• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제55권12호
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• pp.4664-4670
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• 2023

Radiation is the main safety issue for almost all nuclear applications, which must be controlled to protect living organisms and the surrounding materials. In this context, radiation shielding materials have been investigated and used in nuclear technologies. The choice of materials depends on the radiation usage area, type, and energy. Polymer materials are preferred in radiation shielding applications due to their superior characteristics such as chemical inertness, resistivity, low weight, flexibility, strength, and low cost. In the presented work, ABS polymer material, which is possibly the most commonly used material in 3D printers, is mixed with Gd₂O₃ and Er₂O₃ nanoparticles. ABS filaments containing these rare-earth elements are then produced using a filament extruder. These produced filaments are used in a 3D printer to create shielding samples. Following the production of shielding samples, SEM, EDS, and gamma-ray shielding analyses (including experiments, WinXCOM, GEANT4, and FLUKA) are performed. The results show that 3D printing technology offers significant enhancements in creating homogeneous and well-structured materials that can be effectively used in gamma-ray shielding applications.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.1062-1070
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• 2022

In the present communication, pure and stable α-Bismuth Oxide (Bi₂O₃) nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized by low temperature solution combustion method using urea as a fuel and calcined at 500℃. The synthesized sample was characterized by using powder X-ray Diffraction (PXRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and UV-Visible absorption spectroscopy. The PXRD pattern confirms the formation of mono-clinic, stable and low temperature phase α-Bi₂O₃. The direct optical energy band gap was estimated by using Wood and Tauc's relation which was found to be 2.81 eV. The characterized sample was studied for X-ray/gamma ray shielding properties in the energy range 0.081-1.332 MeV using NaI (Tl) detector and multi channel analyzer (MCA). The measured shielding parameters agrees well with the theory, whereas, slight deviation up to 20% is observed below 356 keV. This deviation is mainly due to the influence of atomic size of the target medium. Furthermore an accurate theory is necessary to explain the interaction of X-ray/gamma ray with the NPs.The present work opens new window to use this facile, economical, efficient, low temperature method to synthesize nanomaterials for X-ray/gamma ray shielding purpose.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제49권1호
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• pp.216-223
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• 2017

In this work, linear and mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic number and electron density, mean free paths, and half value layer and $10^{th}$ value layer values of barium-bismuth-borosilicate glasses were obtained for 662 keV, 1,173 keV, and 1,332 keV gamma ray energies using MCNP-4C code and XCOM program. Then obtained data were compared with available experimental data. The MCNP-4C code and XCOM program results were in good agreement with the experimental data. Barium-bismuth-borosilicate glasses have good gamma ray shielding properties from the shielding point of view.

• 한국정보통신학회:학술대회논문집
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• 한국정보통신학회 2016년도 춘계학술대회
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• pp.773-774
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• 2016

본 논문에서는 감마선원 영상화를 위한 감마선 탐지장치에 적용할 차폐체의 경량, 소형화 연구를 수행하였다. 선행 연구를 통해 상용 감마선 영상화 장치의 차폐체와 유사한 차폐효율 및 성능을 나타내는 납 기반의 차폐체를 구현하였으며, 본 논문에서는 납 기반의 차폐체보다 경량화, 소형화를 위해 텅스텐기반의 차폐체를 설계하였다. 차폐체 설계를 위해서 MCNP 전산모사를 수행하였으며, 그 결과 17%의 경량화 및 51%의 체적을 줄이는 결과를 얻었다.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제53권9호
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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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• 제53권12호
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• pp.4142-4149
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• 2021

In the radiation protection application, the metal-polymer composites have been developed for their radiation shielding properties. In this research, the elastomer composites doped by 10 ㎛ and 100nm size of lead, bismuth and tungsten particles as filler with 30 and 60 wt percentages were prepared. To survey the shielding properties of the polymer composites using gamma-ray emitted from 152Eu and 137Cs sources, the gamma flux was measured by using NaI(Tl) detector, then the linear attenuation coefficient was calculated. Also, the Monte Carlo simulation (MCs) method was used. The results showed a direct relationship between the linear attenuation coefficients of the absorbent and filler ratio. Also, the decrease in the particle size of the shielding material in each weight percentage improved the radiation shielding features. When the dimension of the particles was in the order of nano-size, more attenuation was achieved. At low energies used for medical diagnostic X-ray applications due to the predominance of the photoelectric effect, bismuth and lead were suitable selection as filler.

• 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.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제85권1호
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• pp.29-53
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• 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.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제52권8호
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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.

• 한국방사선학회논문지
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• 제15권2호
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• pp.191-199
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• 2021

본 연구의 목적은 경량 연자성 소재의 방사선 차폐 효과를 분석하여 군사시설에 대한 적용 가능성을 확인하는 것이다. 연자성 물질은 EMP 차폐에 효과적인 것으로 알려져 있다. 이 물질이 방사선 차폐에도 효과적이라면 군 방호에 효과적으로 적용이 가능할 것으로 예상된다. 이에 본 연구에서는 감마선 차폐 효과를 확인하기 위해 Cs-137 및 Co-60 선원을 사용하여 실험을 수행하였으며, 중성자 차폐 효과를 평가하기 위해 Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) 모델링을 적용하였다. 그 결과 연자성 소재의 두께가 증가함에 따라 감마선과 중성자의 선형 감쇠 법칙에 의한 차폐성능이 향상됨을 확인할 수 있었다. 따라서 연자성 소재를 군사용 구조물 등에 적용할 경우에 방사선 차폐에 효과적이라는 것을 확인하였다.