MONTE-CARLO (MC) ANALYSIS OF BORATED MATERIALS FOR NEUTRON SHIELDING APPLICATIONS

Abstract

Neutron shielding is of utmost importance in radiation environments such as nuclear reactors and particle accelerators and in fields such as health physics. In this work, the percentages of neutrons stopped by shields comprising of boron minerals (HDPE/B2O3, Epoxy/Priceite, Epoxy/Colemanite, Epoxy/Kernite) in their composition against neutron radiation of different energies is investigated using two separate MC simulations. Different layer combinations of epoxy based borated shielding materials with HDPE sheets were then simulated to find the optimum shielding configuration. In addition, radioactivation studies were carried out for these designs. The most suitable design was found to be the layered setup of the HDPE sheet and the epoxy/colemanite composite sheet for mixed neutron energies (