Study of Effectiveness of Different Shielding Materials for Neutron Radiation

Abstract

Neutron radiation poses significant shielding challenges in nuclear, medical, and research environments due to its high penetration ability and neutral charge. In our setup, we used the BC501A detector, and DT5730S digitizer capable of neutron and gamma-ray discrimination. With these instruments, we focused on evaluating different kinds of shielding material for neutron which can be further used near reactor facility. The experiment was carried out in our AINST laboratory using an Am-Be neutron source. HDPE blocks of varying thicknesses were tested to assess   attenuation effect. Electron equivalent calibration was performed using ²²Na and 137Cs sources; afterward, am – Be source was used for measurements in the same setup. The neutron energy calibration was done according to that mentioned in reference [1]. Then we will further use the time-of-flight method to calibrate the neutron energy and see its effectiveness for different shielding materials. This work is in the continuation of the work presented at DAE conference [2]. For future studies different materials will be used to assess their shielding property from neutron radiation.