Investigation of gamma-ray attenuation properties by simulation with experimental comparison for bentonite, red mud, hematite and serpentine

Due to the many applications of nuclear technology in combination with other industries such as agriculture, power plants, medicine, research, etc., the use of radioactive materials has grown significantly in recent decades. As a result, it has increased radioactive waste. Therefore, environmental pollution is one of the serious and dangerous challenges of this widely used industry. To solve the challenge of radioactive waste management, the best way is to bury these materials underground. Low-level radioactive waste landfills should be covered with a layer of clay around them. This clay liner must be able to effectively shield the radiation emitted by radioactive waste. Due to the high penetration ability and high energy of gamma rays, it can be reduced to the permissible level by improving the clay layer. Clay is used as the main material for the Landfill shielding liner due to its being environmentally friendly, abundance, availability, and reasonable price. In this study, the effect of adding hematite powder, red mud powder, and serpentine aggregate to sodium bentonite was evaluated. The samples made in this study include pure bentonite and different percentages of hematite powder, red mud powder, and serpentine aggregate separately and their combination by XCOM database and MCNP code with energy levels of ۶۶۲, ۱۱۷۳, and ۱۳۳۲ keV. The results show that the highest linear attenuation coefficient for three energy levels of ۶۶۲, ۱۱۷۳, and ۱۳۳۲ keV was reached for the BS۱۰RM۳۰H۳۰S۳۰ sample, which is approximately ۴۷% better than the pure bentonite sample at all three energy levels.

Keywords:

bentonite , hematite , serpentine , red mud , linear attenuation coefficient