High effectiveness shielding materials and optimal shield design

Journal Article · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992 · Journal of Testing and Evaluation; (United States)

OSTI ID:7113740

Greenspan, E ^[1]

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1. California Univ., Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Nuclear Engineering

In this paper a preliminary investigation of the effectiveness of new composite materials under development for shielding against neutrons and photons is reported upon. These materials are made from a proper mix of powders of tungsten, titanium or zirconium hydride and boron carbide, all bonded by hydrogenous materials such as polyethylene or silicone based materials. The investigation is carried out with the aid of the shield optimization code SWAN by considering a simplified 40-cm-thick spherical shield with Cf-252 source at its center. The shielding ability of the new, so-called polynated and siliconated, materials is found to be highly superior to that of shielding materials in common use. The flexibility in tailoring the mix of inelastic scatterers, elastic scatterers, neutron absorbers, and photon attenuators to one's shielding needs, along with the information on material effectiveness functions which can be calculated with a code such as SWAN, are expected to enable improvements in future shield designs.

• OSTI ID: 7113740
• Journal Information: Journal of Testing and Evaluation; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Testing and Evaluation; (United States) Vol. 20:1; ISSN 0090-3973; ISSN JTEVA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

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73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS
ACTINIDE ISOTOPES
ACTINIDE NUCLEI
ALPHA DECAY RADIOISOTOPES
BONDING
BORON CARBIDES
BORON COMPOUNDS
BOSONS
CALIFORNIUM 252
CALIFORNIUM ISOTOPES
CARBIDES
CARBON COMPOUNDS
COMPUTER CODES
DESIGN
ELEMENTARY PARTICLES
ELEMENTS
EVEN-EVEN NUCLEI
FABRICATION
HEAVY NUCLEI
HYDRIDES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INELASTIC SCATTERING
ISOTOPES
JOINING
MASSLESS PARTICLES
MATERIALS
METALS
NEUTRON ABSORBERS
NUCLEI
OPTIMIZATION
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
ORGANIC POLYMERS
ORGANIC SILICON COMPOUNDS
PHOTONS
PLANNING
POLYETHYLENES
POLYMERS
POLYOLEFINS
POWDERS
RADIATION PROTECTION
RADIOISOTOPES
S CODES
SCATTERING
SHIELDING MATERIALS
SILICONES
SILOXANES
SPONTANEOUS FISSION RADIOISOTOPES
TITANIUM
TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
TUNGSTEN
YEARS LIVING RADIOISOTOPES
ZIRCONIUM COMPOUNDS
ZIRCONIUM HYDRIDES