Influence of magnetite, ilmenite and boron carbide on radiation attenuation of polyester composites

This work is concerned with studying polyester/ magnetite CUP/Mag (rho=2.75 g cm(-3)) and polyester/ ilmenite CUP/Ilm (rho=2.7 g cm(-3)) composites for shielding of medical facilities, laboratory hot cells and for various purposes. Mechanical and physical properties such as compressive, flexural and impact strengths, as well as, a.c. electrical conductivity, specific heat, water absorption and porosity have been performed to evaluate the composite capabilities for radiation shielding. A collimated beam from fission Cf-252 (100 mu g) neutron source and neutron-gamma spectrometer with stilbene scintillator based on the zero cross over method and pulse shape discrimination (P.S.D.) technique have been used to measure neutron and gamma ray spectra. Fluxes of thermal neutrons have been measured using the BF3 detector and thermal neutron detection system. The attenuation parameters, namely macroscopic effective removal cross-section Sigma(R), total attenuation coefficient mu and macroscopic cross-section Sigma of fast neutrons, gamma rays and thermal neutrons respectively have been evaluated. Theoretical calculations using MCNP-4C2 code was used to calculate Sigma(R), mu and Sigma. Also, MERCSF-N program was used to calculate macroscopic effective removal cross-section Sigma(R). Measured and calculated results were compared and reasonable agreement was found. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.