Comparative Study Between Geant4, MCNP6 and Experimental Results Against Gamma Radiation Comes from a Cobalt-60 Source

Use of gamma irradiation for decorative coloring of glass in the Moroccan NIAR facility

“…The NIAR irradiator currently comprises 8 source pencils of cobalt-60 distributed in a circular formation 14 cm in diameter forming the source cage of the irradiator, each pencil is double encapsulated in two layers of nickel and closed at its end by two tips (figure 1). [3] Cobalt-60 is a radioisotope with a period of 5.2714 years which causes the emission of two gamma rays of energy respectively 1.173 and 1.332 MeV following each decay by transforming to stable nickel-60. Table 1 gives the activity of 8 source pencils according to the calibration date.…”

“…[2,5] As shown in figure 2, the NIAR ionization cell is of parallelepipedal shape 257cm high, 605 cm along X, 570 cm along Y, the gamma irradiator is surrounded by a set of rotating tables on which the products to be irradiated are posed, 9 tables have been installed to meet the irradiation needs in terms of quantity and irradiation time, in fact the T1 to T6 tables are used for irradiating large quantities at medium dose rate, the T7 tables and T8 are used for high and medium dose rate irradiation of agricultural or non-agricultural products such as pharmaceuticals or glass (subject of this work), the last turntable which is the T9 table is used for low doses. [1,3,4] In order to protect the NIAR population (especially the irradiator operators) and the environment, the source cage is stored during the hours of non-activity in a lead container, the walls of the casemate are made of reinforced concrete of 163cm thick , the casemate door is armed, and the labyrinth is to eliminate radiation leakage through the door during irradiation. [1]…”

“…Morocco is among the most usable African countries for ionizing radiation in several activities, for example in medicine, ionizing radiation (x and gamma) is used in radiology and in radiotherapy to diagnose and treat cancer(gammaknife technique for example), also in nuclear medicine radioactive elements are injected into the human body (radiopharmaceuticals) for treatment and diagnosis (thyroid cancer with radioactive iod-123). [2][3][4][5][6] In addition to medicine, ionizing radiation is used in the industrial field in several applications such as electron beam welding or Checking the homogeneity of a metal generally using Iridium 192 (gamma radiography). The applications of ionizing radiation extend to a very important and sensitive area for the Moroccan economy which is agriculture, for this a gamma irradiator has been installed since 1995 at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (NIAR) in the city of Tangier, is considered unique in Morocco, since its installation there was several researches in this field, for the preservation of food, inhibition of germination, production of new varieties etc, indeed several products have been irradiated like sensitive oils, dried figs, strawberries, oranges, and all with the aim of progressing and developing Moroccan agriculture and increasing production yield.…”

“…The applications of ionizing radiation extend to a very important and sensitive area for the Moroccan economy which is agriculture, for this a gamma irradiator has been installed since 1995 at the National Institute of Agronomic Research (NIAR) in the city of Tangier, is considered unique in Morocco, since its installation there was several researches in this field, for the preservation of food, inhibition of germination, production of new varieties etc, indeed several products have been irradiated like sensitive oils, dried figs, strawberries, oranges, and all with the aim of progressing and developing Moroccan agriculture and increasing production yield. [2][3][4][5] In this work, we will be promoting a very important application of gamma radiation other than those in the agricultural sector, it is the decorative coloring of glass by gamma radiation coming from the NIAR irradiator. In this term, small cups of crystal white glass were irradiated at different doses of between 0 and 1500Gy.…”