Radiation shielding of concretes containing different aggregates

The shielding of gamma-rays by concrete has been investigated for concretes containing different amounts of barite and normal weight aggregates. The linear attenuation coefficients (mu, cm(-1)) have been calculated at photon energies of 1 keV to 100 GeV using XCOM and the obtained results compared with the measurements at the photon energies of 0.66 MeV and 1.33 MeV. It is shown that the type of the aggregate is more important than the amount of aggregate used in concrete for gamma-ray shielding. (C) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.