Performance of boron-carbide as radiation shielding

Abstract

Radiation is widely used many fields, especially in medical science. The shielding is the basic method of protection against unnecessary influence of radiation. One of the tools most commonly used in nuclear medicine is vial pig container. Usually lead is used as shielding material in vial pigs to cover radiation source, such as Tc99m which is the most widely used radiopharmaceutical in nuclear medicine. In this study boron carbide has been tested as an substitute of lead in vial pig. The measurement has been performed with the Geiger Müller counter and the personal combined radiation detectors.