Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika

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

Calculation of Dosimetric Characteristics for the UNU GUR-120 Irradiation Hall Using a Numerical Monte Carlo Method for Planning Radiation Treatment Processes

12/20/2024 2024 - #04 Application of nuclear tech

Dorn Y.A. Adarova A.I. Chizh T.V. Niyonsenga E. Pavlov A.N. Kurachenko Y.A.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2024.4.15

UDC: 539.1

In accordance with GOST ISO 14470-2014 “Food Irradiation. Requirements for Development, Validation and Routine Control of the Process of Food Irradiation using Ionizing Radiation”, radiation monitoring needs to be undertaken to ensure that a strictly defined absorbed dose is achieved in each food product irradiation act. To optimize the research and production process for irradiation of agricultural and food products, a model has been developed to calculate the dosimetric parameters of RIRAE GUR-120, a unique research gamma irradiation facility based at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center (hereinafter UNU GUR-120, reg. No. 2795259 on the ckp-rf.ru website, reg. date: 12.10.2021) using numerical methods for the particle transport calculation, specifically the Monte Carlo method. Using the model makes it possible to calculate the distribution of absorbed doses in the UNU GUR-120 irradiation hall, as a result of which the irradiation time is optimized, the facility efficiency is increased, and energy consumption is reduced.

The UNU GUR-120 facility was developed, designed and put into operation in the 1980s. The facility’s key mission was to provide an area for uniform irradiation of agricultural plants in the growing season. Engineering calculations for the layout of irradiation units and the distribution of dosimetric fields were undertaken in accordance with this mission, taking into account the capability to regulate the dose rate at the center of a hall with the dimensions of 2.5 × 2.5 m in a range of 0.1 Gy/h to 25 Gy/h, which has no analogs globally. Currently, the facility has been upgraded, loaded with ionizing radiation sources to the maximum extent, and, in addition, has the range of its applications extended with the required dose rate varying in a range of 0.1 Gy/h to 10,000 Gy/h, and the absorbed dose interval being between 1 Gy and 500,000 Gy. Accordingly, optimizing the radiation treatment process requires one to know the reliable value of dosimetric parameters across the UNU GUR-120 irradiation hall, which allows simultaneous irradiation of different product and material types. The parameters of the UNU GUR-120 (design and arrangement of irradiation units, capability to adjust the dose rate within a broad range, and simultaneous irradiation of products for different purposes) make it a unique facility. It appears to be an extraordinary task to describe the geometry of three-dimensional mathematical models. It has been solved successfully using the MCNP software package. The calculated values have been shown to be in good agreement with experimental data. The satisfactory reproducibility of calculated and experimental results obtained has shown that it is possible to use the MCNP software package to describe the distribution of absorbed doses across the UNU GUR-120 irradiation hall to allow research on the distribution of the absorbed gamma radiation dose within irradiated products.

Analyzing the simulation results also allows minimizing the product exposure time provided that the required dose is reached, which increases the facility efficiency, increases the facility’s cost effectiveness, and reduces, accordingly, the energy consumption.

References

  1. Radiation Technologies in Agriculture and Food Industry. Edited by G.V. Koz’min, S.A. Geras’kin, N.I. Sanzharova. Obninsk. RIRAE, 2015, 399 p. ISBN 978 5 903386 39 0 (in Russian).
  2. Musina O. N., Konovalov K. L. Radiation treatment of food raw materials and food products with ionizing radiation. Pishchevaya promyshlennost. 2016, no. 8, pp. 46 – 49 (in Russian).
  3. Perova N.V., Tenishev V.P. Ensuring the safety of food and agricultural products when treated with ionizing radiation. Proc. of the International Research and Practice Conference. Radiation Technologies in Agriculture and Food Industry: Current State and Prospects. Obninsk, RIRAE Publ., 2018, pp. 169 – 171. Available at: https://rt2018.rirae.ru/images/Documents/SbornikRT2018_web.pdf (accessed Apr. 01, 2024) (in Russian).
  4. Pavlov A.N., Chizh T.V., Vorobiev M.S. Dosimetry systems in modern practice of radiation processing. Proc. of the International Research and Practice Conference. Radiation Technologies in Agriculture and Food Industry: Current State and Prospects. Obninsk, RIRAE Publ., 2018, pp. 166 – 168. Available at: https://rt2018.rirae.ru/images/Documents/SbornikRT2018_web.pdf (accessed Apr. 01, 2024) (in Russian).
  5. Pavlov A.N. Study of radiobiological indicators of the effectiveness of the experimental-production process of radiation treatment of plant-origin agricultural products. Abstract of the diss. Cand. Sci. (Biol.). Obninsk. All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Radiology and Agroecology, 2016, 23 p. Available at: https://ds.rirae.ru/images/Documents/att/Pavlov/AvtoreferatPavlov.pdf (accessed Apr. 01, 2024) (in Russian).
  6. Pavlov A.N., Chizh T.V., Snegirev A.S., Sanzharova N.I., Chernyaev A.P., Borshchegovskaya P.Yu., Ipatova V.S., Dorn Yu.A. Technological process of food irradiation and dosimetric support. Radiacionnaya gigiena. 2020, v. 13, no. 4, pp. 40 – 50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21514/1998-426X-2020-13-4-40-50 (in Russian).
  7. ISO/ASTM 51261:2013. Practice for calibration of routine dosimetry systems for radiation processing. Available at: https://www.iso.org/standard/60211.html (accessed Apr. 01, 2024).
  8. ISO/ASTM 52303:2015. Guide for absorbed-dose mapping in radiation processing facilities. Available at: https://www.iso.org/ru/standard/67807.html (accessed Apr. 01, 2024).
  9. Bliznyuk U.A., Borchegovskaya P.Yu, Chernyaev A.P., Avdukhina V.M., Ipatova V.S., Leontev V.A., Studenikin F.R. Computer simulation to determine food irradiation dose levels. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. 2019, v. 365: 012002. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/365/1/012002
  10. Dridi W., Daoudi M., Farah K., Hosni F. Monte Carlo validation of dose mapping for the Tunisian Gamma Irradiation Facility using the MCNP6 code. Radiat Phys Chem. 2020, v. 173: 108942. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.radphyschem.2020.108942
  11. Gual M.R., Pereira C., Mesquita A.Z. Application of a new source model of a panoramic gamma irradiator on dose map formation in an irradiated product. Appl Radiat Isot. 2019, v. 144, pp. 87 – 92. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aprad iso.2018.12.002

Monte Monte Carlo simulation gamma radiation unique GUR-120 gamma irradiation facility absorbed dose MCNP5 code

Link for citing the article: Dorn Y.A., Adarova A.I., Chizh T.V., Niyonsenga E., Pavlov A.N., Kurachenko Y.A. Calculation of Dosimetric Characteristics for the UNU GUR-120 Irradiation Hall Using a Numerical Monte Carlo Method for Planning Radiation Treatment Processes. Izvestiya vuzov. Yadernaya Energetika. 2024, no. 4, pp. 180-190; DOI: https://doi.org/10.26583/npe.2024.4.15 (in Russian).

Open PDF file