Evaluation of Gamma Radiation Shielding Performance of Cylindrical Concrete Containers Using Soil Volume Source Contaminated by Radioactive Cesium

Abstract

This study evaluated the radiation shielding performance of high density (4.57g/cm³) concrete containers against gamma rays radiated from soil volume source contaminated by radioactive cesium (¹³⁴Cs and ¹³⁷Cs), through experiments and analysis. From the results of the experiment, it was demonstrated that high density cylindrical concrete containers with thickness of 100mm can reduce radiation dose equivalents emitted from the soil volume source contaminated by radioactive cesium by up to 90%. Good agreement was observed between the experimental and analytical values of shielding performance if the shielding of radiation from the background by the concrete container is properly taken into account. From the analysis, it was demonstrated that the difference between the shielding performances against point and volume sources can reach several tens of percent, although shielding performance against point sources is often used in shielding design.