The use of wooden-boron carbide assembly as a neutron shield

摘要

In this work, a neutron shield made of successive layers of beech wood and boron carbide (B_4C) is proposed. Attenuation coefficient (μ) of B_4C-to-wood assembly has been determined for different neutron energies. This was carried out to achieve a good neutron shield with reasonably high performance. Suggested configuration (arrangement) of B_4C-to-wood was considered to reduce the total shield thickness. Comparison between the suggested B_4C-to-wood shield with the tradition neutron shielding of borated wax and concrete was studied. The B_4C-to-wood thickness ratio of 0.5 to 1 was found to be convenient as a neutron shield in comparison with that of borated wax. Attenuation coefficient (μ) values of low density shield as B_4C-wood and borated wax were found to be greater than those of concrete by about one order of magnitude. A suggested two-stage neutron shield assembly was successfully found to be a good choice where the neutron shield thickness was reduced to about 1/5 of its value.