Performance of Iron Phosphate Glass Containing Various Heavy Metal Oxides for Particulate Nuclear Radiation Shielding.

BACKGROUND: Employees may be exposed to different kinds of ionizing radiation at work. When ionizing radiation interacts with human cells, it can cause damage to the cells and genetic material. Therefore, one of the scientists' primary objectives has always been to create the best radiation-shielding materials. Glass could offer promising shielding material resulting from the high flexibility of composition, simplicity of production, and good thermal stability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The melt-quenching technique was used to create a glass having the following formula: 50% P2O5+20% Na2O+20% Fe2O3+10% X, where X = As2O3, SrO, BaO, CdO, and Sb2O3 mol %. The impact of the different heavy metal additions on the structure of the glass networks was studied using FTIR spectroscopy. Glass's ability to attenuate neutrons and/or charged particles has been theoretically investigated. The performance of the developed glass as a shield was examined by a comparison against commercial glass (RS 253 G18), ordinary concrete (OC), and water (H2O). RESULTS: For charged particle radiations (Electrons, Protons, and Alpha), the shielding parameters like the mass stopping power, the projected range, and the effective atomic number were evaluated, where S5/Sb glass achieves the best performance. In the case of Neutrons, the results values reveal that S3/Ba glass ( ΣR = 0.105) is the best-modified glass for neutron shielding. CONCLUSION: Among all the investigated glasses, S5/Sb glass composition has a smaller range and provides superior protection against charged particles. In contrast, the S3/Ba glass composition is a superior choice for shielding against neutron radiation.

Full core analysis of IRIS reactor by using MCNPX.

This paper describes neutronic analysis for fresh fuelled IRIS (International Reactor Innovative and Secure) reactor by MCNPX code. The analysis included criticality calculations, radial power and axial power distribution, nuclear peaking factor and axial offset percent at the beginning of fuel cycle. The effective multiplication factor obtained by MCNPX code is compared with previous calculations by HELIOS/NESTLE, CASMO/SIMULATE, modified CORD-2 nodal calculations and SAS2H/KENO-V code systems. It is found that k-eff value obtained by MCNPX is closer to CORD-2 value. The radial and axial powers are compared with other published results carried out using SAS2H/KENO-V code. Moreover, the WIMS-D5 code is used for studying the effect of enriched boron in form of ZrB2 on the effective multiplication factor (K-eff) of the fuel pin. In this part of calculation, K-eff is calculated at different concentrations of Boron-10 in mg/cm at different stages of burnup of unit cell. The results of this part are compared with published results performed by HELIOS code.

Simulation study of accelerator based quasi-mono-energetic epithermal neutron beams for BNCT.

Filtered neutron techniques were applied to produce quasi-mono-energetic neutron beams in the energy range of 1.5-7.5 keV at the accelerator port using the generated neutron spectrum from a Li (p, n) Be reaction. A simulation study was performed to characterize the filter components and transmitted beam lines. The feature of the filtered beams is detailed in terms of optimal thickness of the primary and additive components. A computer code named "QMNB-AS" was developed to carry out the required calculations. The filtered neutron beams had high purity and intensity with low contamination from the accompanying thermal, fast neutrons and γ-rays.

Filtered epithermal quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams at research reactor facilities.

Filtered neutron techniques were applied to produce quasi-monoenergetic neutron beams in the energy range of 1.5-133keV at research reactors. A simulation study was performed to characterize the filter components and transmitted beam lines. The filtered beams were characterized in terms of the optimal thickness of the main and additive components. The filtered neutron beams had high purity and intensity, with low contamination from the accompanying thermal emission, fast neutrons and γ-rays. A computer code named "QMNB" was developed in the "MATLAB" programming language to perform the required calculations.

Cross-section measurements and nuclear model calculation for proton induced nuclear reaction on zirconium.

Proton induced nuclear reactions were measured with stacked-foil technique on natural zirconium targets up to 16.7MeV. Excitation functions were measured for the production of (90,92m,95m,95g,96)Nb and (88)Y. Cumulative cross-section, thick target yields and activation functions were deduced and compared with the available experimental data, as well as with the nuclear models codes; ALICE-IPPE, EMPIRE and TALYS. The integral yields for thick targets were deduced from the measured excitation function of the produced radionuclides.