_eff) for photons inside the materials. The model considered the radiation source energy and the material properties of the concrete types. The results revealed that the serpentine-containing concrete exhibited the highest ∑_Rt with 12 cm of concrete thickness needed to attenuate an incident neutron flux to 1/100 of its initial value. In addition, the BC shows the highest µ_m with a 38 cm concrete thickness needed to attenuate the 3 MeV energy X-ray flux to 1/100 of its initial value. This study suggests that a 40 cm thickness of SC or BC adequately shields the radiation generated from an IECF system with a maximum particle production rate of up to 1 × 10⁷ n/s.

Mechanical property evaluation of tellurite–germanate glasses and comparison of their radiation-shielding characteristics using EPICS2017 to other glass systems

In this study, four tellurite–germanate glasses containing zinc, lithium, and bismuth with varied Bi2O3 and TeO2 amounts were investigated. The mechanical qualities of sample glasses were investigated and associated with their structural properties. Furthermore, the radiation-shielding capabilities of N1–N4 glasses were evaluated at 0.662 MeV using EPICS2017. The radiation-shielding characteristics were compared with the radiation-shielding parameters published in the literature for various glass systems. When TeO2 was replaced with Bi2O3, Young’s and bulk moduli of the material decreased. The L values of glasses were higher than their S values (14–13 GPa), indicating that they can tolerate longitudinal stress better than shear stress and can be bent rather than elongated readily. The MACs calculated were comparable to those obtained using WinXcom. The tenth-value layer (TVL) of all of the sample glasses was higher than that of the bismuth aluminosilicate glasses. All of the borate glass systems containing bismuth, sodium, and antimony had lower TVLs than N1–N3 glasses. The half-value layer was more in the N4 glass with the greatest Bi2O3 content than those in 50 and 60 mol% PbO-containing strontium borate glasses.

Nuclear Radiation Shielding Characteristics of Some Natural Rocks by Using EPICS2017 Library

Radiation leakage is a serious problem in various technological applications. In this paper, radiation shielding characteristics of some natural rocks are elucidated. Mass attenuation coefficients (µ/ρ) of these rocks are obtained at different photon energies with the help of the EPICS2017 library. The obtained µ/ρ values are confirmed via the theoretical XCOM program by determining the correlation factor and relative deviation between both of these methods. Then, effective atomic number (Z_eff), absorption length (MFP), and half value layer (HVL) are evaluated by applying the µ/ρ values. The maximum μ/ρ values of the natural rocks were observed at 0.37 MeV. At this energy, the Z_eff values of the natural rocks were 16.23, 16.97, 17.28, 10.43, and 16.65 for olivine basalt, jet black granite, limestone, sandstone, and dolerite, respectively. It is noted that the radiation shielding features of the selected natural rocks are higher than that of conventional concrete and comparable with those of commercial glasses. Therefore, the present rocks can be used in various radiation shielding applications, and they have many advantages for being clean and low-cost products. In addition, we found that the EPICS2017 library is useful in determining the radiation shielding parameters for the rocks and may be used for further calculations for other rocks and construction building materials.