Evaluation of the gamma and neutron shielding properties of 64TeO₂ + 15ZnO + (20 - x)CdO + x BaO + 1V₂O₅ glass system using Geant4 simulation and Phy-X database software

In this study, fast neutron removal cross-section and γ-ray shielding capabilities in terms of mass attenuation coefficient (μm), transmission fractions (T), effective atomic numbers (Zeff), half-value layer (HVL) and exposure build-up factors (EBF) of the 64TeO₂ + 15ZnO + (20 - x)CdO + xBaO + 1V₂O₅ (x = 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 mol%) glass system have been evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations carried out with Geant4 model of the high-purity germanium (HPGe) detector and Phy-X database software. The results of this study revealed that γ-ray shielding capability of the studied glass system increases with the increase of BaO content and decrease of CdO content in the chemical structure due to the high atomic number (Z) of Ba compared to Cd. The results also showed that increase of BaO fraction in the glass structure weakens the neutron shielding ability and by the use of low Z elements in the composites better shielding performance against neutrons can be obtained. (author)