An evaluation of the radiation protection characteristics of prototyped oxide glasses utilising Phy-X/PSD software

• Published in: Journal of instrumentation 2020-08, Vol.15 (8), p.P08005-P08005
• Main Authors: AbouDeif, Y.M., Alqahtani, M.S., Massoud, E.E., Yaha, I.S., Yousef, E.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Attenuation; Barite; Chromite; Composition; Fast neutrons; Ionizing radiation; Nuclear cross sections; Parameters; Radiation protection; Radiation shielding; Thulium
• ISSN: 1748-0221; 1748-0221
• DOI: 10.1088/1748-0221/15/08/P08005

Currently, radiation protection and safety protocols are considered a cornerstone in many medical and technical fields due to the exponentially expanding utilisation of ionising radiation. This study reports on the radiation protection characteristics of two prototyped oxide glasses with different compositions (PZCdO in pure form and doped with Thulium—PZCdO:Tm). The compositions of the prototyped glasses are 50P2O5–30ZnO–20CdO in mol% (Sample code PZCdO Pure) and 50P2O5–30ZnO–20CdO–3Tm2O3 in mol% (sample code PZCdO:Tm). We calculated the parameters of radiation shielding—such as linear and mass attenuation (LAC, MAC), the half-value layer (HVL), the mean free path (MFP), total atomic and electronic cross-sections (ACS and ECS), and fast neutron-removal cross-section (FNRCS)—for the proposed oxide glasses against a wide spectrum of ionising radiation energies, ranging from 0.015 to 15 MeV. Furthermore, the protection parameters of the prototyped materials (PZCdO:Tm and PZCdO Pure) were compared with routinely used radiation-shielding materials, namely RS-253 G18 glass, RS-360, RS-520, Chromite, Ferrite, Magnetite, and Barite. This study demonstrates that the prototyped oxide glasses can be utilised for a variety of radiation protection purposes in ionising radiation applications in both medical and technical settings.