Radiation shielding properties of gadolinium-doped water

Abstract

Abstract The utilization of water-filled radiation protection garments and walls has recently taken into consideration especially in space technologies, due to the fact that water is a material which is light, cheap, and easy-to-obtain. Furthermore, radiation shielding properties of water can be improved by adding soluble materials. In this study, a simulation-based study is presented to investigate the effects of the gadolinium additive in water for improvement on radiation shielding properties. GdCl 3 salt is selected as an additive substance. The obtained results using the Geant4 simulation toolkit indicate that the usage of gadolinium addition in water improves gamma-ray and neutron radiation properties significantly. While the linear attenuation coefficient values of water for gamma radiation increase about 60% with 20% of GdCl 3 addition, the increment of neutron macroscopic cross-section is about 40%.