Abstract
Optimal shielding structure design plays a guiding role in the implementation of radiation protection engineering. The achievement of the optimal arrangement and thickness ratio for the layers of materials is the key to attaining a light-weight and small-volume shield but with the best shielding effect. In this research, the optimization design method is established by the genetic algorithm combined with the Monte Carlo N-particle code, and a four-layer neutron shield composed of iron (Fe), boron carbon (B4C), lead (Pb), and polyethylene (PE) is designed. When setting the total thickness of the shield to 20 cm, different arrangements and thickness combinations of these four layers are calculated. It is shown that the arrangement Fe-PE–B4C–Pb is the most radiological optimizing arrangement, and the optimal thickness combination is also obtained. Besides, it seems that the thicker the shield, the higher the requirement for the thickness ratio of Fe and Pb. In order to prove this, an optimal 80 cm thick shield is then designed, and the optimal thickness ratio is also obtained. It is found that the thickness ratio of Fe and Pb should also be increased in order to achieve the best shielding effect.
Highlights
Most nuclear power devices require their shields to be compact in structure, light in weight, and good in shielding performance
Suteau and Chiron introduced an iterative method for calculating buildup factors of gamma rays for a multilayer shield, which is based on the empirical approach for calculating buildup factors of double-layer radiation shields
Pb is chosen as the fourth layer for shielding the secondary gamma rays
Summary
Most nuclear power devices require their shields to be compact in structure, light in weight, and good in shielding performance. Barnhart first came up with the concept of a multilayer shielding structure in 1955 He investigated the shielding properties of radiation shields composed of concrete, paraffin, and steel.. Assad et al put forward a new approximate formula to calculate buildup factors of gamma rays for a multilayer shield. Hirayama and Shin calculated buildup factors of gamma rays for a three-layer shield by EGS4.9 Shouop et al carried out a shielding structure design for a Cf-252 neutron source and an 241Am/Be source through the PHITS software.. Hu et al studied the design of multilayer shields against fission neutrons and gamma rays.. The genetic algorithm (GA) and MCNP are adopted to establish a method for the optimal shielding structure design for a 14 MeV neutron source
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