Monte Carlo Study of Several Concrete Shielding Materials Containing Galena and Borated Minerals

Document Type : Original Paper

Authors

1 Medical imaging research center, Shiraz University of medical sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 MSc, Department of Radiobiology, School of paramedical sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Student Research Committee, School of Paramedical Sciences, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran;

3 Radiation Research Center, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract

Introduction: The heavyweight concretes have been widely used for constructing medical or industrial radiation facilities with photon sources.
Materials and Methods: In this study, heavy concretes containing galena (PbS) and several borated minerals are proposed as suitable materials against photons. The shielding properties of 21 galena concretes containing seven borated minerals with three mixing patterns were evaluated using MCNP4C Monte Carlo code. The attenuation of the gamma radiation is computed under the conditions of narrow and beam geometries. The x-ray sources with 40, 60, 90, and 120 kVp and gamma rays of 99mTc, 131I, 137Cs, and 511 keV annihilation photons were considered. The photon flux values and the x-ray spectrum after applying all the concretes were compared to the ordinary ones. Regarding the results, more photon attenuations obtained by using high density concretes simulation in comparison to ordinary concrete.
Results: The results revealed that the concretes containing orthopinokiolite as the borated material made by the third mixing pattern, had the most photon attenuation. According to the results, the shielding properties of the concretes containing different borated minerals were alike against high photon energies, whereas in low energy photons the attenuation depended on the type of borated mineral used in the concretes.
Conclusion: The high-density heavy-weighted concretes could be effectively used as multi-purpose shield for radiotherapy rooms and nuclear reactors due to the borated minerals.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

  1. 1.       Bashter, II. Neutron relaxation lengths in light and heavy concrete shields. 1993.

    1. Bashter, II, Abdo AE-S, Abdel-Azim MS. Magnetite ores with steel or basalt for concrete radiation shielding. Japanese journal of applied physics. 1997;36(6R):3692. DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.36.3692.
    2. Akkurt I, Akyildirim H, Mavi B, Kilincarslan S, Basyigit C. Gamma-ray shielding properties of concrete including barite at different energies. Progress in Nuclear Energy. 2010;52(7):620-3. DOI: 10.1016/j.pnucene.2010.04.006.
    3. Akkurt I, Akyıldırım H, Mavi B, Kilincarslan S, Basyigit C. Radiation shielding of concrete containing zeolite. Radiation Measurements. 2010;45(7):827-30. DOI: 10.1016/j.radmeas.2010.04.012.
    4. Akkurt I, Akyıldırım H, Mavi B, Kilincarslan S, Basyigit C. Photon attenuation coefficients of concrete includes barite in different rate. Annals of Nuclear Energy. 2010;37(7):910-4. DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2010.04.001
    5. Akkurt I, Basyigit C, Kilincarslan S, Mavi B, Akkurt A. Radiation shielding of concretes containing different aggregates. Cement and Concrete Composites. 2006;28(2):153-7. DOI: 10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2005.09.006.
    6. Akkurt I, Baysigit C, Kilincarslan S, Beycioglu A. Prediction of photon attenuation coefficients of heavy concrete by fuzzy logic. Journal of the Franklin Institute. 2010;347(9):1589-97. DOI: 10.1016/j.jfranklin.2010.06.002.
    7. Demir F, Budak G, Sahin R, Karabulut A, Oltulu M, Un A. Determination of radiation attenuation coefficients of heavyweight-and normal-weight concretes containing colemanite and barite for 0.663 MeV γ-rays. Annals of Nuclear Energy. 2013; 38(6):1274-8. DOI: 10.1016/j.anucene.2011.02.009.
    8. Maruyama T, Kumamoto Y, Kato Y, Hashizume T, Moriyuki Y. Attenuation of 4-32 MeV X-rays in Ordinary Concrete, Heavy Concrete, Iron and Lead. Health physics. 1971;20(3):277-84. DOI: 10.1097/00004032-197103000-00005.
    9. Urabe I, Kobayashi K, Fujita Y, Tsujimoto T, Guangchuan J. Depth distribution of residual radioactivities in the concrete wall of an electron linac facility. Health physics. 1991;60(4):587-91.
    10. Bashter, II. Radiation attenuation and nuclear properties of high density concrete made with steel aggregates. Radiation effects and defects in solids. 1997;140(3-4):351-64. DOI: 10.1080/10420159708216859.
    11. Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Maheri MR, Yousefnia H, Zolghadri S, Haji-pour A. Production of an economic high-density concrete for shielding megavoltage radiotherapy rooms and nuclear reactors. Iran J Radiat Res. 2007;5(3):143-6.
    12. Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Roshan-Shomal P, Raadpey N, Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi M. High-performance heavy concrete as a multi-purpose shield. Radiation protection dosimetry. 2010 Oct 29;142(2-4):120-4.. DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncq265.
    13. Mortazavi SMJ, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi M, Siavashpour Z, Farshadi A, Ghafoori M, et al. Production of a datolite-based heavy concrete for shielding nuclear reactors and megavoltage radiotherapy rooms. Iran J Radiat Res. 2010; 8(1):11-5.
    14. Aghamiri SMR, Mortazavi SMJ, Razi Z, Mosleh-Shirazi MA, Baradaran-Ghahfarokhi M, Rahmani F, et al. Ulexite-galena intermediate-weight concrete as a novel design for overcoming space and weight limitations in the construction of efficient shields against neutrons and photons. Radiation protection dosimetry. 2013;154(3):375-80. DOI: 10.1093/rpd/ncs249.
    15. Abdo AE-S, Kansouh WA, Megahid RM. Investigation of radiation attenuation properties for baryte concrete. Japanese journal of applied physics. 2002;41(12R):7512. DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.41.7512.
    16. Dem'yanova VS, Kalashnikov DV. Heavy Optical Glass in Concrete for Radiation Protection. Glass and ceramics. 2014;70(9-10):338-9. DOI: 10.1007/s10717-014-9576-3.
    17. Akkurt I, Basyigit C, Kilincarslan S, Mavi B. The shielding of g-rays by concretes produced with barite. Progress in Nuclear Energy. 2005;46(1):1-11. DOI: 10.1143/JJAP.41.7512.
    18. Bashter, II. Calculation of radiation attenuation coefficients for shielding concretes. Annals of nuclear Energy. 1997;24(17):1389-401. DOI: 10.1016/S0306-4549(97)00003-0.
    19. Bashter, II. Radiation attenuation and nuclear properties of high density concrete made with steel aggregates. Radiation effects and defects in solids. 1997;140(3-4):351-64. DOI: 10.1080/10420159708216859.
    20. Kazempour M, Saeedimoghadam M, Shekoohi Shooli F, Shokrpour N. Assessment of the Radiation Attenuation Properties of Several Lead Free Composites by Monte Carlo Simulation. J Biomed Phys Eng. 2015 Jun 1;5(2):67-76.
    21. Zehtabian M, Piruzan E, Molaiemanesh Z, Sina S. Design of Light Multi-layered Shields for Use in Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine via MCNP5 Monte Carlo Code. Iranian Journal of Medical Physics. 2015; 12 (3), 223-9. DOI: 10.22038/ijmp.2015.6223.
    22. Briesmeister JF. MCNPTM-A general Monte Carlo N-particle transport code. Version 4C, LA-13709-M, Los Alamos National Laboratory. 2000.
    23. McCaffrey JP, Tessier F, and Shen H. Radiation shielding materials and radiation scatter effects for interventional radiology (IR) physicians. Med. Phys. 2012; 39 (7), 4537-46. DOI: 10.1118/1.4730504.
    24. Cranley K, Gilmore B J, Fogarty G W A, L D. Catalogue of diagnostic x-ray spectra and other data. IPEM Report No. 78; 1997.
Iranian Journal of Medical Physics
Volume 14, Issue 4
November and December 2017
Pages 241-250

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 01 August 2016
  • Revise Date: 10 May 2017
  • Accept Date: 10 May 2017

Share

How to cite

Statistics