Neutron and photon scattering properties of high density concretes used in radiation therapy facilities: A Monte Carlo study

Abstract

In the current study the neutron and photon scattering properties of some newly developed high density concretes (HDCs) were calculated by using MCNPX Monte Carlo code. Five high-density concretes including Steel-Magnetite, Barite, Datolite-Galena, Ilmenite-ilmenite, Magnetite-Lead with the densities ranging from 5.11 g/cm3 and ordinary concrete with density of 2.3 g/cm3 were studied in our simulations. The photon beam spectra of 4 and 18 MV from Varian linac and neutron spectra of clinical 18 MeV photon beam was used for calculations. The fluence of scattered photon and neutron from all studied concretes was calculated in different angles. Overall, the ordinary concrete showed higher scattered photons and Datolite-Galena concrete (4.42 g/cm3) had the lowest scattered photons among all studied concretes. For neutron scattering, fluence at the angle of 180 was higher relative to other angles while for photons scattering fluence was maximum at 90 degree. The scattering fluence for photons and neutrons was dependent on the angle and composition of concrete. The results showed that the fluence of scattered photons and neutrons changes with the composition of high density concrete. Also, for high density concretes, the variation of scattered fluence with angle was very pronounced for neutrons but it changed slightly for photons. The results can be used for design of radiation therapy bunkers.