NGS-Concrete - New Generation Shielding Concrete against Ionizing Radiation - the Potential Evaluation and Preliminary Investigation

Concrete is a common material used as a shielding against ionizing radiation due to the relatively low cost and the ability to meet the structural function. State of the art in concrete shielding is that while in case of gamma radiation an increase in density by a change of aggregate is usually efficient enough, protection against neutrons is more complex. It is due to the differences in interactions of neutrons with the matter, depending on their kinetic energy and reaction cross-sections with the component atoms of the cement paste and the aggregate. Last progress in concrete evolution due to use of polymer additives (e.g. superplasticizers) together with reactive additions (e.g. silica fume) allows for a new look at the concrete design for radiation shielding purposes. One of the main advantages of concrete is its composite-type and there is a potential for the optimization of its constituents as well as mixture proportions. The paper presents the preliminary results of the project NGS-Concrete - new-generation shielding concrete against ionizing radiation. The aim of the project is to design the composition of concrete against ionizing radiation, achieved by the use of experiment based multi-criteria optimization of materials supported by the Monte Carlo simulations. The purpose of presented studies was to evaluate neutron shielding properties of ordinary and heavy-weight magnetite concrete modified with epoxy resin and gadolinium oxide. At first the shielding efficiency against neutrons from LWR neutron flux source and Pu-Be was simulated in MCNP code. At the end the comparison of MCNP simulated results and real experiment was presented. It was proved that both methods of modification can improve neutron shielding properties concrete but gadolinium oxide is an efficient additive only for low energy neutron attenuation