Running Head: Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Written Proposal

12/18/18

Zane Vandivere & George French

Recycled Radiation Shields

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Abstract

Safety is the key to successful space exploration. Away from the surface of the Earth’s

magnetosphere, astronauts require artificial shields, both physical and electromagnetic, to protect

them from harmful forms of radiation present in the cosmos. Current methods of radiation

shielding are only effective when still somewhat within the Earth’s magnetosphere and some are

not cost effective. Should astronauts attempt to venture farther from the protective

magnetosphere of their home planet, they would be bombarded by high-energy forms of

radiation called gamma rays. This radiation can increase the risk of cancer and, under prolonged

exposure cause radiation sickness. However, simple household objects comprised of a certain

hydrogen-rich plastic called polyethylene can be recycled to ensure astronauts’ safety against

radiation, as well as a cleaner, non-polluted environment to welcome them home. The

experiment requires 5 12 inch by 12 inch 0.5 inch thick sheets of recycled high density

polyethylene (r-HDPE) sheets and 5 non-recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE) sheets of

the same dimensions. In the procedure, a geiger counter is used to test the energy of the radiation

that penetrates a horizontal stack of 1 to 5 of two types of HDPE: r-HDPE and pure HDPE. The

expected outcome of this experiment is that r-HDPE will have a similar transmissivity, or

radiative permeability, to pure HDPE.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Recycled Radiation Shields

Radiation is becoming an increasingly large threat as humans venture outside of the

protective bubble of the Earth’s magnetic shield. Humans are constantly being bombarded by all

forms of radiation. Through extensive experimentation, it has been found that most radiation

particles in space are low energy. However, there are some more harmful and powerful ones, like

gamma rays. These are emitted from the Sun and other distant cosmic bodies and deflected or

diffused by the magnetic field of the Earth. Other planets, and the space between them, do not

have such protection. Mars, for example, would require artificial radiation shielding for any

colonists or even research scientists staying under a year. Without this shield, astronauts would

be exposed to high-energy radiation, causing a higher likelihood of cancer later in life or even

radiation sickness (Frazier, 2015). Nonetheless, astronauts, such as those on the International

Space Station (ISS), are still exposed to more occupational radiation than any other people. They

are also exposed to a variety of radiation forms that other people on Earth, such as employees at

nuclear power plants, are not. Guidelines and requirements, such as the “as low as reasonably

achievable” (ALARA) precept, which requires that radiation exposure be limited and monitored,

help keep astronauts safe and help meet federal requirements for radiation exposure levels. There

are many methods to limit radiation exposure in the ISS, including reinforcement of physical

radiation shields (“​Implementation of ALARA,” 2014​). The interesting fact about Earth’s

magnetic field is that it is not very strong, but it acts over a large distance. Current methods to

replicate this for scientific uses fail because they are the opposite; they are very strong, but act

over a much smaller distance, and it is difficult to get a powerful enough field over such a short

distance without also harming the astronauts. This is call active shielding. Due to mass

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

restrictions, refrigerated superconducting coils must be used. Currently, the NbTi material would

most likely be used for this purpose. However, in the near future, new technologies such as

Nb​3​Sn material or high-Tc superconductors could drastically improve the efficiency of

superconductors. After assuming a deviation of 45​o​ within a radius of 0.25 m for the incoming

radiation and a current density, or electric current flow, of 3500 A/mm​2​ for the center, the

superconductor coil’s mass and volume can be found to be 103 kg and 27840 cm​3​ respectively.

Finding the total mass of the superconductor would only require adding the mass of the cooling

system and the thermal shielding (“Radiation shielding of spacecraft,” 2000). It is still unknown

how much radiation is experienced inside the generated magnetic shield, what the exact limits of

the coverage of the shielding are, or how to overcome other issues, such as where to get the

energy for the generator or how the structure to hold the coils should be built (Raval, 2013).

Physical shielding of radiation, or passive shielding, is also a viable option, if the right material

is used. Certain materials work especially well to stop cosmic radiation. For physical shielding,

materials with low atomic numbers work the best to reduce cosmic radiation. Polyethylene is a

plastic that is relatively inert and is made of hydrogen and carbon, elements with low mass

numbers. Because electrons and protons are a similar size, hydrogen works especially well at

“catching” radiation. Polyethylene is also inexpensive and easy to manufacture. However, it has

a density of about 0.97 g/cm​3​, which is low enough that volume would be somewhat difficult to

deal with. The ALARA Implementation of experimentation relied on computer simulation to

predict the results of using polyethylene as a physical radiation barrier. The experiment was

heavily reliant on the placement of the radiation shield in order to achieve minimum radiation

exposure for astronauts. The shielding was distributed uniformly around the cabin quarters of the

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

simulated space shuttle. This was meant to reduce the radiation exposure in the compartment in

which the astronauts would theoretically spend the most time. The numerical results concluded

that a relatively small shielding of polyethylene with a thickness of 4.8 g/cm​2​ had a 14%

reduction in the amount of radiation that permeated the cabin quarters. The type of radiation

shielded against in this simulation were the charged solar protons (with an average energy level

of about 10​5​ MeV) from the Sun and other galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) that constantly penetrate

the Earth’s magnetosphere (“Implementation of ALARA,” 2004). In comparison, NASA

performed an experiment aboard the International Space Station on the shielding effects of

aluminum, currently the most widely used material to shield radiation. Experimentation showed

that a similar thickness of aluminum was only able to shield radiation energies of 10​3 ​MeV at

max (“Radiation shielding of spacecraft,” 2000). This insufficiency in an aluminum radiation

shield’s abilities is the primary reason that this project is essential to regions of “deep space” that

are not protected by the Earth’s magnetic field. NASA later went on to release another study in

2017 on the radiation shielding effects of polyethylene and Kevlar. The results were clear:

polyethylene outperformed Kevlar in nearly every trial. It also performed far better than the

aluminum shields had in their previous experiment. On average, a 5 g/cm​2​ thickness of

polyethylene resulted in a 19% reduction in radiation dosage and a 10 g/cm​2​ thickness of

polyethylene resulted in a 32% reduction in radiation dosage (“Performances of Kevlar and

Polyethylene,” 2017). Such a percentage reduction is far more favorable than any that aluminum

could supply. However, this percentage could still be increased further by using alternative forms

of polyethylene, such as high density polyethylene (HDPE), that are more compact and allow for

less radiation to permeate through them.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Question

How well do homemade, recycled HDPE sheets shield radiation in comparison to

professionally made non-recycled HDPE sheets? This question can be answered using the raw

data for the experiment to calculate the percent difference between the recycled HDPE versus

non-recycled HDPE. Can the time-span of survivable radiation exposure in space really be

increased simply by recycling plastic grocery bags? This question can be answered through

analysis of the data. Predictions and scientific inferences can be applied to the results of the

experiment to make even further predictions on broader subjects. The answers to these questions

will pave a foundation for future scientific inquiry and discovery.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Hypothesis

If sheets of recycled HDPE are used to shield radiation, then they will perform similarly

to non-recycled sheets of plastic HDPE. Should this hypothesis fail to be supported by the data,

the null hypothesis is as follows: if sheets of recycled HDPE are used to shield radiation, then

they will have a worse average performance than pure HDPE. The expected computational

model will be in the form of a data visualization tool — a graph comparing radiation

permeability of the recycled HDPE to that of the non-recycled HDPE.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Materials and Methods

The materials to be used for setting up the experiment are plastic HDPE waste (in the

form of common grocery bags), a household pancake griddle, a small oven, a blender, sandpaper

(or other tools used for sanding), clamps/weights, and non-recycled HDPE sheets. The materials

needed for the data collection are an X-ray machine, a meter stick, and a geiger counter.

Procedure for molding recycled plastic

1. Cut up recycled plastic with scissors.

2. Shred plastic pieces in blender.

3. Build ½ inch thick, 12 inch by 12 inch molding cast, making sure to sand down

particularly rough areas to ensure the plastic sheets are not irregular after molding.

4. Heat the shredded plastic on the pancake griddle on top of wax paper until the pieces

have begun to meld together.

5. Soften plastic in oven until soft enough to mold.

6. Put plastic in mold and let set, keeping constant pressure to prevent swelling and wax

paper between wood and plastic.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Procedure for testing

1. The first measurement taken must be the control. This should be done by simply

measuring the output radiation of the X-ray machine with no barriers. All measurements

should be taken for a duration of about 10 seconds.

2. After measuring and recording the control, one 1/2 inch HDPE sheet should be placed in

a position where it visibly would be hit by all X-rays travelling to the geiger counter.

Record the geiger counter readings with radiation exposure three times.

3. Repeat step two four more times, adding another 1/2 inch HDPE sheet directly in front of

the original sheet for each trial. For every trial, make sure that the position of the HDPE

stack does not move.

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

Data and Analysis

After all data is recorded, as detailed in the procedure, the averages can be calculated for

each each of the trials to obtain more precise results. Using all measurements, it will be

necessary to create a graph using dosage levels, measured in microsieverts, as the dependent

variable and the thickness in centimeters of the HDPE stacks as the independent variable. Then

the relationship between the data sets, e.g. linear, quadratic, or exponential, can be derived using

a data analysis tool. For each r-HDPE trial, it should be compared to its corresponding thickness

trial with the pure HDPE sheets using percent difference. The percent difference formula is as

follows:

|pure trial − recycled trial|

percent difference =​ (pure trial + recycled trial) * 100%
2

These percent differences should be relatively small, according to the experimental

hypothesis. Using this same formula, it is also necessary to calculate the percent difference

between the rates of change of the recycled HDPE shielding graph and the non-recycled HDPE

shielding graph. This rate of change represents the stopping power for the plastic over varying

thicknesses.

Example Table:

Penetrated Radiation (μSv)

Thickness (in) Recycled HDPE Pure HDPE

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Average Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial Average

3

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Recycled Radiation Shields: Zane Vandivere and George French

References

Frazier, S. (2015, September 30). How to Protect Astronauts from Space Radiation on Mars.

Retrieved from

https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/real-martians-how-to-protect-astronauts-from-spac

e-radiation-on-mars​ ​on November 29, 2018​.

Radiation shielding of spacecraft in manned interplanetary flights. (2000, March 20). Retrieved

from​ ​https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168900299010918​ ​on

November 29, 2018.

Implementation of ALARA radiation protection on the ISS through polyethylene shielding

augmentation of the Service Module Crew Quarters. (2004, April 02). Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117704002078​ ​on November 29,

2018.

Raval, S. (2013, January 20). Superconducting Magnets to Protect Spacecraft from Radiation.

Retrieved from

http://www.spacesafetymagazine.com/space-hazards/radiation/superconducting-magnets-

protect-spacecrafts-space-radiation/​ on December 17, 2018.

X-rays. (2017, July 25). Retrieved from

https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/what-is-radiation/ionising-radiation/

x-ray​ on October 23, 2018.

Performances of Kevlar and Polyethylene as radiation shielding on-board the International Space

Station in high latitude radiation environment. (2017, May 10). Retrieved from

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5432003/​ ​on October 23, 2018.

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