Assessment of the Usability of a Composite Containing Boron Carbide for Shielding the Gamma Rays

Abstract

Considering the negative effects on the environment and toxicity of lead, which has been widely used for gamma shielding for a long time in nuclear technology, studies have been focused on the development of various materials that can be used as an alternative to lead in gamma radiation shielding. In this research, a composite material containing magnetite and boron carbide (epoxy/magnetite/boron carbide) and gamma transmission technique which is emphasized in nuclear applications have been used for the study of gamma ray shielding. The radiation sources considered for this technique are the radioisotopes Am-241, Cs-137, Na-22 and Co-60, which are important in nuclear technology. The interactions between the composite material and gammas with 59.5, 511, 661.6, 1173.2, 1274.5 and 1332.5 keV energies were investigated separately by the Monte Carlo method, and the ability of the material to shield the radiations at these energies was investigated. Gamma rays, one by one, followed by using cross sections and determining the probability of interaction with the composite from the point they are emitted until they leave the system (through escaping or absorption from the system) in the Monte Carlo code, which is written to determine the linear attenuation coefficient, mean free path, half value layer and tenth value layer, among the radiation shielding parameters of the composite under investigation. The shielding parameters calculated using the simulation results were also calculated using the data obtained from the XCOM software, and the results were found to be compatible with each other. On the other hand, in order to better evaluate the usability of the composite as an alternative shielding material for nuclear applications in the studied energy range, a comparison was made with the shielding parameters of various materials available in the literature.