Study on the design and experimental verification of multilayer radiation shield against mixed neutrons and γ-rays

The traditional methods for radiation shield design always only focus on either the structure or the components of the shields rather than both of them at the same time, which largely affects the shielding performance of the facilities, so in this paper, a novel method for designing the structure and components of shields simultaneously is put forward to enhance the shielding ability. The method is developed by using the genetic algorithm (GA) and the MCNP software. In the research, six types of shielding materials with different combinations of elements such as polyethylene (PE), lead (Pb) and Boron compounds are applied to the radiation shield design, and the performance of each material is analyzed and compared. Then two typical materials are selected based on the experiment result of the six samples, which are later verified by the Compact Accelerator Neutron Source (CANS) facility. By using this method, the optimal result can be reached rapidly, and since the design progress is semi-automatic for most procedures are completed by computer, the method saves time and improves accuracy.