Effect of Waste Iron Filings (IF) on Radiation Shielding Feature of Polyepoxide Composites

Abstract

In the present work, photon and neutron attenuation properties of polyepoxide composites produced by doping waste iron filings (IF) at different percentages (0%, 20%, 40%, and 60% iron filing percentage) were obtained using theoretical and experimental techniques. The experimental technique was performed using an HPGe detector with four different gamma lines (0.0595, 0.6617, 1.173, and 1.333 MeV) emitted from three gamma-ray sources (241Am, 137Cs, and 60Co). The theoretical techniques for shielding parameters calculation are estimated with Phy-X software and the XCOM program as well. The experimental and theoretical values of the mass/linear attenuation coefficient (M/LAC), half/tenth value layer (H/TVL), mean free path (MFP), lead equivalent thickness (LEth), and radiation shielding efficiency (RSE) have been determined and compared. A good agreement was achieved during the comparison. The shielding performance of the prepared composites increased with increasing the iron filing rate, where we can arrange the performance of shielding according to EP–IF60 > EP–IF40 > EP–IF20 > EP–IF0 at all different experimental and theoretical energies. The effective and equivalent (Zeff, Zeq) atomic numbers as well as the exposure buildup factor (EBF) at different depletion distances or mean free paths (MFPs) have been calculated for all EP–IF composites. The lowest EBF was for EP–IF60 while the highest EBF was for EP–IF0 through the discussed energy from 0.015 to 15 MeV. Finally, the fast neutron removal cross-section (FRNC) has been calculated for the prepared composites and the results showed improvement in FNRC with increasing the iron filing rate.

Applicability of an Ionising Radiation Measuring System for Real-Time Effective-Dose-Optimised Route Finding Solution during Nuclear Accidents

“…5. The measuring capability of the created test system was validated in a test area using gamma point sources with different activity and energy levels ( 241 Am, 133 Ba, 137 Cs, and 60 Co). The measured values were validated by using the MARCUS constructive simulator.…”

“…The energy-dependent shielding efficiency of the various vehicles is shown in Table 1 for 241 Am, 133 Ba, 137 Cs, and 60 Co surface sources. The squared estimated standard deviation for this value is computed using Formula (2), which was prepared by the authors for the purposes of this research.…”

“…The air intake point was at the front of the vehicle; prefilter PM10 was used. The following radioactive reference sources were used for the measurements: 241 Am (7.39 GBq, 1.8 MBq), 133 Ba (263.7 MBq, 1.5 MBq), 137 Cs (784.9 MBq, 1.5 MBq), and 60 Co (120 MBq, 1.1 MBq). They cover a wide photon energy range (59 keV-1.3 MeV).…”

“…The sources' activity was verified by the Hungarian metrology authority traceable to the Hungarian primary standard for the activity measurement [54]. The following radioactive reference sources were used for the measurements: 241 Am (7.39 GBq, 1.8 MBq), 133 Ba (263.7 MBq, 1.5 MBq), 137 Cs (784.9 MBq, 1.5 MBq), and 60 Co Fire 2024, 7, 142 9 of 23 (120 MBq, 1.1 MBq). They cover a wide photon energy range (59 keV-1.3 MeV).…”

“…Specifically, the authors opted to employ multiple point-type sealed sources to create a dispersed radioactive contaminated test area, facilitating the evaluation of the proposed methodology [59]. Information on a similar procedure used in international practice can be found in the research publication of Alresheedi M. T. and Elsafi, M. [60].…”