• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.50-57
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• 2022

Background: There are several proton therapy facilities in operation or planned in Taiwan, and these facilities are anticipated to not only treat cancer but also provide beam services to the industry or academia. The simplified approach based on the Monte Carlo-based data sets (source terms and attenuation lengths) with the point-source line-of-sight approximation is friendly in the design stage of the proton therapy facilities because it is intuitive and easy to use. The purpose of this study is to expand the Monte Carlo-based data sets to allow the simplified approach to cover the application of proton beams more widely. Materials and Methods: In this work, the MCNP6 Monte Carlo code was used in three simulations to achieve the purpose, including the neutron yield calculation, Monte Carlo-based data sets generation, and dose assessment in simple cases to demonstrate the effectiveness of the generated data sets. Results and Discussion: The consistent comparison of the simplified approach and Monte Carlo simulation results show the effectiveness and advantage of applying the data set to a quick shielding design and conservative dose assessment for proton therapy facilities. Conclusion: This study has expanded the existing Monte Carlo-based data set to allow the simplified approach method to be used for dose assessment or shielding design for beam services in proton therapy facilities. It should be noted that the default model of the MCNP6 is no longer the Bertini model but the CEM (cascade-exciton model), therefore, the results of the simplified approach will be more conservative when it was used to do the double confirmation of the final shielding design.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3855-3863
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• 2022

An evaluation of the radiation shielding performance of high-Z-particle-loaded polylactic acid (PLA) composite materials was pursued. Specimens were produced via fused deposition modeling (FDM) using copper-PLA, steel-PLA, and BaSO₄-PLA composite filaments containing 82.7, 75.2, and 44.6 wt% particulate phase contents, respectively, and were tested under broad-band flash x-ray conditions at the Sandia National Laboratories HERMES III facility. The experimental results for the mass attenuation coefficients of the composites were found to be in good agreement with GEANT4 simulations carried out using the same exposure conditions and an atomistic mixture as a model for the composite materials. Further simulation studies, focusing on the Cu-PLA composite system, were used to explore a shield design parameter space (in this case, defined by Cu-particle loading and shield areal density) to assess performance under both high-energy photon and electron fluxes over an incident energy range of 0.5-15 MeV. Based on these results, a method is proposed that can assist in the visualization and isolation of shield parameter coordinate sets that optimize performance under targeted radiation characteristics (type, energy). For electron flux shielding, an empirical relationship was found between areal density (AD), electron energy (E), composition and performance. In cases where ${\frac{E}{AD}}{\geq}2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$, a shield composed of >85 wt% Cu results in optimal performance. In contrast, a shield composed of <10 wt% Cu is anticipated to perform best against electron irradiation when ${\frac{E}{AD}}<2MeV{\bullet}cm{\bullet}g^{-1}$.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4130-4136
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• 2021

By polymerization of gadolinium methacrylate (Gd (MAA)₃), lead methacrylate (Pb(MAA)₂) and methyl methacrylate (MMA), Gd and Pb were chemically bonded into polymers. The X-ray shielding performance was evaluated by Monte Carlo simulation method, and the results showed that the more metal functional organic monomer, the better the shielding performance of terpolymers. When the X-ray energy is 65 keV, Gd (MAA)₃-containing polymers have better shielding performance than Pb(MAA)₂-containing polymers. Gd could compensate for the weak absorption region of Pb. Therefore, polymers containing both Gd and Pb enhanced shielding efficiency against X-ray in various low-energy ranges. For obtaining terpolymers with uniform monomer compositions, the relationship between the monomer composition of the terpolymers and the conversion level was optimized by calculating the reactivity ratios. The value of reactivity ratios of r (Gd (MAA)₃/Pb(MAA)₂), r (Pb(MAA)₂/Gd (MAA)₃), r (Gd (MAA)₃/MMA), r (MMA/Gd (MAA)₃), r (Pb(MAA)₂/MMA) and r (MMA/Pb(MAA)₂) was 0.483, 0.004, 0.338, 2.508, 0.255, 0.029. The terpolymers with uniform monomer composition could be obtained by controlling the monomer compositions or conversion levels. The results can provide new radiation protection materials and contribute to the improvement in nuclear safety.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.7
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• pp.2842-2849
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• 2024

The amorphous glasses containing PbO, ZnO, MgO, and B₂O₃ have been fabricated using the melt quenching technique. The structural properties have been analysed using the Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopy. Derivative of Absorption Spectra Fitting (DASF) method have been used to estimate the band gap energy from the UV-Vis absorption data which decreases from 3.02 eV to 2.66 eV with increasing the concentration of the PbO.The four glass samples 0.284 and 0.826 MeV showed unique variations in terms of gamma attenuation ability. LZMB4 glass sample proved to be the mist effective in terms of shielding of gamma radiation as it requires little distance compared to LZMB3, LZMB2 and LZMB1 to attenuate. RPE revealed a raise with increase in the thickness of the material and reduces as the energy raises. TF is superior in LZMB1 compared to LZMB2, LZMB3 and LZMB4, confirming that, LZMB4 will attenuate better. The Z_Eff of the materials was seen falling as the energy increases, confirming that the linear attenuation coefficient of the glass materials decreases when the energy is increased. The results confirmed that, glass material LZMB4 is the best option especially for gamma radiation shielding applications compared to LZMB3, followed by LZMB2, then LZMB1.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.2258-2265
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• 2024

The present investigation aims to study the role of Pr₂O₃ on the structural, physical, and radiation shielding properties of a dense cadmium lead borate glass. The XRD was used to affirm the glassy amorphous structure of fabricated sample materials. Moreover, the FTIR was used to record the change in the FT-IR spectra due to the addition of Pr₂O₃ in the wavenumber interval between 400 and 4000 cm^-1. The features of glass surfaces and the elemental analyses for the synthesized Pr₂O₃-reinforced cadmium lead borate glasses were performed using a SEM, supported by an energy-dispersive spectrometer. The γ-ray protection capacity was evaluated using the Monte Carlo method in a wide energy interval ranging between 0.015 and 15 MeV. The linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) at 1 MeV was reduced by a factor of 10 % from 0.372 cm^-1 to 0.340 cm^-1. The decrease in the LAC values negatively affected the other shielding properties such as half-value thickness and the transmission factor. Although the linear attenuation coefficient is decreased slightly with the partial substitution of CdO by Pr₂O₃ compound, the fabricated glass samples still have a high shielding capacity compared to the traditional commercial glasses as well as previous similar reported glasses.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Surface Engineering Conference
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• 2011.05a
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• pp.205-206
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• 2011

Cu thin films for electromagnetic wave shielding were prepared on PET film and Ni-coated PET film by using Dry and Wet coating method, such as evaporation method, DC sputtering method and copper sulfate($CuSO_4$). After that, Zn thin film and Ni thin film were prepared onto the Cu thin films by using evaporation dry process and Ni electro plating wet process as a finishing treatment, respectively. The result of conductivity test and corrosion resistance test revealed Cu thin films which were formed with bigger grain size and high Cu composition rate have superior properties. Zn thin film by dry evaporation process and Ni thin film by wet electro plating process on Cu thin films were largely contributed to corrosion resistance. However, Ni thin film by wet process made conductivity of all specimen worse, the other hand, Zn thin film by dry process made it better to improve condictivity of specimens just prepared by dry process.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3803-3810
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• 2022

OpenMC is a community-driven open-source Monte Carlo neutron and photon transport simulation code. The Weight Window Mesh (WWM) function and an automatic Global Variance Reduction (GVR) method was recently developed and implemented in a developmental branch of OpenMC. This WWM function and GVR method broaden OpenMC's usage in general purposes deep penetration shielding calculations. However, the Local Variance Reduction (LVR) method, which suits the source-detector problem, is still missing in OpenMC. In this work, the Weight Window Generator (WWG) function has been developed and benchmarked for the same branch. This WWG function allows OpenMC to generate the WWM for the source-detector problem on its own. Single-material cases with varying shielding and sources were used to benchmark the WWG function and investigate how to set up the particle histories utilized in WWG-run and WWM-run. Results show that there is a maximum improvement of WWM generated by WWG. Based on the above results, instructions on determining the particle histories utilized in WWG-run and WWM-run for optimal computation efficiency are given and tested with a few multi-material cases. These benchmarks demonstrate the ability of the OpenMC WWG function and the above instructions for the source-detector problem. This developmental branch will be released and merged into the main distribution in the future.

• Journal of Radiation Protection and Research
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.103-111
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• 1984

A convenient method of $^{99m}Tc$-methyl-ethyl-ketone (MEK) extraction technique was developed and a mobile $^{99m}Tc$-extraction generator was designed. The MEK extraction and the phase separation of $^{99m}TcO^-{_4}$ were carried out with a simple procedure in the same container. The shielding of $^{99}Mo$ radioactivity was made with one lead container. The system was simplified by shielding $^{99m}TcO_4{^-}({\gamma}_e=0.14\;MeV)$ separately. $^{99m}TcO^-{_4}\;in\;^{99m}Tc-MEK$ extract was recovered by adsorption and elution only, and therefore, the possibility of volatilization was reduced. The volume of $^{99m}TcO^{-}{_4}$-saline product was reduced to 1 ml by using a small alumina column and the column operation time was shortened. The separation time of $^{99m}Tc$ was reduced to 30 minutes, and the operation was carried out at the outside of the shielding. The system was designed to operate under the condition of bacteria-free.

• Journal of Advanced Navigation Technology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.351-358
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• 2018

In this study, we propose a method of suppressing the leakage noise signal of motor assembly through the test. The motor assembly is mounted on outside of the aircraft to rotate an antenna and must satisfy RE102 requirement on MIL-STD-461F in terms of electromagnetic interference. It is confirmed by RE102 test result hat the leakage noise signal of the equipment occurs due to external influx through the power and control cable and rotation of the motor. And it is ascertained that the part where internal/external physical shielding is difficult to rotate is the leakage path. To reduce the leakage noise signal, the electrical ground reinforcement and the electric shielding structure considering the operation of the equipment is applied and it is verified that the requirement is satisfied. Finally, we verified that required specification are met by applying circular corrugated choke with interlocking shapes and conductive grease to the noise leakage path.

• Journal of radiological science and technology
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• v.42 no.6
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• pp.477-482
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• 2019

Recently, due to the increased use of medical radiation, the radiation exposure of radiation workers should be considered as well as medical exposure of patients. And it is recommended to close the door during radiography. however, In this study, when the door was inevitably opened for radiography, the proposed method was to install the shield as a method of reducing the exposure dose. And its efficiency was analyzed. In simple chest radiography, the measurement point was changed according to the measurement location. Dose rate were measured 10 times for each condition using a dosimeter. And the average value was derived. Using this, the change of dose according to the opening and closing of the door and the installation of the shield was analyzed. Using this, we compared and analyzed the dose change according to the door opening and closing and the installation of the shield, and significance was verified through the SPSS ver. 24. Depending on whether the door was opened or closed, 11,215.35%, 159.0%, 101.9% increased in front of the door in the consol room, behind the wall and behind the lead glass. Depending on the installing of the shield, the 49.2%, 29.6%, 19.9%, 30.6% decrease in front of the door in the examination and consol room, behind the wall and lead glass. In addition, statistical analysis was showed that there were significant differences in both the results according to whether the door was opened or closed and shielding(p<.05). Close the door during radiography. However, when the door should be opened, it was confirmed that the dose rate were reduced by installing the shield. Therefore, to optimize radiation protection, it is recommended to install shields when opening the door.