Investigating the Shielding Effectiveness of Newly-Developed Materials

Abstract

In this project, the shielding effectiveness of newly-developed materials, which can be used in a medical application, was investigated. These materials have different densities of 5.32, 5.27 and 6.37 𝑔⁄𝑐𝑚3. The investigation involved using two different detectors, namely NaI(TI) and HPGe detectors. The investigation was conducted by calculating the mass attenuation coefficient after measuring the attenuation of the g-rays of 59.5, 81, 121.8, 244.8, 344.4, 356 keV when increasing the shielding thickness. Thereafter, the mass attenuation coefficient values obtained from the new materials were compared to the values of the standard materials in the radiation laboratory as well as the values found in the literature. Hence, the shielding thickness required to attenuate the intensity of g-rays into half was found. In addition, MCNP simulation was included to validate the experimental measurements.