Safety analysis of paraffin wax based biological shielding for cancer therapy with BNCT method on piercing beamport of Kartini nuclear reactor Yogyakarta

Abstract

Cancer is one of the deadly diseases for humans. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2018, there were 9.6 million deaths caused by cancer. Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) is a cancer therapy method that is cell targeting by utilizing the reaction of the Boron-10 core with thermal neutrons. The use of BNCT facilities needs attention regarding the safety of radiation workers. An attempt that could be made is to mount a material on a radiation shield that efficiently blocks neutron and gamma radiation. To optimize the calculation used PHITS computer code. The result can be concluded that the characteristics of paraffin wax were effective in blocking neutron radiation but not effective in absorbing gamma radiation. C36H74 is a paraffin wax with the highest density, but produces the lowest dose rate value. The optimum geometry and radiation shielding materials to with stand neutron and gamma radiation are paraffin wax, aluminum and lead with a thickness of 6 cm on top, bottom and front 5 cm, and left and right 3 and a dose rate value at the top of 2.00 μSv/hour, bottom 6.41 μSv/hour, front 5.55 μSv/hour, left and right 3 μSv/hour respectively.