Calculation of radiation attenuation coefficients for shielding concretes

Theoretical calculations have been performed in order to obtain the mass attenuation coefficients and the linear attenuation coefficients at photon energies from 10 keV to 1 GeV for ordinary, hematite-serpentine, ilmenite-limonite, basalt-magnetite, ilmenite, steel-scrap and steel-magnetite concretes. The concrete densities ranged from 2.3 to 5.11gcm(-3). The calculated values of linear attenuation coefficients have been compared with those measured at gamma ray energies from 1.5 to 6 MeV for the concretes under investigation. Agreement between measured and calculated values has been obtained. Also, the fast neutron effective macroscopic removal cross-sections for the seven types of concrete have been calculated using the elemental composition of the mixes. Comparison between the measured and calculated effective removal cross-section values show a reasonable agreement for all types of concrete. Steel-magnetite concrete of high density (5.11gcm(-3)), and with constituents of relatively high atomic number, is an effective shield for both photons and neutrons. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.