Radiation protection is crucial for the safe utilization of ionizing radiation and minimizing the harmful effect upon exposure, hence some standards have been defined by some relevant organizations for the safe uses of radiation. One of the parameters relevant to the calculation of gamma ray shielding is the half-value layer (HVL), which is normally calculated using the knowledge of linear attenuation coefficient (μ). In this research, an attempt has been made to directly calculate HVL without the knowledge of μ via Monte Carlo simulation technique. For this purpose, in the Monte Carlo N-Particle eXtended (MCNPX) code, F1, F5 and Mesh Popul sequences tallies were defined and the optimal structure for the least measurement error was introduced. The MCNPX calculated values showed reasonable agreement with the experimental findings. According to the obtained results, it is suggested that in order to reduce the error of HVL calculations, in exchange for the MCNPX code, the values of the R parameter and the radiation angle of the source should be considered according to the calculations introduced in this plan. Because the results show that by considering the measurement error between 6 and 20%, the code output can be cited in different energy ranges.
Various atomic and nuclear methods use hard (high-energy) X-rays to detect elements. The current study aims to investigate the hard X-ray production rate via high-energy proton beam irradiation of various materials. For which, appropriate conditions for producing X-rays were established. The MCNPX code, based on the Monte Carlo method, was used for simulation. Protons with energies up to 1650 MeV were irradiated on various materials such as carbon, lithium, lead, nickel, salt, and soil, where the resulting X-ray spectra were extracted. The production of X-rays in lead was observed to increase 16 times, with the gain reaching 0.18 as the proton energy increases from 100 MeV to 1650 MeV. Comparatively, salt is a good candidate among the lightweight elements to produce X-rays at a low proton energy of 30 MeV with a production gain of 0.03. Therefore, it is suggested to irradiate the NaCl target with 30 MeV proton to produce X-rays in the 0-2 MeV range.
Neutrons can be generated in medical linear accelerators (Linac) due to the interaction of high-energy photons (> 10 MeV) with the components of the accelerator head. The generated photoneutrons may penetrate the treatment room if a suitable neutron shield is not used. This causes a biological risk to the patient and occupational workers. The use of appropriate materials in the barriers surrounding the bunker may be effective in preventing the transmission of neutrons from the treatment room to the outside. In addition, neutrons are present in the treatment room due to leakage in the Linac's head. This study aims to reduce the transmission of neutrons from the treatment room by using graphene/hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) metamaterial as a neutron shielding material. MCNPX code was used to model three layers of graphene/h-BN metamaterial around the target and other components of the linac, and to investigate its effect on the photon spectrum and photoneutrons. Results indicate that the first layer of a graphene/h-BN metamaterial shield around the target improves photon spectrum quality at low energies, whereas the second and third layers have no significant effect. Regarding neutrons, three layers of the metamaterial results in a 50% reduction in the number of neutrons in the air within the treatment room.