The Mass stopping power/projected range and nuclear shielding behaviors of barium bismuth borate glasses and influence of cerium oxide

This paper aims to evaluate not only photon and neutron but also proton and alpha shielding effectiveness of barium bismuth borate glasses doped by CeO2. The mass attenuation coefficients (mu/rho) of these glasses have been computed utilizing MCNPX (2.6.0) code in a wide energy range of 0.02-20 MeV and compared with the results of WinXCOM software. Afterwards, some photon attenuation parameters such as half-value layer, (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP), effective atomic number (Z(eff)), effective electron density (N-el), photon transmission factors (TF) and neutron effective removal cross-sections (Sigma(R)) for the cerium oxide substituted barium bismuth borate glasses have been estimated. Using G-P fitting method, exposure buildup factor (EBF) values have been found over the energy range 0.015-15 MeV up to 40 mfp. In addition, Mass stopping power (MSP) and projected range (PR) values have been calculated for proton particles (H-1) and alpha particles (He+2). The results exhibit that the density of the glass can be related to the photon and neutron shielding. A10 glass has the highest Sigma(R) values whereas the lowest TF values in gamma and neutron radiation have been observed for A1 sample. A1 and U glasses possess the highest values of Z(eff) as well as the smallest values of EBF. It can be concluded that A1 and A10 glasses are alternative materials with terms of photon and neutron attenuation, respectively.