• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2767-2774
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• 2024

In this study, investment casting shell waste successfully utilized to produce cordierite/mullite/zircon composites. Green pellets, consisting of investment casting shell waste, alumina, and magnesia, were prepared and sintered at temperatures between 1250 and 1350 ℃. The influence of the sintering temperature on the crystalline phase composition, densification behavior, flexural strength, microstructure, and radiation shielding properties of the cordierite/mullite/zircon composites is investigated. Phase analysis showed that characteristic cordierite peaks appear at 1250 ℃, but the complete conversation of silica from investment casting shell waste into cordierite requires a sintering temperature of at least 1300 ℃. Notably, the cordierite/mullite/zircon composite sintered at 1350 ℃ exhibited a sixfold increase in flexural strength compared to the ceramic composite directly fabricated from investment casting shell waste at the same sintering temperature. Furthermore, the effect of Y₂O₃ addition on composites' radiation shielding properties is investigated. The results show that the Y₂O₃ addition improves densification behavior, enhancing the shielding capabilities of the composites against fast neutron and gamma radiation. Our findings suggest that the developed ceramic composites show significant potential for gamma-ray and neutron shielding applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권2호
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• pp.666-672
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• 2024

In the present work, a new brick series based on the Vietnamese white clay minerals from the Bat Trang was fabricated to be applied in the radiation protection applications during the decommissioning of the nuclear power reactors. The bricks were constructed under various pressure rates varied from 7.61 MPa to 114.22 MPa. The influence of pressure rate on the physical and γ-ray shielding properties were investigated in the study. The experimental measurement for the material's density using the MH-300A density meter showed an enhancement in the prepared bricks' density by 22.5 % with increasing the applied pressure rate while the bricks' porosity reduced by 31.2 % when the pressure rate increased from 7.61 MPa to 114.22 MPa. The increase in the fabricated bricks density and the reduction in their porosities enhances the bricks' linear attenuation coefficients as measured by the NaI (Tl) detector along the energy range extended from 0.662 MeV to 1.332 MeV. The linear attenuation coefficient increased by 13.8 %, 17.6 %, 17.0 %, and 17.1 % at gamma ray energies of 0.662 MeV, 1.173 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.332 MeV, respectively. The enhancement in the linear attenuation coefficient increases the bricks' radiation protection efficiency by 10.22 %, 14.48 %, 14.09 %, and 14.26 % at gamma ray energies of 0.662 MeV, 1.173 MeV, 1.252 MeV, and 1.332 MeV, respectively.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2489-2497
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• 2024

The current study aims to develop new clay bricks doped with metallic waste for radiation shielding applications. The aforementioned new bricks were fabricated with various metallic waste concentrations under a pressure rate reaching ≈114 MPa and firing temperature of 1100 ℃. The impacts of the metallic waste and the firing temperature on the developed brick samples' physical, radiation shielding, and structural properties were studied. In order to identify the fabricated bricks' mineral content, the X-ray diffraction pattern was used. Additionally, the fabricated bricks' porosity and density were experimentally determined, where the porosity was reduced by 28.03%, while their densities increased by ≈ 10.5% by raising the concentration of metallic waste. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) for the developed brick was investigated experimentally using a NaI (Tl) scintillation detector over the 0.033-1.408 MeV energy interval. The measured LAC values were enhanced by increasing the concentrations of metallic waste within the fabricated bricks over the examined energy interval. The fabricated brick's LAC enhancement improves the gamma-ray shielding characteristics. Therefore, the fabricated bricks are a cheap and suitable choice for radiation protection applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권11호
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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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• 제48권5호
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• pp.1230-1236
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• 2016

This study aims to determine the effect of fly ash with a high replacing ratio of clay on the radiation shielding properties of bricks. Some interaction parameters (mass attenuation coefficients, half value layer, effective atomic number, effective electron density, and absorption efficiency) of clay fly ash bricks were measured with a NaI(Tl) detector at 661.6 keV, 1,173.2 keV, and 1,332.5 keV. For the investigation of their shielding behavior, fly ash bricks were molded using an admixture to clay. A narrow beam transmission geometry condition was used for the measurements. The measured values of these parameters were found in good agreement with the theoretical calculations. The elemental compositions of the clay fly ash bricks were analyzed by using an energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. At selected energies the values of the effective atomic numbers and effective electron densities showed a very modest variation with the composition of the fly ash. This seems to be due to the similarity of their elemental compositions. The obtained results were also compared with concrete, in order to study the effect of fly ash content on the radiation shielding properties of clay fly ash bricks. The clay fly ash bricks showed good shielding properties for moderate energy gamma rays. Therefore, these bricks are feasible and eco-friendly compared with traditional clay bricks used for construction.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2711-2717
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• 2024

The current work aims to fabricate metal oxide-doped (PbO, Fe₂O₃, MgO, and Al₂O₃, each of which boasts a purity of 99%) zinc barium borate glasses through the melt quenching technique at the 1000 ℃ melting temperature. The results showed that adding 5 mol.% of metal oxides PbO, Fe₂O₃, Al₂O₃, and MgO increases the density of the zinc barium borate glasses. Additionally, the fabricated glasses' mechanical properties were determined based on the Makishima-Mackenzie model, which proved that the highest mechanical properties were achieved for glasses doped with Al₂O₃ compounds. The mechanical moduli for the glasses doped with Al₂O₃ reach 80.95 GPa (Young), 59.90 GPa (bulk), 31.75 GPa (shear), and 102.23 GPa (longitudinal). Additionally, the Al₂O₃-doped glasses' microhardness reaches 4.77 GPa. Moreover, estimation of the fabricated glasses' gamma-ray shielding capacity utilized Monte Carlo simulation. The highest linear attenuation coefficients are 29.132, 19.906, 19.243, and 18.923 cm^-1 obtained at 0.033 MeV for glasses dopped by PbO, Fe₂O₃, MgO, and Al₂O₃, respectively. Therefore, glasses doped with 5 mol.% of PbO have high gamma-ray shielding capacities followed by glasses doped by Fe₂O₃.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• 제42권1호
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• pp.26-32
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• 2017

Background: Ionizing radiation is known to be harmful to human health. The shielding of ionizing radiation depends on the attenuation which can be achieved by three main rules, i.e. time, distance and absorbing material. Materials and Methods: The mass attenuation coefficient, linear attenuation coefficient, Half Value Layer (HVL) and Tenth Value Layer (TVL) of X-rays (32 keV, 74 keV) and gamma rays (662 keV) are measured in Barium compounds. Results and Discussion: The measured values agree well with the theory. The effective atomic numbers ($Z_{eff}$) and electron density (Ne) of Barium compounds have been computed in the wide energy region 1 keV to 100 GeV using an accurate database of photon-interaction cross sections and the WinXCom program. Conclusion: The mass attenuation coefficient and linear attenuation coefficient for $BaCO_3$ is higher than the $BaCl_2$, $Ba(No_3)_2$ and BaSO4. HVL, TVL and mean free path are lower for $BaCO_3$ than the $BaCl_2$, $Ba(No_3)_2$ and $BaSO_4$. Among the studied barium compounds, $BaCO_3$ is best material for x-ray and gamma shielding.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권6호
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• pp.2025-2037
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• 2021

The influence of lead cations on natural quartz (QZ) from Egypt as a glass shielding material for the composition with nominal formula (10Na₂O - (90 - x) QZ - xPbO (where x = 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 mol %)) was examined. The studied samples are synthesized via the melt quenching method at 1050 ℃. The X-ray diffraction XRD patterns were confirmed the glass nature for studied samples. Moreover, the optical properties, and the transparency for all compositions were examined by UV-Vis spectroscopy. Also, the major elemental composition of the natural quartz were estimated via the X-ray fluorescence (XRF) technique. Further, the density and molar volume were determined. Furthermore, the nuclear shielding parameters such as, mass attenuation coefficient, effective atomic number, electronic density, the total atomic, and electronic cross sections as well as the mean free path, and the half value layer with different gamma ray energies (81 keV-1407 keV) were calculated. Besides, the results showed that the shielding behavior towards the gamma ray radiation for all glass samples was increased as the increment in PbO concentration in the glass system.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권1호
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• pp.278-284
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• 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
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• 제56권7호
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• pp.2444-2451
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• 2024

This work demonstrates a new sol-gel approach for synthesizing PbO₂-doped zirconia using zircon mineral precursors. The streamlined methodology enables straightforward fabrication of the doped zirconia composites. Comprehensive materials characterization was performed using XRD, SEM, and TEM techniques to analyze the crystal structure, microstructure, and morphology. Quantitative analysis of the XRD data provided insights into the nanoscale crystallite sizes achieved, along with their relationship to lattice imperfections. Furthermore, the gamma-ray shielding capacity for the PbO₂-doped zirconia samples was estimated by the Monte Carlo simulation, which proves an increase in the gamma ray shielding properties by raising the Pb concentration. The linear attenuation coefficient increased between 0.467 and 0.499 cm^-1 (at 0.662 MeV) by increasing the Pb content between 11 and 21 wt%. By increasing the Pb content to 21 wt%, the synthesized composites' lead equivalent thickness reaches 2.49 cm. The radiation shielding properties for the synthesized composites revealed a remarkable performance against low and intermediate γ-ray photons, with radiation shielding capacity of 37.3 % and 21.4 % at 0.662 MeV and 2.506 MeV, respectively. As a result, the developed composites can be employed as an alternative shielding material in hospitals and radioactive zones.