The analysis of palm fiber and palm fiber-b4c potential as a shielding for thermal neutron radiation

The preliminary study towards the ability of palm fiber as a thermal neutron radiation shielding material has been performed. This study is based on the results of SEM-EDX analysis. Moreover, a profound analysis was conducted due to the result obtained. It was revealed that palm fiber consists of several elements, namely; C, O, Na, Si, and Ca, where carbon leads the content level of 70.68%. Carbon element is expected to be able to absorb thermal neutron radiation. The material activation method due to neutron exposure was used to analyze the ability of palm fiber and Palm-B₄C fiber to absorb neutron radiation. Gold foil was activated at the Radiography Neutron Facility of National Nuclear Energy Agency (BATAN) PSTBM of Indonesia. Thermal neutron flux at gold foil for both before and after passing through the shielding made from palm fiber was analyzed in the laboratory of AAN PSTBM BATAN. Based on the analysis of thermal neutron flux data, the attenuation coefficients of palm fiber and Palm-B₄C fiber were 0.9538 cm⁻¹ and 1.399 cm⁻¹ respectively. It can be concluded that palm fiber and Palm-B4C fiber has the ability as a strong neutron shielding candidate. (paper)