Shielding Design for the Extended Uranium Target “Buran”

Abstract

The influence of the target size on the particle yield and doses is analyzed in order to clarify the concern about a possible increased radiation hazard in a target with higher dimensions. The analysis of the doses demonstrates that such concern is not justified. On the contrary, a bigger target is more advantageous from the point of view of the shielding needs, because the number of particles leaving the target and their energy decreases when the dimensions of the target increase. A faster method to calculate the shielding is proposed. The method implies a simulation in the real geometry but with the unshielded target. The dose at a given position in the presence of the shielding is calculated from the neutron spectrum registered without shielding and a parameterization of the attenuation curves in concrete. A comparison between the doses obtained with the targets “Quinta” and “Buran” in the experimental hall of the Laboratory of Nuclear Problems (LNP) is presented and the needed shielding for the experiments planned at LNP and at the Laboratory of High Energy Physics (LHEP) is analyzed.