Determination and Analysis of Radiation Shielding Properties of Some Selected Building Materials

Abstract

Background: Radiation shielding primarily is based on the principle of attenuation of beams of X-ray or gamma radiation by absorption or scattering of the radiation that results due to the interaction between penetrating radiation and matter, radiation shielding properties such as attenuation coefficients obtained as a result of interaction between X-rays and gamma rays with target materials helps to study and confirm the appropriate building materials used for radiation shielding purposes. The linear attenuation coefficient required by radiation engineers in the design and analysis of radiation facilities has been determined and analysed for both gamma ray source Cs-137 and X-ray sources for 662 keV and 60- 120 kVp respectively. Methods: The determination of linear attenuation coefficient was evaluated by the formulation of building materials such as lead, granite, aluminium and concrete by calculating and comparing both experimental and theoretical results for 662 keV and 60-120 kVp using collimated Source-Material-Detector geometry method and XCOM software respectively. Conclusion: The results agreed with similar experimental works and the use of XCOM software with a percentage deviation of 0.44% - 11% at the 95 % confidence level. It was concluded that the results will go in a long way in assisting engineers and radiation professionals in the design and protection of radiation facilities.