• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제49권7호
• /
• pp.1571-1574
• /
• 2017

In the present work, the gamma ray backscattering technique was used to determine the effective atomic numbers for certain binary alloys. With the help of a muffle furnace, the binary alloys were synthesized using the melt quenching technique with different compositions of $_{82}Pb$, $_{50}Sn$, and $_{30}Zn$. The intensity distribution of backscattered photons from radioactive isotope $^{22}Na$ (511 keV) was recorded with the help of GAMMARAD5 [$76mm{\times}76mm$ NaI(Tl) scintillator detector] and analyzed as a function of both atomic number and thickness of the target material. The effective atomic numbers for the same binary alloys were also computed theoretically using the atomic to electronic cross-section method with the help of the mass attenuation coefficient database of WinXCom (2001). Good agreement was observed between theoretical and experimental results for the effective atomic numbers of all the selected alloys.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제52권11호
• /
• pp.2613-2619
• /
• 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
• /
• 제49권4호
• /
• pp.792-800
• /
• 2017

The essential requirement of a material to be used for engineering purposes at nuclear establishments is its ability to attenuate the most penetrating ionizing radiations, gamma $({\gamma})-rays$. Mostly, high-Z materials such as heavy concrete, lead, mercury, and their mixtures or alloys have been used in the construction of nuclear establishments and thus termed as nuclear engineering materials (NEM). The NEM are classified into two categories, namely opaque and transparent, depending on their behavior towards the visible spectrum of EM waves. The majority of NEM are opaque. By contrast, various types of glass, which are transparent to visible light, are necessary at certain places in the nuclear establishments. In the present study, ${\gamma}-ray$ shielding behaviors (GSB) of six glass samples (transparent NEM) were evaluated and compared with some opaque NEM in a wide range of energy (15 keV-15 MeV) and optical thickness (OT). The study was performed by computing various ${\gamma}-ray$ shielding parameters (GSP) such as the mass attenuation coefficient, equivalent atomic number, and buildup factor. A self-designed and validated computer-program, the buildup factor-tool, was used for various computations. It has been established that some glass samples show good GSB, thus can safely be used in the construction of nuclear establishments in conjunction with the opaque NEM as well.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제53권9호
• /
• pp.3058-3067
• /
• 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
• /
• 제51권3호
• /
• pp.860-866
• /
• 2019

The lead element or its salts are good radiation shielding materials. However, their toxic effects are high. Due to less toxicity of bismuth salts, the radiation shielding properties of the bismuth salts have been investigated and compared to that of lead salts to establish them as a better alternative to radiation shielding material to the lead element or its salts. The transmission geometry was utilized to measure the mass attenuation coefficient (${\mu}/{\rho}$) of different salts containing lead and bismuth using a high-resolution HPGe detector and different energies (between 81 and 1333 keV) emitted from point sources of $^{133}Ba$, $^{57}Co$, $^{22}Na$, $^{54}Mn$, $^{137}Cs$, and $^{60}Co$. The experimental ${\mu}/{\rho}$ results are compared with the theoretical values obtained through WinXCOM program. The theoretical calculations are in good agreement with their experimental ones. The radiation protection efficiencies, mean free paths, effective atomic numbers and electron densities for the present compounds were determined. The bismuth fluoride ($BiF_3$) is found to have maximum radiation protection efficiency among the selected salts. The results showed that present salts are more effective for reducing the intensity of gamma photons at low energy region.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제51권7호
• /
• pp.1835-1841
• /
• 2019

The mass attenuation coefficient ${\mu}_m$ for eight rock samples having different chemical composition was simulated using the MCNP 5 code in energy range($0.002MeV{\leq}E{\leq}10MeV$). Moreover, the ${\mu}_m$ for the studied rock samples was computed theoretically using XCOM database. The comparison between simulated and computed data for all selected rock samples showed a good agreement with differences varied between 0.01 and 8%. The highest ${\mu}_m$ was found for basalt rocks M2 and M1 and the lowest one is reported for limestone rocks Dike. The simulated values of the ${\mu}_m$ then were used to calculate other important shielding parameters such as the mean free path, effective electron density and effective atomic number. The exposure buildup factor EBF was also computed for the selected rocks with the contribution of G-P fitting parameters and the highest EBF attended by the basalt sample Sill and varied between 1.022 and 744 in the energy range between ($0.015MeV{\leq}E{\leq}15MeV$) but the lowest EBF achieved by basalt sample M2 and varied between 1.017 and 491 in the same energy range.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제53권11호
• /
• pp.3816-3823
• /
• 2021

The mechanical features evaluated theoretically using Makishima-Mackenzie's model for glasses xBaO-(50-x) PbO-50P₂O₅ where x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 30, 40, and 50 mol%. Wherefore, the elastic characteristics; Young's, bulk, shear, and longitudinal modulus calculated. The obtained result showed an increase in the calculated values of elastic moduli with the replacement of the PbO by BaO contents. Moreover, the Poisson ratio, micro-hardness, and the softening temperature calculated for the investigated glasses. Besides, gamma and neutron shielding ability evaluated for the barium doped lead phosphate glasses. Monte Caro code (MCNP-5) and the Phy-X/PSD program applied to estimate the mass attenuation coefficient of the studied glasses. The decrease in the PbO ratio has a negative effect on the MAC. The highest MAC decreased from 65.896 cm²/g to 32.711 cm²/g at 0.015 MeV for BPP0 and BPP7, respectively. The calculated values of EBF and EABF showed that replacement of PbO with BaO contents in the studied BPP glasses helps to reduce the number of photons accumulated inside the studied BPP glasses.

• 한국대기환경학회지
• /
• 제22권6호
• /
• pp.863-875
• /
• 2006

Intensive visibility monitoring was conducted to investigate physical and chemical characteristics of visibility impairment by airborne pollen. Light attenuation coefficients were optically measured by a transmissometer, a nephelometer, and an aethalometer. Elemental, ionic, and carbonaceous species were chemically analyzed on the filters collected by $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ samplers. Aerosol size distribution was analyzed using a cascade impactor during airborne pollen period. Airborne pollen count was calculated using a scanning electron microscope. Airborne pollen was emitted into the atmosphere in springtime and funker degraded visibility through its scattering and absorbing the light. Average light extinction coefficient was measured to be $211{\pm}36Mm^{-1}$ when airborne pollen was not observed. But it increased to $459{\pm}267Mm^{-1}$ during the airborne pollen period due to increase of average $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ mass concentration and relative humidity and airborne pollen count concentration for $PM_{10}$, which were measured to be $46.5{\pm}29.1{\mu}g\;m^{-3},\;97.0{\pm}41.7{\mu}g\;m^{-3},\;54.1{\pm}11.6%$, and $68.2{\pm}89.7m^{-3}$, respectively. Average light extinction efficiencies for $PM_{2.5}$ and $PM_{10}$ were calculated to be $5.9{\pm}0.9$ and $4.5{\pm}0.8m^2 g^{-1}$ during the airborne pollen period. Light extinction efficiency for $PM_{10}$ increased further than that for $PM_{2.5}$. The average light extinction budget by airborne pollen was estimated to be about 24% out of the average measured light extinction coefficient during the airborne pollen period.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• 제52권6호
• /
• pp.1297-1303
• /
• 2020

In this study, nuclear radiation shielding and rigidity parameters of Y (0.1-x)B0.6Bi1.8O3La2x glassy system were investigated in order to determine it's suitability for use as nuclear radiation shielding materials. Therefore, a group of bismuth borate glass samples with La₂O₃ additive were synthesized using the technique of melt quenching. According to the results, the increase of the La₂O₃ additive increases the density of the glass samples and the mass attenuation coefficient (μ_m) values, whereas the half-value layer (HVL) and mean free path (MFP) values decrease. The effective atomic number (Z_eff) is also enhanced with an increment of both mass removal cross section for neutron (Σ_R) and absorption neutron scattering cross section (σ_abs). In addition to the other parameters, rigidity parameter values were theoretically examined. The increase of La₂O₃ causes some other important magnitudes to increase. These are the average crosslink density, the number of bonds per unit volume, as well as the stretching force constant values of these glass samples. These results are in concordance with the increase of elastic moduli in terms of the Makishima-Mackenzie model. This model showed an increase in the rigidity of the glass samples as a function of La₂O₃.

• 한국해양환경ㆍ에너지학회지
• /
• 제9권4호
• /
• pp.216-224
• /
• 2006

하계 가막만에서 발생하는 빈산소 수괴의 형성과정과 그 특성을 규명하기 위하여 2005년 6월 17일부터 2005년 9월 12일까지 주 간격으로 조사하였다. 표층 수온은 내만에서 만 입구로 갈수록 낮았으나, 저층 수온은 만 입구와 내만보다 만 중앙에서 높게 나타났다. 수괴의 수직적인 성층은 매우 발달하였으며, 수온약층은 수심 3-5m에서 관측되었다. 저층의 빈산소 수괴는 7월초에 내만 안쪽에서 나타났으며, 8월초에는 만 중앙부까지 확산되었다. 수괴의 평균투명도와 광소멸 계수($K_d$)는 각각 4.0m와 0.47로 나타났다. 저층의 영양염과 클로로필 ${\alpha}$ 농도는 표층보다 유의하게 높았으며, 만 입구보다 내만에서 높게 나타났다. 빈산소 수괴의 저층에서 퇴적물의 산소투과 깊이는 지극히 낮았으며, 산소소모율은 빈산소가 소멸된 수괴에서 보다 낮았다. 빈산소 수괴가 발생하는 기간동안 용존 산소 농도는 저층의 영양염 농도와 유의한 역 상관관계를 보였으나, 표층 영양염 농도와는 유의한 관계를 보이지 않았다. 저층에서 산소 감소의 촉진은 퇴적물에서 산소소모율 증가와 저층 부근에서 미생물에 의한 유기물 분해 때문인 것으로 판단되었다.