Gamma-ray and neutron shielding efficiency of Pb-free gadolinium-based glasses

The radiation shielding efficiency of material depends upon photon attenuation, exposure buildup factors and neutron removal capacity. A newly developed Pb-free gadolinium-based glasses in compositions(80-x) B_2O_3-10 Si O_2-10 Ca O-x Gd_2O_3(where x = 15, 20, 25, 30 and35 mol%) had completely been investigated for their shielding efficiency with Geant4 simulation for mass attenuation coefficients and neutron total macroscopic cross section and by calculating exposure buildup factors.The exposure buildup factors for photon energy from 0.015 to 15 Me V had been calculated up to 40 mean free paths using five factors geometric progression method. The mass attenuation coefficients of the Pb-free glasses were simulated for energies from 223 to 2614 ke V and compared with the possible available experimental results. The neutron shielding efficiency of these glasses was discussed by calculating neutron total macroscopic cross section for energies from 1 e V to 14.1 Me V. Present investigations are found to be very useful for applications in nuclear engineering.     

新型耐高温中子屏蔽复合材料的设计制备及性能研究

采用表面改性处理技术,制备了由环氧树脂、B₄C（或BN）和聚丙烯酸铅组成的新型耐高温中子屏蔽复合材料,重点研究了材料制备工艺及主要性能指标,利用蒙特卡罗程序MCNP对材料中子屏蔽性能进行了模拟计算,并与文献报道的屏蔽材料铅硼聚乙烯进行了比较。结果显示,由环氧树脂、B₄C和聚丙烯酸铅组成的复合材料各项力学性能良好,具有良好的耐高温性能,210 ℃烘烤7 h外观无明显变化。MCNP模拟计算表明,对于从热中子至10 MeV的中子,4 cm厚新材料的中子剂量穿透率和中子注量穿透率均优于文献报道的同等厚度的铅硼聚乙烯材料。Am-Be中子源屏蔽试验的实测数据和模拟计算数据表明,两者随屏蔽材料厚度的变化趋势几乎完全一致,两者的差异随屏蔽材料厚度的增加逐渐减小,在10.5 cm处仅1.34%。     

含硼钢对慢中子衰减性能的蒙特卡罗模拟

用MCNP4C程序模拟了日本研制的KTA-304含硼钢对0.025eV、1eV、1keV慢中子衰减吸收性能,并与传统的SUS304钢进行对比。在充分考虑生产加工条件及材料的防腐蚀性、热延性等因素下比较得出,硼浓度在1.13%左右的含硼钢具有较好的慢中子吸收能力,可有效降低次级γ射线效应,在达到辐射防护要求下可减少材料厚度。计算了不同含硼浓度下含硼钢对不同能量慢中子的衰减系数,为中子屏蔽材料的选择提供了合理依据。另外,还考虑了对中子俘获过程中放出γ射线的防护。     

Relation between material configuration and radiation shielding capability - application of radiation shielding characteristic functions

For the purpose of finding a principle for material configuration which an ideal radiation shielding in slab geometry should obey, radiation energy dependence of material configuration is studied. In the course of study, radiation shielding capability for each system of different material configuration is evaluated by using radiation shielding characteristic functions defined as dose rates of transmitted radiations in response to isotropic incidence of radiations to the slab shield with pulse-like narrow energy distributions.In shielding neutrons by steel and water layers, recommendable material configuration depends on energy distribution of incident neutrons; all steel layers should be located in the source side of all water layers, if incident neutron energies are above 5 MeV: either homogeneous array of steel and water layers or above mentioned material configuration is recommendable, if incident neutron energies are between 2 MeV and 5 MeV: all water layers should be located in the source side of all steel layers, if incident neutron energies are below 2 MeV or incident neutrons have energy spectrum of fission neutrons.Above recommendation can be understood well by considering both energy dependence of neutron cross sections of each material and the maximum amount of energy degradation at elastic scattering in each material.In designing a neutron shield, shielding of secondary gamma rays is important as well as neutron shielding. This importance is demonstrated for several types of actual cask walls which are composed of many material layers by using the characteristic functions of neutrons and gamma rays for cask walls.     

基于SuperMC对结构缝隙影响中子屏蔽的研究

本文基于Monte Carlo粒子输运计算程序SuperMC,计算了四种含硼聚乙烯(B-PE)结构缝隙对两种谱中子的衰减倍数。为了便于比较不同结构缝隙对中子屏蔽性能的影响,统一与相同厚度无缝隙材料相比得到中子衰减倍数相对减小量,并在相同条件下对计算结果进行了实验验证。结果表明:对于厚度6 cm的B-PE材料,斜缝结构的快中子衰减倍数相对减小量为直缝结构的1/8,斜缝结构的慢化中子衰减倍数相对减小量为直缝结构的1/3,斜缝结构对中子屏蔽产生的负面影响最小。     

Effect of mix parameters and hydrogen loading on neutron radiation shielding characteristics of latex modified concrete mixes

With the tremendous surge in the usage of radioactive materials in industry, education and research, medicine and other fields, it becomes a concern to protect the working personnel and common people around, from hazardous radiation leakages that may seriously affect their health. Among the different types of radiation, gamma and neutron radiations require adequate shielding. There have been several attempts to develop newer concretes and evaluate their neutron radiation shielding characteristics. In the present study, an attempt has been made to study the effect of varying the mix parameters and hence the resulting total hydrogen content on the neutron radiation shielding characteristics of Latex Modified Concrete (LMC) mixes. The experiments are planned in such a way that the hydrogen content of the mixes is varied by controlling the mix parameters i.e., cement content, water/cement ratio and polymer/cement ratio of LMC mixes. The results are statistically analyzed. It is found that definite improvements could be achieved in neutron radiation shielding characteristics of LMC mixes as compared to ordinary concrete, with the increase in hydrogen concentration effected by changes in mix parameters.     

反应堆压力容器屏蔽组件设计改进

某机组热试期间反应堆压力容器屏蔽组件屏蔽材料受热泄漏,因此针对屏蔽盒结构和布置进行了优化设计,选用B4C作为中子屏蔽材料。本文从热传递、辐射屏蔽、GSI191等方面对改进的设计方案开展了分析。结果表明,改进的设计满足使用和规范要求。补充热试期间,对屏蔽盒及模块温度场、安全壳内辐射剂量水平进行了测量,进一步验证了改进设计的有效性。     

中子辐射屏蔽材料PVA/PEO水凝胶的制备及其作用研究

为研究一种新型中子辐射屏蔽材料水凝胶的制备及其对中子辐射的防护作用,应用物理交联法制备不同厚度的单纯和含有金属离子的PVA/PEO水凝胶;利用基于Monte Carlo模拟的SHIELD程序计算不同组分水凝胶对中子输运的影响,以期在理论上证实PVA/PEO水凝胶材料对2.45MeV中子辐射的屏蔽作用;采用BF3中子辐射探测器测量了K-400型高压倍加器发射的2.45MeV中子经过不同水凝胶后的中子通量变化。模拟计算结果显示,随着水凝胶厚度的增加,中子通量和能量逐渐减少;与单纯组比较,相同厚度含金属组中子数和能量减少更明显。BF3探测器测量结果显示,厚度为6—10cm的含金属组的中子通量计数减少的百分率显著高于单纯水凝胶组,辐射屏蔽效率与水凝胶厚度符合线性方程y=-4.51x+86.23,10m厚的含金属离子水凝胶中子通量计数的百分率可减低61.3?。结果表明,高分子聚合物PVA/PEO水凝胶对快中子辐射具有良好的屏蔽作用,含金属组的中子屏蔽效果明显优于单纯组。     

含硼织物与透明树脂板中子屏蔽性能研究

测量了含硼织物和透明树脂板的辐射屏蔽性能、浓缩硼树脂板的耐辐照性能及含钆树脂板的热中子俘获γ辐射效应，并对有关问题进行了讨论。     

反应堆压力容器屏蔽组件设计改进

During the hot functional test of one NPP, the neutron shielding material was heated and released from the reactor vessel shielding blocks. The structure and layout of the block were redesigned, and B4C was adopted as the neutron shielding material. This paper analyzes the improved design scheme in terms of the heat transfer, the radiation shielding and GSI191. The result indicates that the improved design meet the requirements. During the supplemental hot function test, the temperature of neutron shielding block and module and the radiation dose in the containment were surveyed, and the effectiveness of the new design scheme is further verified.     

Shielding design and analyses of KIPT neutron source facility

Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) of USA and Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology (KIPT) of Ukraine have been collaborating on the conceptual design development of a neutron source facility. An electron accelerator drives a sub-critical facility (ADS) is used for generating the neutron source. The facility will be utilized for performing basic and applied nuclear researches, producing medical isotopes, and training young nuclear specialists. Monte Carlo code MCNPX has been utilized as the major design tool for the design, due to its capability to transport electrons, photons, and neutrons at high energies. However the ADS shielding calculations with MCNPX need enormous computational resources and the small neutron yield per electron makes sampling difficulty for the Monte Carlo calculations. The high energy electrons (E > 100 MeV) generate very high energy neutrons and these neutrons dominant the total radiation dose outside the shield. The radiation dose caused by high energy neutrons is ∼3-4 orders of magnitude higher than that of the photons. However, the high energy neutron fraction within the total generated neutrons is very small, which increases the sampling difficulty and the required computational time. To solve these difficulties, the user subroutines of MCNPX are utilized to generate a neutron source file, which record the generated neutrons from the photonuclear reactions caused by electrons. This neutron source file is utilized many times in the following MCNPX calculations for weight windows (importance function) generation and radiation dose calculations. In addition, the neutron source file can be sampled multiple times to improve the statistics of the calculated results. In this way the expensive electron transport calculations can be performed once with good statistics for the different ADS shielding problems. This paper presents the method of generating and utilizing the neutron source file by MCNPX for the ADS shielding calculation and similar accelerator facilities, and the accurate radiation dose analyses outside the shield using modest computational resources.     

241Am-Be中子源紧凑型屏蔽装置及辐照器设计

²⁴¹Am-Be中子源被广泛用于实验研究,为保护实验人员免受中子及γ射线照射,需要设计适当的屏蔽。利用蒙特卡罗方法计算中子透射不同材料后的能谱分布与剂量,优选各层屏蔽材料种类与厚度,设计一套²⁴¹Am-Be中子源紧凑型屏蔽装置。装置由内而外采用钨+聚乙烯+含硼聚乙烯+不锈钢进行防护,外表面周围剂量当量率H^*(10)低于10μSv/h,满足辐射防护要求。同时对装置内部热中子、超热中子和快中子注量分布进行研究,确定装置快中子和热中子输出通道最佳位置。在辐照装置同时开放快中子和热中子通道进行实验测试时,需要设置距离大于130 cm的控制区,以保障操作人员安全。     

The use of monodirectional neutron sources for the investigation of shielding (B-2 apparatus in a BR-5 reactor)

The report describes the B-2 apparatus, installed in a BR-5 fast reactor, for investigating the passage of neutrons through various shielding materials. It is shown that the monodirectional neutron disc source used in this apparatus makes it possible to obtain detailed information on the spatial-energy and angular distributions of the neutrons in the shielding. The effect of the angular distribution of the radiation leaving the source on the attenuation factor of this radiation in shielding was also investigated.In conclusion I would like to express my sincere thanks to A. I. Leipunskii for valuable advice during the formulation of the scheme of investigations concerning the passage of neutrons in different media from monodirectional sources, and I. I. Bondarenko, V. V. Orlov, V. I. Kukhtevich, Yu. A. Kazanskii, B. I. Sinitsyn, E. S. Matusevich, B. P. Shemetenko, Sh. S. Nikolaishvili, V. P. Mashkovich, and A. A. Abagyan for discussing the results of this work; and, finally, D. S. Pinkhasik 'and N. N. Aristarkhov for considerable help in making the B-2 apparatus.     

HIMM治疗室的辐射屏蔽设计

为了保证医用重离子加速器（HIMM）运行时的辐射安全,利用FLUKA计算了治疗时产生的瞬发中子源项,并对次级中子、γ辐射对屏蔽的影响进行了分析。用半经验公式及FLUKA计算了屏蔽厚度,给出了HIMM治疗室的屏蔽设计。在HIMM最大负载运行时,测量了屏蔽外中子剂量率,测量结果与模拟计算结果相符合。结果表明,本文选用的屏蔽设计方法是合理的,HIMM治疗室屏蔽设计方案满足国家标准要求。     

低环径比聚变托卡马克液态金属包铜中心导体柱

低环径比(LAR)聚变托卡马克可作为一种紧凑中子源,为聚变早期利用提供了有效途径。本文针对其关键部件中心导体提出新颖液态金属(LM)包钢中心导体往设计结构,其结构由既可增殖氚又可降低导体辐照损伤的防护层和负载巨大电流(>10MA)的中心导体区组成。与常规中心导体柱(CCP)相比,其优势在于:防护区减小了铜导体的辐照损伤;提高了中子利用率及氚增殖率;优化结构的铜导体,保证了较低的欧姆损耗。     

Analysis for Radiation and Shielding Dose in Plasma Focus Neutron Source Using FLUKA

Monte Carlo simulations have been performed for the attenuation of neutron radiation produced at Plasma focus (PF) devices through various shielding design. At the test site it will be fired with deuterium and tritium (D-T) fusion resulting in a yield of about 10¹³ fusion neutrons of 14 MeV. This poses a radiological hazard to scientists and personnel operating the device. The goal of this paper was to evaluate various shielding options under consideration for the PF operating with D-T fusion. Shields of varying neutrons-shielding effectiveness were investigated using concrete, polyethylene, paraffin and borated materials. The most effective shield, a labyrinth structure, allowed almost 1,176 shots per year while keeping personnel under 20 mSV of dose. The most expensive shield that used, square shield with 100 cm concrete thickness on the walls and Borated paraffin along with borated polyethylene added outside the concrete allowed almost 15,000 shot per year.     

Design of a prompt-gamma neutron activation analysis system on China Advanced Research Reactor

In this paper,computational methods are used to optimize the design of a prompt-gamma neutron activation analysis(PGNAA) system on China Advanced Research Reactor(CARR).Approaches are adopted for obtaining accurate neutron beam parameter and saving the computing time.For the radiation shielding design,the optimizing factors include the cost,weight,volume,machining convenience and background radiation at the detector position.Low background spectrum and high sensitivity are expected.The simulation results...     

Estimates of neutron leakage through penetrations of the cern intersecting storage rings by monte carlo albedo calculations

The monokinetic and multigroup Monte Carlo albedo methods applicable to estimating neutron leakage through penetrations in the shielding of high-energy accelerators are reviewed. They are used to calculate attenuation factors and dose levels in the tunnels of the CERN intersecting storage rings.     

Experimental investigations on mechanical and radiation shielding properties of hybrid lead-steel fiber reinforced concrete

This paper summarizes the results from the investigations carried out on fiber reinforced concrete with steel fibers, lead fibers and a combination of the two (hybrid fibers). The intent of this research was to investigate the effect of the two types of fibers on mechanical and radiation shielding properties of concrete. Compressive strength, split tensile strength and flexural toughness were among the mechanical properties investigated and radiation shielding to gamma rays was investigated by comparing the attenuation provided by different types of concrete against each other and against blank readings without attenuation. The results clearly showed that the hybrid fibers showed a significant enhancement in both mechanical and radiation shielding properties.