Radiation Shielding

Chapter 7
Section 2 Shielding
Radiation Shielding
Objectives
Understand
How radiation is emitted from a
source
The difference between fluence
and flux
How to calculate flux (& fluence) at
a known distance from a point
source
Calculate dose at a point in space
using a dose conversion factor
 Nature of Radiation Emissions
When a radionuclide
decays, the radiation goes
out from the source in any
direction
This is called isotropic
emission
We measure the strength
of the radiations
(intensity) at some
distance from the source
Radiation Intensity

The fluence () is the

number of photons
moving through a target
area (/cm2)
The flux () is the
number of photons
moving through an area
per time (/cm2s)
 Why Calculate Flux?
Fluence and flux tell you:
Photons per area, and
Photons per area & time
If you know:
Energy per photon
Then, you can calculate
Energy deposited per area
and, ultimately, dose
Calculating Flux

Need to answer two

questions:
What is the source strength
S0 (in photons/s) or the total
number of disintegrations
(D)?
What is the distance, r, from
the source (at point P) r
where you want to calculate
the flux? P
Calculating Flux, continued

Consider each photon as it

leaves the source
It moves further away from
others that have been
emitted
Therefore, the flux (/cm2s)
decreases
Another Way to Look at It
If a source emits 4
photons/s, what is
the flux at 1 cm, 10
cm, and 1m?
Consider the
surface area of the
sphere(s) the
photons are
passing through:
 Surface Area of a
Sphere
S . A. 4 r 2

S.A.1 cm = 12.57 cm2

S.A.10 cm = 1257 cm2
1 cm
S.A.100 cm = 125,664 cm2
10 cm

100 cm
Calculating Fluence and Flux,
continued
D

4 r 2
S0

4 r 2
= Fluence /cm2
= Flux /cm2s
D = total number of photons emitted
S0 = source strength (photons/s)
R = distance from source (1, 10, 100 cm)
Calculating Fluence and Flux,
continued
If source emits 4 photons/s, S0 = 4,
The (flux) is then calculated:
At 1 cm
= 4 /12.57cm2s
= 0.318 /cm2s
At 10 cm
= 4 /1257 cm s
2

= 3.18 x 10
-3 /cm2s

At 100 cm
=4 /125,664 cm2s
= 3.18 x 10-5 /cm2s
Calculating Fluence and Flux,
continued

For this same problem, what is the

photon fluence?
Can we calculate it at all?
Why? Why not?
Calculating Flux
At any point from the source, the photon intensity
(flux) can also be estimated as:

S0

4 r 2

But, what happens if we put some photon absorbing

material between the source and our measurement
point?
Attenuation Occurs
Remember the universal equation (or one
form of it):
x
I ( x) I e
0
This describes how a beam of photons is
Reduced in intensity by absorbing material
Absorber of thickness x is in the photon path

The source can be said to be shielded

 Source Strength From
Shielded Source
The two equations can be combined to
yield:

( x) shielded unshielded e x

So x
e
4 r 2

The term 1/(4r2) is called the

geometeric attenuation factor
Converting to a Dose Rate
Photon intensity can be
converted to dose rate
Called an uncollided dose
S0 P rate
Use tables of dose
conversion factors:

So x
( x) shielded e
4 r 2

x
So x
Du k ( E ) E e
r 4 r 2
 Previous Example, continued
Assume
S0= 4 photons/s
Photon energy is 0.8 MeV
Shielding material is 0.5 cm Uranium (U)

Calculate the exposure rate at 1, 10, and 100

cm.
 Photon Energy Flux to Exposure Dose-
rate Conversion Factors
Conversion Factor,
Energy of Energy (E) in k(E),
photon being MeV R/hr per MeV/cm2 s
evaluated
0.5 1.96 E-06 Scientific
0.6 1.94 E-06 notation
0.7 1.92 E-06
commonly
used, should be
0.8 1.90 E-06
read as:
0.9 1.87 E-06
1.0 1.84 E-06 1.96 x 10-6
1.2 1.78 E-06
1.4 1.73 E-06
These are
look up
1.6 1.67 E-06
values
1.8 1.62 E-06
2.0 1.56 E-06
Total Linear Attenuation Coefficient
Factors, (cm-1)
Energy (E) Al Fe Sn W Pb U
in MeV (2.70)* (7.86) (7.31) (19.3) (11.34) (18.7)

0.5 0.227 0.652 0.666 2.490 1.746 3.459

0.6 0.210 0.599 0.578 1.988 1.361 2.618

0.7 0.196 0.557 0.523 1.705 1.136 2.144
0.8 0.184 0.523 0.479 1.492 0.971 1.803
0.9 0.174 0.493 0.445 1.349 0.866 1.584
1.0 0.166 0.468 0.417 1.233 0.782 1.410

1.2 0.151 0.4285 0.382 1.114 0.699 1.245

1.4 0.140 0.397 0.354 1.022 0.635 1.121
1.6 0.131 0.372 0.332 0.949 0.585 1.023
1.8 0.123 0.352 0.314 0.889 0.544 0.944
2.0 0.117 0.334 0.298 0.838 0.510 0.879

*Normal density () in g/cm3

Total Linear Attenuation Coefficient
Factors, (cm-1), continued
Energy (E) Ordinary Barytes Magnetite Ferrophos. Water Air
in MeV Concrete Concrete Concrete Concrete (1.0) (0.001205)**
(2.35)* (3.50) (3.55) (4.68)

0.5 0.204 0.317 0.303 0.395 0.0967 1.048E-4

0.6 0.188 0.286 0.278 0.363 0.0895 9.70E-5

0.7 0.175 0.262 0.259 0.337 0.0835 9.05E-5

0.8 0.165 0.243 0.243 0.317 0.0786 8.52E-5
0.9 0.156 0.227 0.230 0.299 0.0743 8.05E-5
1.0 0.149 0.214 0.219 0.285 0.0707 7.66E-5

1.2 0.136 0.196 0.200 0.260 0.0643 6.97E-5

1.4 0.126 0.181 0.185 0.241 0.0594 6.44E-5
1.6 0.118 0.170 0.173 0.226 0.0554 6.01E-5
1.8 0.111 0.160 0.163 0.213 0.0522 5.66E-5
2.0 0.105 0.152 0.155 0.202 0.0494 5.36E-5

*Normal density () in g/cm3

* * Air at 200C, 760 mm Hg
 So x Calculating
D u k ( E ) E e Exposure
4 r 2

The uncollided flux previously calculated is:

At 1 cm, = 0.318 /cm2s
At 10 cm, = 3.18 x 10-3 /cm2s
At 100 cm, = 3.18 x 10-5 /cm2s

k(E) = 1.9 x 10-6 R/hr per MeV/cm2 s

E= 0.8 MeV
e-x is e-1.803*0.5 = 0.41
So, the exposure rate is:
1.98 x 10-7 R/hr at 1 cm; 1.98 x 10-9 R/hr at 10 cm;
1.98 x 10-11 R/hr at 100 cm
 Calculating Flux From
Complex Geometries
Point Kernel method P
Source broken into many
small kernels
Contribution from each
kernel evaluated for a
common point
Contributions are summed
Rule of Thumb #1
Some equations to memorize
For estimating dose rate from a
gamma point source where the
distance is in feet, and the source
strength is in Ci, and the energy of
the gamma is expressed in MeV,
then:
6.0 E Ci rad
D 2
=
ft hr
Rule of Thumb #2
For beta radiation, the equation is
similar, where the maximum
energy of the beta radiation is
used.

2 E max Ci rad
D 2
=
ft hr
Rules of Thumb,
continued
It is important to note that if a
nuclide decays by multiple
emissions (betas or gammas) that
they have to be accounted for in
the calculation. You can estimate
the dose from each separately and
sum the total.