Monte Carlo gamma transmission model for characterization of multi-gamma shielding parameters of some heavy metal oxide glasses

The applicability of a simple Monte Carlo gamma transmission model was investigated by characterizing the mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, and half-value layer for six glass sample simulants of the PbO-Li2O-B2O3 system previously prepared by others. The mass attenuation coefficients were calculated and compared with those of XCOM and the available experimental data for twenty gamma energy lines from 0.107 MeV to 7.12 MeV, and good agreement was obtained. The effects of PbO concentration on the simulated values of mass attenuation coefficient, mean free path, and half-value layer, were calculated and compared with available experimental data in the gamma energy range 0.356-1.332 MeV, and good agreement was found. The glass sample with the optimal gamma shielding for all considered gamma energies was the sample with the chemical formula Pb3B4O9. On the one hand, the Monte Carlo results confirm the applicability of the proposed model for performing additional calculations of photon attenuation properties for different glass compositions, and on the other hand, considering the energy range of gamma-ray photons in a reactor during uranium fission, 0.10-10 MeV, the results suggest the use of the studied glass samples as optical shielding windows in nuclear reactors.