{"title":"Optimization of pure elemental and oxide-based shielding materials for cost","authors":"Banks Peete, Stephen Trainor, Robert Hayes","doi":"10.1016/j.pnucene.2024.105444","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A common aspect to shielding material research is the combination of high atomic number inclusions with binders although the costs of the inclusions will vary with chemical form and have associated density and atomic number dependencies on attenuation properties. As most metals are cheaper in their oxide forms (sometimes drastically) we considered oxide forms to substantially reduce potential cost. This study then investigates the combined shielding and cost optimization of pure elemental and oxide-based shielding materials as well as steel, water and concrete. This focus on shielding effectiveness per cost and weight basis also incorporates contributions from scattered radiation in the form of radiation buildup for these comprehensive materials. In this sense, we define a new metric which incorporates cost, weight and scatter radiation for assessing shielding material attractiveness. We used MicroShield to calculate the shielding ability of each material. Our findings revealed that water, concrete, and lead demonstrated superior performance in terms of cost-effectiveness. This research contributes to the understanding of affordable and efficient shielding materials and has implications for industries reliant on radiation protection, such as nuclear power generation, medical imaging, and space exploration.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":20617,"journal":{"name":"Progress in Nuclear Energy","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 105444"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Progress in Nuclear Energy","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149197024003949","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NUCLEAR SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
A common aspect to shielding material research is the combination of high atomic number inclusions with binders although the costs of the inclusions will vary with chemical form and have associated density and atomic number dependencies on attenuation properties. As most metals are cheaper in their oxide forms (sometimes drastically) we considered oxide forms to substantially reduce potential cost. This study then investigates the combined shielding and cost optimization of pure elemental and oxide-based shielding materials as well as steel, water and concrete. This focus on shielding effectiveness per cost and weight basis also incorporates contributions from scattered radiation in the form of radiation buildup for these comprehensive materials. In this sense, we define a new metric which incorporates cost, weight and scatter radiation for assessing shielding material attractiveness. We used MicroShield to calculate the shielding ability of each material. Our findings revealed that water, concrete, and lead demonstrated superior performance in terms of cost-effectiveness. This research contributes to the understanding of affordable and efficient shielding materials and has implications for industries reliant on radiation protection, such as nuclear power generation, medical imaging, and space exploration.
期刊介绍:
Progress in Nuclear Energy is an international review journal covering all aspects of nuclear science and engineering. In keeping with the maturity of nuclear power, articles on safety, siting and environmental problems are encouraged, as are those associated with economics and fuel management. However, basic physics and engineering will remain an important aspect of the editorial policy. Articles published are either of a review nature or present new material in more depth. They are aimed at researchers and technically-oriented managers working in the nuclear energy field.
Please note the following:
1) PNE seeks high quality research papers which are medium to long in length. Short research papers should be submitted to the journal Annals in Nuclear Energy.
2) PNE reserves the right to reject papers which are based solely on routine application of computer codes used to produce reactor designs or explain existing reactor phenomena. Such papers, although worthy, are best left as laboratory reports whereas Progress in Nuclear Energy seeks papers of originality, which are archival in nature, in the fields of mathematical and experimental nuclear technology, including fission, fusion (blanket physics, radiation damage), safety, materials aspects, economics, etc.
3) Review papers, which may occasionally be invited, are particularly sought by the journal in these fields.