Gamma Radiation Shielding Properties of Some Binary Tellurite Glasses

Abstract

The radiation shielding properties of some binary tellurite glasses have been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. A series of tellurite glasses modified with different types and amounts of modifiers (Nb2O5, B2O3, ZnO, GeO2, WO3, MoO3, and V2O5) have been synthesized using the traditional melting and quenching method. In order to confirm the vitreous nature of the as-synthesized samples, XRD measurements were performed. As for the gamma radiation shielding purposes, linear attenuation coefficient, mass attenuation coefficient, half-value layer and effective atomic number values of the samples were experimentally measured for 662, 1173, and 1332 keV gamma-ray energies emitted from 137Cs, and 60Co radioactive sources. Measurements were performed at narrow-beam transmission geometry by employing a NaI(Tl) scintillation detector. In addition, all these parameters were theoretically calculated using the WinXCOM program in the energy region of 0.015 to 15 MeV. A good agreement was observed between theoretical and experimental values. In order to estimate the gamma-ray shielding effectiveness of the glass samples, all investigated protection parameters were compared with those of commercial RS 253 G-18 glass and some shielding concretes that are commonly used in the nuclear application. It was seen that our synthesized tellurite-based glasses have better shielding properties than standard shielding materials. The results revealed that TeW-3 glass containing 80 mole% TeO2 and 20 mole% WO3 is the most effective shield among the synthesized glasses.