Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika

The peer-reviewed scientific and technology journal. ISSN: 0204-3327

Investigation of High Density Polyethylene Properties in Ionizing Radiation Shielding Materials

9/20/2024 2024 - #03 Nuclear materials

Balachkov M.M. Melnikova A.S. Smykovskaya V.O. Yurchenko M.D.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2024.3.05

UDC: 621.039-78

Nowadays, radiation technologies are used in many areas of industry and science. The use of radiation technologies is associated with dose loads on personnel, and there is a need therefore for developing and switching to new, more effective and promising protective materials. One of the most promising materials is polyethylene. On the one hand, this material is widely known in the industry and has been studied quite well; on the other hand, there are many studies showing the prospects of developing protective materials based on polyethylene. This paper proposes to use plastic from recycled materials for protective purposes.

In the course of the experiments carried out to obtain samples of recycled plastic processed by fragmentation and further heating to 200°C for about half an hour. Preprocessed plastic wa exposed to pressure using a hydraulic laboratory press. The density of the obtained samples varied in a range of 0.887 ± 0.007 to 0.909 ± 0.007 g/cm3. It was found in the experiments to study the attenuation of gamma radiation using samples that the values of the mass attenuation coefficients of gamma quanta were 0.1703 ± 0.0011, 0.180 ± 0.024, 0.121 ± 0.016, 0.03 ± 0.05 cm2/g, respectively, for energies of 59, 122, 344, and 1409 keV. For gamma radiation with energies of 122, 344 and 1409 keV, the mass attenuation coefficients coincide with the reference values within the error. For the energy of 59 keV, the difference between the values of the attenuation coefficients and the tabulated data was determined and the experimental design was continued to be revised.

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nuclear power radiation technologies radiation protection plastic recycling shielding material gamma ray attenuation coefficient

Link for citing the article: Balachkov M.M., Melnikova A.S., Smykovskaya V.O., Yurchenko M.D. Investigation of High Density Polyethylene Properties in Ionizing Radiation Shielding Materials. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2024, no. 3, pp. 59-67; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2024.3.05 (in Russian).

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