Investigation of gamma radiation shielding features for modified structural materials for nuclear energy and nuclear medicine

In this paper, shielding characteristics of three concrete samples with different B4C,Fe3O4,and BaSO4 contents were examined by determining their theoretical and experimental mass attenuation coefficients at photon energies of 15 MeV. The mass attenuation coefficients ?m were theoretically calculated using the chemical compositions of samples with the XCOM program. Then the linear attenuation coefficients ? were calculated by knowing the ?m values. Elekta Axesse accelerator was used to experimentally determine the linear attenuation coefficient ? of samples with various impurities. The ? value of 0.4699 cm-1, 0.6072 cm-1, and 0.7194mcm-1 was obtained for the blank sample, sample with magnetite, and sample with barite, respectively, at 15 MeV. The results were compared with coefficients obtained by XCOM and indicated a good agreement between the two methods. The linear attenuation coefficient was evaluated to calculate the half- and tenth-value layers. Compared to conventional concrete, the linear attenuation coefficient for concrete with the highest barite content increased by 53.1 %, and the thickness of the half-attenuation layer decreased by 34.7 %. Such a sample can be used as a building material for medical centers and nuclear power plants.