Investigation of Neutron Shielding Behaviour of Unreinforced and Calcite Reinforced Concrete Samples

Neutron particles are different, due to their nature of interacting directly with the atomic nucleus and making indirect ionization. In this study calcite containing and non-calcite containing concrete samples neutron shielding capabilities was compared with each other. CaCO3 (calcite) added concrete and pure concrete was experimentally compared against an isotropic Am-Be neutron source. Naturally, calcite containing concrete was in heavy form in comparison with pure concrete, means that the aim of these experiment is comparing neutron shielding properties of heavy and light concrete. In both samples, thickness of the samples was started with 2 cm and reach to 10 cm with 2 cm increases. The effect of thickness and the effect of material type on neutron shielding was investigated. According to the test results, pure concrete samples shows better shielding characteristics.