Development of high-performance gel-type radiation shielding material using polymer resin

Abstract

New gel-type shielding material, mainly consists of resin, lead powder and a boron compound, was developed. For simplification of the production process, new production method blending two types of liquid of base resin and a hardening accelerator was developed. To produce base resin, the crosslinking agent and the polymerization agent were blended with the thermosetting resin, first, and boric acid and lead were blended with the oligomerized component. Although the blended material is in gel condition immediately after blending, it has the feature hardened automatically without any processing. Radiation shielding performance of developed gel-type shielding material for neutron and gamma ray up to 25 cm in thickness were measured using standard sources of 252 Cf and 60 Co. It was found that new shielding material was able to reduce neutron dose rate half for that of ordinary concrete and shielding performance for gamma-ray was slightly good compared with that of ordinary concrete. Monte Carlo simulations were also carried out to confirm radiation shielding performance of newly developed gel-type shielding material for neutron and gamma ray up to 100 cm in thickness. From the experiments and simulations, it was shown that newly developed gel-type shielding material has excellent shielding performance compared with that of ordinary concrete, and can be used for compensated shield in the case of accident.