• 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.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.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.42 no.1
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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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• v.56 no.2
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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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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.818-824
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• 2019

In the present work, we determined the gamma-ray attenuation characteristics of eight different polymers(Polyamide (Nylon 6) (PA-6), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyvinylidenechloride (PVDC), polyaniline (PANI), polyethyleneterephthalate (PET), polyphenylenesulfide (PPS), polypyrrole (PPy) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)) using transmission geometry utilizing the high resolution HPGe detector and different radioactive sources in the energy range 81-1333 keV. The experimental linear attenuation coefficient values are compared with theoretical data (WinXCOM data). The linear attenuation coefficient of all polymers reduced quickly with the increase in energy, at the beginning, while decrease more slowly in the region from 267 keV to 835 keV. The effective atomic number of PVDC and PTFE are comparatively higher than the $Z_{eff}$ of the remaining polymers, while PA-6 possesses the lowest effective atomic number. The half value layer results showed that PTFE ($C_2F_4$, highest density) is more effective to attenuate the gamma photons. Also, the theoretical results of macroscopic effective removal cross section for fast neutrons ($\sum_{R}$) were computed to investigate the neutron attenuation characteristics. It is found that the $\sum_{R}$ values of the eight investigated polymers are close and ranged from $0.07058cm^{-1}$ for PVDC to $0.11510cm^{-1}$ for PA-6.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.310-317
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• 2022

The mass attenuation coefficient is the primary physical parameter to model narrow beam gamma-ray attenuation. A new machine learning based approach is proposed to model gamma-ray shielding behavior of composites alternative to theoretical calculations. Two fuzzy logic algorithms and a neural network algorithm were trained and tested with different mixture ratios of vanadium slag/epoxy resin/antimony in the 0.05 MeV-2 MeV energy range. Two of the algorithms showed excellent agreement with testing data after optimizing adjustable parameters, with root mean squared error (RMSE) values down to 0.0001. Those results are remarkable because mass attenuation coefficients are often presented with four significant figures. Different training data sizes were tried to determine the least number of data points required to train sufficient models. Data set size more than 1000 is seen to be required to model in above 0.05 MeV energy. Below this energy, more data points with finer energy resolution might be required. Neuro-fuzzy models were three times faster to train than neural network models, while neural network models depicted low RMSE. Fuzzy logic algorithms are overlooked in complex function approximation, yet grid partitioned fuzzy algorithms showed excellent calculation efficiency and good convergence in predicting mass attenuation coefficient.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.75-84
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• 2018

Background: Gamma-ray spectrometry helps in radiation shielding problems and different applications of radioisotopes. Experimental arrangements including broad beam geometries are widely used. The aim is to investigate and evaluate the ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra via attenuation by environmental materials. Materials and Methods: The photo peak to nominated parts in the ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra and the attenuation coefficients ${\mu}_b/{\rho}$ from broad beam geometries are measured for the materials water, soil, sand and cement at the energies 0.662, 1.25, and 1.332 MeV with a $3{^{\prime}^{\prime}}{\times}3{^{\prime}^{\prime}}$ NaI(Tl) detector. Results and Discussion: The ${\gamma}-ray$ spectra vary according to changes in the effective atomic number $Z_{eff}$ of the attenuator, the photon energy and the solid angle. The peak to total ratios are the most sensitive parts to variations in the experimental conditions and overturn in the region 0.663 MeV to 1.332 MeV. This is indicated as inversion trend. The results are discussed in view of $Z_{eff}$ and the experimental conditions. The intensity build-up is larger at the lower energy and larger scattering angles in agreement with Klein-Nishina formula and other results. The build-up factor B is$${\sim_=}$$1 at high ${\gamma}-energies$ and small scattering angles. Conclusion: The sensitivity to material characteristics decrease gradually from peak: to total, to Compton valley, to Compton plateau ratios. Rigorous collimation is necessary at small energies. Cement, of the largest $Z_{eff}$, is characterized by the maximum broad beam mass attenuation coefficients ${\mu}_b/{\rho}$. The obtained results provide information to decide for the suitable experimental set-up based on aim of the work.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.1
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• pp.64-71
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• 2016

Void fraction is an important parameter in the oil industry. This quantity is necessary for volume rate measurement in multiphase flows. In this study, the void fraction percentage was estimated precisely, independent of the flow regime in gas-liquid two-phase flows by using ${\gamma}-ray$ attenuation and a multilayer perceptron neural network. In all previous studies that implemented a multibeam ${\gamma}-ray$ attenuation technique to determine void fraction independent of the flow regime in two-phase flows, three or more detectors were used while in this study just two NaI detectors were used. Using fewer detectors is of advantage in industrial nuclear gauges because of reduced expense and improved simplicity. In this work, an artificial neural network is also implemented to predict the void fraction percentage independent of the flow regime. To do this, a multilayer perceptron neural network is used for developing the artificial neural network model in MATLAB. The required data for training and testing the network in three different regimes (annular, stratified, and bubbly) were obtained using an experimental setup. Using the technique developed in this work, void fraction percentages were predicted with mean relative error of <1.4%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.8
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• pp.1792-1797
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• 2020

The shielding characteristics of two concrete blocks, widely used in the building industry in Mexico have been determined. These characteristics include the mass interaction coefficients, the linear attenuation coefficients and the half-value layers. The energy-dispersed X-ray fluorescence shows that the percentage mass content of each atom in the sample, and the atomic volume of the constituent elements of a material, plays an important role in its shielding capabilities. The total linear attenuation coefficients and the half-value layers were analyzed for a set of photon energies related to X-rays for diagnosis and cancer treatment with linear accelerators. Our results show that the concrete blocks have similar photon attenuation coefficients than the Portland concrete and better features than gypsum.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.63-71
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• 1981

The metal-plates(Aluminium. Copper, Lead) of change the variation thickness have been penetrated by the collimated beam($450mm{\times}4mm{\phi}$) of Gamma-ray from $^{192}Ir$. Then, the scattered $\gamma$-ray dose in variable angle and the directly transmitted $\gamma$-ray dose were measured using the electrometer of ionization chamber. The results were summarized as follows: 1. Obtained the mass attenuation coefficients of $Al;0.0937cm^2g^{-1},\;Cu;0.0937cm^2g^{-1},\;pb;0.244cm^2g^{-1}$. 2. Total intensity of front scattered $\gamma$-ray follow the order of Al>Cu>pb. 3. The scattered $\gamma$-ray intensity with the lager angle of scattering was saturated after increase rapidly, and the scattering angle of the more larger was decreased. 4. The scattered $\gamma$-ray intensity through plates of aluminium or copper was saturated after increase with thicker scatterer, and the intensity was decreased at the more thicker. But the variation of scattered $\gamma$-ray dose in the lead plate made the fewest than Al and Cu. 5. The ratio of the scattered $\gamma$-ray dose and the directly transmitted $\gamma$-ray dose was saturated after increase with the thicker scatterer, and the scatterer of the more thicker was decreased. Degree of total intensity in these ratios was followed the order of Cu>Al>Pb.