Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF
A radiation source based on the inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IECF) system is being developed for multidisciplinary research applications. The radiation outputs from the IECF system are 2.45 MeV fast neutrons and the associated co-generated X-rays with an energy less than 3 MeV. A radia...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2023-04-01
|
| Series: | Materials |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/7/2845 |
| _version_ | 1797607501964771328 |
|---|---|
| author | Rawheya Ahmed Galal Saad Hassan Thomas Scott Mahmoud Bakr |
| author_facet | Rawheya Ahmed Galal Saad Hassan Thomas Scott Mahmoud Bakr |
| author_sort | Rawheya Ahmed |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A radiation source based on the inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IECF) system is being developed for multidisciplinary research applications. The radiation outputs from the IECF system are 2.45 MeV fast neutrons and the associated co-generated X-rays with an energy less than 3 MeV. A radiation shielding study has been performed on five types of concrete to define the most efficient material for the shielding design of the system. The proposed materials were ilmenite-magnetite concrete (IMC), ordinary concrete-1 (OC-1), barite-containing concrete (BC), ordinary concrete-2 (OC-2), and serpentine-containing concrete (SC). A numerical model was applied to determine the effective removal cross-section coefficients (∑<i><sub>Rt</sub></i>) for the fast neutrons and the total mass attenuation coefficients (<i>µ<sub>m</sub></i>), the half-value layer (<i>HVL</i>), the mean free path (<i>MFP</i>), the effective atomic number (<i>Z<sub>eff</sub></i>), and effective electron density (<i>N<sub>eff</sub></i>) for photons inside the materials. The model considered the radiation source energy and the material properties of the concrete types. The results revealed that the serpentine-containing concrete exhibited the highest ∑<i><sub>Rt</sub></i> with 12 cm of concrete thickness needed to attenuate an incident neutron flux to 1/100 of its initial value. In addition, the BC shows the highest <i>µ<sub>m</sub></i> with a 38 cm concrete thickness needed to attenuate the 3 MeV energy X-ray flux to 1/100 of its initial value. This study suggests that a 40 cm thickness of SC or BC adequately shields the radiation generated from an IECF system with a maximum particle production rate of up to 1 × 10<sup>7</sup> n/s. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:31:55Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-83cc48efb29346a7ad264ee487eab049 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1996-1944 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T05:31:55Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Materials |
| spelling | doaj.art-83cc48efb29346a7ad264ee487eab0492023-11-17T17:05:59ZengMDPI AGMaterials1996-19442023-04-01167284510.3390/ma16072845Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECFRawheya Ahmed0Galal Saad Hassan1Thomas Scott2Mahmoud Bakr3Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, EgyptPhysics Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, EgyptSouthwest Nuclear Hub, School of Physics, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1TL, UKPhysics Department, Faculty of Science, Assiut University, Assiut 71516, EgyptA radiation source based on the inertial electrostatic confinement fusion (IECF) system is being developed for multidisciplinary research applications. The radiation outputs from the IECF system are 2.45 MeV fast neutrons and the associated co-generated X-rays with an energy less than 3 MeV. A radiation shielding study has been performed on five types of concrete to define the most efficient material for the shielding design of the system. The proposed materials were ilmenite-magnetite concrete (IMC), ordinary concrete-1 (OC-1), barite-containing concrete (BC), ordinary concrete-2 (OC-2), and serpentine-containing concrete (SC). A numerical model was applied to determine the effective removal cross-section coefficients (∑<i><sub>Rt</sub></i>) for the fast neutrons and the total mass attenuation coefficients (<i>µ<sub>m</sub></i>), the half-value layer (<i>HVL</i>), the mean free path (<i>MFP</i>), the effective atomic number (<i>Z<sub>eff</sub></i>), and effective electron density (<i>N<sub>eff</sub></i>) for photons inside the materials. The model considered the radiation source energy and the material properties of the concrete types. The results revealed that the serpentine-containing concrete exhibited the highest ∑<i><sub>Rt</sub></i> with 12 cm of concrete thickness needed to attenuate an incident neutron flux to 1/100 of its initial value. In addition, the BC shows the highest <i>µ<sub>m</sub></i> with a 38 cm concrete thickness needed to attenuate the 3 MeV energy X-ray flux to 1/100 of its initial value. This study suggests that a 40 cm thickness of SC or BC adequately shields the radiation generated from an IECF system with a maximum particle production rate of up to 1 × 10<sup>7</sup> n/s.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/7/2845radiation shielding materialsinertial electrostatic confinementneutron and X-ray applicationsfast neutrons removal cross-sectionmass attenuation coefficientconcrete material |
| spellingShingle | Rawheya Ahmed Galal Saad Hassan Thomas Scott Mahmoud Bakr Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF Materials radiation shielding materials inertial electrostatic confinement neutron and X-ray applications fast neutrons removal cross-section mass attenuation coefficient concrete material |
| title | Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF |
| title_full | Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF |
| title_fullStr | Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF |
| title_full_unstemmed | Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF |
| title_short | Assessment of Five Concrete Types as Candidate Shielding Materials for a Compact Radiation Source Based on the IECF |
| title_sort | assessment of five concrete types as candidate shielding materials for a compact radiation source based on the iecf |
| topic | radiation shielding materials inertial electrostatic confinement neutron and X-ray applications fast neutrons removal cross-section mass attenuation coefficient concrete material |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/16/7/2845 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT rawheyaahmed assessmentoffiveconcretetypesascandidateshieldingmaterialsforacompactradiationsourcebasedontheiecf AT galalsaadhassan assessmentoffiveconcretetypesascandidateshieldingmaterialsforacompactradiationsourcebasedontheiecf AT thomasscott assessmentoffiveconcretetypesascandidateshieldingmaterialsforacompactradiationsourcebasedontheiecf AT mahmoudbakr assessmentoffiveconcretetypesascandidateshieldingmaterialsforacompactradiationsourcebasedontheiecf |