Novel Shielding Mortars for Radiation Source Transportation and Storage

M. I. Sayyed, Mohamed Elsafi, Aljawhara H. Almuqrin, Katrina Cornish and Ahmed M. Elkhatib
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M. I. Sayyed: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Isra University, Amman 11622, Jordan
Mohamed Elsafi: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt
Aljawhara H. Almuqrin: Department of Physics, College of Science, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, P.O. Box 84428, Riyadh 11671, Saudi Arabia
Katrina Cornish: Departments of Horticulture and Crop Science, and Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, College of Food, Agriculrual and Environmental Sciences, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH 44691, USA
Ahmed M. Elkhatib: Physics Department, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21511, Egypt

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-13

Abstract: New types of mortar, M1 (60% sand, 25% cement, 10% ball clay, and 15% WO 3 ), M2 (50% sand, 25% cement, 10% ball clay, and 25% WO 3 ), M3 (60% sand, 25% cement, 10% Barite, and 15% WO 3 ), and M4 (50% sand, 25% cement, 10% Barite, and 25% WO 3 ), were prepared and the impact of WO 3 and barite on their radiation shielding performance and mechanical properties was evaluated. The radiation attenuation factors were evaluated using five radioactive point sources, and a sodium iodide (NaI) scintillation detector (3″ × 3″) was used to detect the attenuation of gamma ray photons emitted from radioactive sources. The density values of the mortar samples lie within the range of 2.358 and 2.602 g/cm 3 . The compressive strength and the tensile strength of the prepared mortars increased with the increasing percentage of WO 3 . The M4 mortar had the highest linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) value. The LAC results demonstrated that adding barite and a high percentage of WO 3 into the mortars notably enhanced the radiation shielding performance of the prepared mortar. The relationship between the half value layer (HVL) and the energy is direct, and so was used to calculate the thickness of mortar needed to absorb or scatter half the number of low-energy photons falling on the samples. At 0.06 MeV, the HVL values of the samples were 0.412, 0.280, 0.242, and 0.184 cm for samples M1–M4, respectively. The highest HVL values, obtained at 1.408 MeV, were 5.516, 5.202, 5.358, and 5.041 cm. Thus, a thinner layer of the M4 sample provided comparable attenuation of photons and radiation protection to the thicker M1–M3 samples. The new material is promising as an effective shield of radiation-emitting sources during transportation and long-term storage.

Keywords: mortar; mechanical properties; the radiation attenuation factors; sodium iodide (NaI) scintillation detector (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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