Radiation shielding of concretes containing different lime/silica ratios

The shielding of γ-rays and fast neutrons by concrete has been studied for concretes containing different lime/silica ratios. Calculations were carried out for six different concrete samples. The total mass attenuation coefficients (μ/ρ, cm2 g-1) have been computed at photon energies of 1 keV to 100 GeV using the personal computer software package WinXCom. Also the macroscopic effective fast neutron removal cross-sections (ΣR, cm-1) have been calculated using MERCSF-N program and the removal cross-section database for all required elements. The obtained results showed that the lime/silica ratio of concrete has significant and insignificant effects on μ/ρ and ΣR values, respectively. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd.