Effect of different materials to concrete as neutron shielding application

Abstract

Neutron shielding is used to protect personnel and equipment from the effect of neutron radiation. The effective neutron shielding should reduce the neutron energy by elastic and inelastic scattering until they can be absorbed. The interaction of neutron with the matter depends on neutron energy and the density of the shielding material. The best known construction and shielding material is concrete. The composition of concrete has an important effect on its neutron shielding properties. Neutron shielding performance of concrete can be improved by adding different materials such as ferro-boron and iron. In this study, neutron shielding properties of concrete were investigated by adding boron carbide B4C, ferro-boron FeB, and iron Fe in concrete. Neutron dose rate attenuation curves were determined by using FLUKA Monte Carlo code complemented with analytical predictions. The simulation results clearly showed that shielding performance of concrete was enhanced depending on the amounts of additional material and density. © 2020 Polish Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.