NXcom - A program for calculating attenuation coefficients of fast neutrons and gamma-rays

This work is concerned with a construction and use of NXcom computer program for calculating the removal and attenuation coefficients of transmitted fast neutrons and gamma-rays respectively through mixtures composites concretes and compounds The program uses only one input data file for neutrons and gamma-rays calculations For gamma-ray attenuation the program predictions were tested by comparing them with the well-known WinXcom program results and an excellent agreement was noticed Also it has been used for calculating the values of macroscopic effective removal cross-sections Sigma(R) (cm(-1)) for five new published polyamide and anhydride composites designed for shielding mixed neutron and gamma-rays The obtained values for Sigma(R) using the program and the reported attenuation thicknesses which were based on the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) code showed the same trend The NXcom program can be used as a preliminary effective tool for testing the shielding material against fast neutrons and gamma-rays (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd All rights reserved