• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1932-1940
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• 2024

The current work deals with investigation of the gamma ray shielding properties for various natural stones from Vietnam to be applied in the radiation shielding applications. The physical and chemical properties affecting the γ-ray shielding performance were examined. The MH-300A density meter was utilized to measure the density (ρ, g/cm³) of stone samples, as well as the chemical composition of Vietnamese natural stones was measured using the X-ray fluorescence analyzer (Olympus X-5000). The study shows that the increase in Fe + Ca concentrations within the stone samples increases their density (from 2.48 to 2.86 g/cm³) accompanied with a reduction in the porosity (Φ, %) (from 8.23 to 0.15%) and water absorption (K, %) (from 3.42 to 0.05%) factors. Additionally, the increase in Fe + Ca concentrations increases the linear attenuation coefficient (μ, cm^-1) of the studied stones, where the Vietnamese marble stone (M 3.1) with the highest Fe + Ca concentration (65.97 wt%) has the highest linear attenuation coefficient which varied between 3.781 and 0.155 cm^-1 with raising the gamma ray energy between 0.040 and 1.332 MeV.