Calculation of photon shielding properties for some neutron shielding materials

The objective of the present study is to calculate photon shielding parameters for seven polyethylene-based neutron shielding materials. The parameters include the effective atomic number(Z_(eff)), the effective electron density(N_(eff)) for photon interaction and photon energy absorption,and gamma-ray kerma coefficient(kc). The calculations of Z_(eff)are presented as a single-valued and are energy dependent. While Z_(eff)values were calculated via simplistic powerlaw method, the energy-dependent Z_(eff)for photon interaction(Z_(PI-eff)) and photon energy absorption(Z_(PEA-eff)) are obtained via the direct method for energy ranges of 1 keV–100 GeV and 1 keV–20 Me V, respectively. The kccoefficients are calculated by summing the contributions of the major partial photon interactions for energy range of 1 keV–100 MeV. In most cases, data are presented relative to pure polyethylene to allow direct comparison over a range of energy. The results show that combination of polyethylene with other elements such as lithium and aluminum leads to neutron shielding material with more ability to absorb neutron and crays. Also, the kerma coefficient first increases with Z of the additive element at low photon energies and then converges with pure polyethylene at energies greater than 100 keV.     

Calculation of radiation attenuation coefficients in Portland cements mixed with silica fume,blast furnace slag and natural zeolite

This paper presents the radiation attenuation coefficients expressed as mass attenuation coefficients for Portland cement, zeolite, blast furnace slag, silica fume and their mixed types in function of the Photon energy over the energy range of 1 keV to 2 MeV. It was observed that different percentages of constituents in cement and cement mixed with different additives such as zeolite, silica fume and blast furnace slag, lead to significant variations in total mass attenuation coefficients. The elemental compositions of samples were analyzed using a wavelength dispersive XRF spectrometer. The calculated values of total mass attenuation coefficients were discussed on the basis of different percentages of constituents of cement and cement mixed with different additives.     

Photon attenuation parameters for some tissues from Geant4simulation,theoretical calculations and experimental data:a comparative study

Mass attenuation coefficients, effective atomic numbers, effective electron densities and Kerma relative to air for adipose, muscle and bone tissues have been investigated in the photon energy region from 20 keV up to 50 MeV with Geant4 simulation package and theoretical calculations. Based on Geant4 results of the mass attenuation coefficients, the effective atomic numbers for the tissue models have been calculated. The calculation results have been compared with the values of the Auto-Z_(eff) program and with other studies available in the literature. Moreover,Kerma of studied tissues relative to air has been determined and found to be dependent on the absorption edges of the tissue constituent elements.     

基于体素模型的光子外照射大鼠器官剂量模拟计算

获得外照射条件下的大鼠器官剂量,对于放射医学剂量-效应关系研究具有重要意义。本文基于大鼠微型CT图像建立大鼠体素模型,并研究光子外照射情况下大鼠器官剂量。大鼠体素模型质量323.7 g,单个体素尺寸为0.16 mm×0.16 mm×2 mm,包含大鼠大部分关键器官和组织。利用蒙特卡罗模拟程序MCNP计算获得了4种照射几何条件、21个单能(10 keV～10 MeV)平行光子束外照射情况下的器官剂量转换系数,最后对器官剂量随光子能量的变化进行了分析与讨论。     

Photon cross sections from 0.1 keV to 1 MeV for elements Z = 1 to Z = 94

For elements from H to Pu, experimental photon attenuation cross sections from 0.1 keV to 1 MeV were compiled from literature available to the end of 1970. Scattering cross sections, calculated by relativistic self-consistent-field methods, were subtracted from total attenuation data, and the resulting photoelectric and measured photoelectric cross sections from 1 keV to 1 MeV were fitted by a least-squares procedure. The theoretical scattering cross sections were then added to the resulting values to obtain totalattenuation coefficients. From 0.1 keV to between 1 keV and 10 keV, non-relativistic, self-consistent-field, independent-electron theory was used to calculate photoelectric cross sections. Theoretical scattering values were addedto obtain total attenuation cross sections. The two sets of values comprise our recommended cross sections. In cases of overlap, the calculated values are to be preferred. Uncertainties were estimated.     

钨玻璃与铅玻璃对X射线辐射屏蔽效果的数值计算分析

通过WINXCOM理论计算X射线能量在20~100keV下,钨和铅硅酸盐玻璃的质量衰减系数、有效原子序数和半值层。结果发现,随着WO_3和PbO含量的增加质量衰减系数增加。钨玻璃在70 keV能量下,由于光电效应发生突变,质量衰减系数突然增强。随后,利用MCNP 5计算5种能量下钨玻璃的积累因子,以便进一步修正模拟结果以达到真实情况。     

钨玻璃与铅玻璃对X射线辐射屏蔽效果的数值计算分析

通过 WINXCOM理论计算X射线能量在20~100 keV下,钨和铅硅酸盐玻璃的质量衰减系数、有效原子序数和半值层。结果发现,随着 WO3和PbO 含量的增加质量衰减系数增加。钨玻璃在70 keV能量下,由于光电效应发生突变,质量衰减系数突然增强。随后,利用 MCNP 5计算5种能量下钨玻璃的积累因子,以便进一步修正模拟结果以达到真实情况。     

Energy and chemical composition dependence of mass attenuation coefficients of building materials

Total and partial mass attenuation coefficients of different building materials (glass, concrete, marble, flyash, cement and lime) have been computed over a wide energy range of 10 keV to 100 GeV. For the total mass attenuation coefficient, μ_total a significant variation is observed in low and high energy regions whereas there is no notable change in μ_total in the intermediate region. The results of μ_total have been discussed on the basis of obtained attenuation coefficients of different partial photon interaction processes.     

光子注量到空气比释动能转换系数的Monte-Carlo模拟

本文采用蒙特卡罗程序EGS5模拟计算单位注量的10keV～10MeV的光子在空气中所产生的空气比释动能,并将计算结果拟合成公式。模拟计算结果与ICRP74号报告中建议值的相对偏差在±2.0%以内,与ICRU47号报告中建议值的相对偏差在±3.5%以内;拟合值与前者的相对偏差在±4.0%以内,与后者的相对偏差在±7.0%范围内。     

含硼矿物及环氧树脂的光子质量衰减系数

以我国辽宁东部地区特有的含硼矿物、含硼废弃物和环氧树脂为对象,理论计算了原矿、含硼铁精矿粉、富硼渣、普通硼泥和环氧树脂等5种材料对1keV～100GeV能量范围的光子质量衰减系数,为放射性同位素源、反应堆和粒子加速器外围建筑材料的屏蔽设计提供依据。结果表明：含硼矿物的添加显著改变了基体环氧树脂对光子的质量衰减系数,矿物在1keV～0.1MeV以光电效应为主的能量范围内对光子的质量衰减系数变化较大,所含元素的K层特征吸收限使得矿物对光子的质量衰减系数突变增加;在0.1～10MeV以康普顿效应为主的能量范围内矿物对光子的质量衰减系数缓慢变化,其中环氧树脂的质量衰减系数较矿物的稍高;在以共轭电子对效应为主的10MeV～100GeV光子能量范围内矿物对光子的质量衰减系数先减少后增加,含硼铁精矿粉是该能量范围内最佳的光子吸收体。     

Measurements of Photon Mass Attenuation Coefficients for Ge and BGO Crystals at 10 Me V

The photon mass attenuation coefficients of the important materials for γ-ray detection, Ge and BGO (Bi₄Ge₃O₁₂) crystals, have been measured for 10.0 MeV γ-rays. The measurement system using the laser-Compton backscattering γ-rays and the high-resolution high-energy photon spectrometer has been developed and utilized. The effectiveness of the system achieving the total systematic uncertainties of 0.5% for the measurements of the photon mass attenuation coefficients was demonstrated. It was shown that the measured photon mass attenuation coefficients, 318.1 ± 1.7 [cm²/g] for the Ge crystal and 425.2 ± 2.4 [cm²/g] for the BGO crystal, agree within the achieved experimental uncertainties with the evaluated values including atomic and nuclear processes at 10.0 MeV.     

Si(Li) Detector efficiency below 10 keV

The full-energy peak efficiency of a Si(Li) detector has been experimentally determined over the photon energy range 3–26 keV for use in accurate ion-induced X-ray cross-section measurements. The efficiency uncertainties are ± 2% to ± 4% for 4.5–9.9 keV photons — the energy region of primary interest in the present work. The techniques utilised are described in detail since it was found that the use of absolute theoretical efficiencies can lead to errors in excess of 30% over the whole efficiency curve with even greater errors appearing below about 3 keV. Recent electron-capture data are used to calculate the yield of 3.1 keV Ag L X-ray from the decay of a calibrated ¹⁰⁹Cd source in order to extend the efficiency curve down to 3 keV. The use of fluorescence sources as a novel way of accurately measuring efficiencies in the photon energy region 1–4 keV is outlined.     

女性蹲姿曲面模型光子外照射剂量研究

基于中国女性参考人曲面模型建立女性蹲姿曲面模型,采用蒙特卡罗方法,针对6种标准光子外照射几何,计算光子能量0.01～10 MeV范围内21个能量点的器官吸收剂量转换系数和有效剂量转换系数,并与直立姿势的剂量数据进行了对比。结果表明:两种姿势中某些器官的吸收剂量转换系数在前后、后前以及侧向照射方式下差异较大。其中,后前照射方式下,光子能量为0.03 MeV时,乳腺的吸收剂量转换系数比直立姿势高115.1%。在不同照射方式下,大部分能量点的有效剂量转换系数的差异在10%范围内。转换系数的差异主要是由于胳膊和腿位置的改变,以及蹲姿时因身体前倾造成器官在照射方向上厚度发生改变而产生的。     

Effective atomic and electron numbers of some steels at different energies

The effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) and effective electron density (N_e) for three different steels have been determined via the mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ). The mass attenuation coefficients have been calculated at the photon energy range of 1 keV–1 GeV and measured at the photon energies of 662, 1173 and 1332 keV. The measurement has been performed using a gamma spectrometer that contains a NaI(Tl) detector connected to Multi-Channel-Analyzer (MCA). The measured results of effective atomic numbers (Z_eff) and effective electron density (N_e) were found to be in good agreement with the calculations.     

Gamma-Ray Shielding Effectiveness of Some Alloys for Fusion Reactor Design

The gamma-ray shielding effectiveness of some oxide dispersion-strengthen (ODS) alloys by means of mass attenuation coefficients, mean free path, exposure buildup factors and energy absorption buildup factors have been investigated in the present study. The buildup factors were calculated using geometrical progression method for photon energy 0.015–15 MeV up to 40 mfp penetration depth. The mass attenuation coefficients were calculated by using XCOM program and Geant4 simulation methods and found a very good agreement. Our investigation signifies that the low iron content ODS alloys are superior shielding materials with the lower buildup factors. This study should be useful for selection of shielding materials for their applications in fusion reactors design and future nuclear reactor technologies.     

Photon energy absorption and exposure buildup factors for deep penetration in human tissues

Using photons in therapeutic and diagnostic medicine requires accurate computation of their attenuation coefficients in human tissues.The buildup factor,a multiplicative coefficient quantifying the ratio of scattered to primary photons,measures the degree of violation of the Beer-Lambert law.In this study,the gamma-ray isotropic point source buildup factors,specifically,the energy absorption buildup factor (EABF) and exposure buildup factor,are estimated.The computational methods used include the geometric progression fitting method and simulation using the Geant4 (version 10.4) Monte Carlo simulation toolkit.The buildup factors of 30 human tissues were evaluated in an energy range of 0.015-15 MeV for penetration depths up to 100 mean free paths (mfp).At all penetration depths,it was observed that the EABF seems to be independent of the mfp at a photon energy of 1.5 MeV and also independent of the equivalent atomic number (Zeq)in the photon energy range of 1.5-15 MeV.However,thebuildup factors were inversely proportional to Zeq for energies below 1.5 MeV.Moreover,the Geant4 simulations of the EABF of water were in agreement with the available standard data.(The deviations were less than5%.) The buildup factors evaluated in the present study could be useful for controlling human exposure to radiation.     

Photon energy absorption parameters for some polymers

Some photon energy absorption parameters viz. mass energy absorption coefficient (μ/ρ)_en, photon energy absorption effective atomic number (Z_PEA), electron density (N_e) and KERMA relative to air has been computed in the energy range from 1 keV to 20 MeV for some polymers such as nylon, poly-acrylo-nitrile, poly-methyl-acrylate, poly-vinyl-chloride, poly-styrene, synthetic rubber and poly-tetra-fluro-ethylene. The dependence of different parameters on incident photon energy and chemical composition of the selected polymers has been studied .     

Electron Response of Nal(Tl) and a Comparison with Anthracene and Pilot B

An investigation was made of the relative response of NaI(Tl) to electrons over an energy range of 6 keV to 1 MeV. The light output at 6 keV is quite sensitive to the nature of the exposed surface. The results are given for the two best cleaved NaI(Tl) crystals and compared to the electron response deduced from photon data. There is good agreement above 20 keV, where little sensitivity to changes in surface condition was observed. Similar measurements were made for anthracene and Pilot B. The relative light output per unit energy is shown for all three scintillators. Their merit as low energy electron detectors was found to be significantly affected by the amount of backscattering and the intensity and duration of long lived excitation states arising from ionizing events.     

蒙特卡罗模拟确定γ射线衰减系数函数及参数

在中低密度样品中,γ射线的线衰减系数主要由γ射线能量和样品密度决定,采用MCNP(Monte Carlo N Particle Transport Code)程序模拟计算了多种γ射线能量和多种样品密度条件下的线衰减系数,对线衰减系数模拟值进行多元非线性回归,确定了以γ射线能量和样品密度为因变量的线衰减系数函数及参数。实验测定了三种能量γ射线在6种不同密度样品中的线衰减系数值,并与模拟所得函数值进行比较分析。结果表明,所得函数值与实验值的相对误差均在7%以内,蒙特卡罗程序计算所得函数值与实验测量值较为吻合,所采用的函数模型准确验证了线衰减系数与γ射线能量、样品密度之间的关系特征。     

Photon attenuation coefficients of concrete includes barite in different rate

The photon attenuation coefficients of barite and concrete produced with barite have been investigated. The linear attenuation coefficients have been calculated for 1 keV–1 GeV energy and compared with measurements performed using a gamma spectrometer that contains an NaI(Tl) detector and MCA at 662, 1173 and 1332 keV. The results have been compared with the corresponding property of lead as the standard shielding material.