Design Of The Radiation Shielding with Concrete of

Boron Neutron Capture Teraphy By Using MCNP-X

Program
I Putu Yoga Widi Laksana1, Putu Ratni Ayu Utami1 , Made Yuda Suryawan1, I
Gusti Ngurah Yudi Handayana1, Widarto2
1. Physics Education Department, Universitas Pendidikan Ganesha, Indonesia
2. Badan Tenaga Nuklir Nasional (BATAN), Indonesia

Abstract: Cancer in Indonesia is high because it causes a large mortality rate. According to the health ministry
data and information center of Indonesia, in the year 2013 the prevalence of cancer prevalence in the population
of all ages in Indonesia is 1.4% or an estimated 347,792 people. The things can be done to seek the provision
and service of cancer is to inflate equipment which is used in cancer therapy itself. One of them is by
developing a model or design of shielding used in boron neutron capture teraphy (BNCT). Regulations and
procedures have ben developed and implemented to limit radiation dose by regulating the use, storage, transport,
and disposal of radioactive material by controlling time, distance and shielding. The shielding was simulated 30
MeV for BNCT facility on cyclotron. According to the radiation protection dose rate result of the treatment
room that using portland concrete as material for BNCT is safe.

Keywords: Radiation shielding design, BNCT, 30 MeV, radiation protection

Introduction radioactive material gets inside the human

MCNP is a general-purpose Monte
Carlo N-Particle code that can be utilized
for neutron, photon, electron, or coupled
neutron/photon/electron transport. Success
of the treatment in BNCT method depend
on 10 B concentration in tumor cells, and
designing the beam shaping assembly
(BSA) for producing appropriate neutron
beam (Chen et al. 2005; Rahmani and
Shahriari, 2011; Burlon et al, 2011). In
addition to BSA optimization, it is
necessary to use appropriate shield around
the BSA and design a proper treatment
room for descreasing undesirable gamma
and neutron dose rate outside the treatmenr
room (Evans and Blue, 1996; Hawk et al,
2004; Chen et al, 2008; Metzger et al,
1993; Qu et al, 1993; Burlon et al, 2011).
All works radiation sources involved a risk
of exposure to radiation, which is known
as occupational exposure. However, as a
general rule, all workers must take efforts
to ensure that the exposure he received is
kept to minimum possible. For industrial
radiography, only external radioation
exposure is to be considered. If a
body it gives to an internal radiation
exposure, which required quite different
method of control. The external radiation
exposure is controlled by applying the
three radioation safety principles namely:
working time, distance and shielding.
Radiation exposure received by a
radiation worker in radiation area is
directly proportional to length of time that
the individual spends in that area. Limiting
the time spent in a radiation area is one of
the main methods to reduce the amount of
radiation exposure received by a
radiographer. In reality, this can be
achieved by proper planning of the job to
be carried out and at the same time
distributing the work evenly among
radiographers involved.
Maximizing distance from a
radiation source is a very effective means
of protecting radiographer. This is because
radiation exposure decreases drastically
with increasing working distance from the
source. The third method of controlling
external radiation exposure is by placing a
shielding between the source and the
radiographer. Shielding could be made of
any suitable materials and is placed as a
barrier between the radiation source and
workers. In practice, lead and concrete are
used as common shielding materials for x-
and gamma rays, while water, wax, boron
and concrete are used for neutrons.
Theory
Radiation is energy that comes
from a source and travels through space
and may be able to penetrate.
Radioactivity and the radiation it produces
existed on Earth long before life emerged.
In fact, they have been present in space
since the beginning of the universe and
radioactive material was part of the Earth
its very formation (UNEP, 2016).
Background radiation is ionizing
radiation which is naturally and inevitably
present in our environment. Ionization is
the process by which atoms become
positively or negatively charged by
gaining or losing electrons. The emission
of two protons and two neutrons is referred
to as alpha decay and the emission of
electrons as beta decay. A vigorous burst
of energy in the form of electromagnetic
waves as photons called gamma rays.
Levels of this can vary greatly. Half-life is
when scientists have determined the time
required for half of a large number of
identical radioactive atoms to decay (EPA,
2015).
Apart from the normal measures of
mass and volume, the amount of
radioactive material is measured in
Becquerel (Bq), which enables us to
compare the typical radioactivity of some
natural and oher materials. A Becquerel is
one atomic decay per second, so a
household smoke detector with 30,000 Bq
contains enough americium to produce that
many disintegrations per second (IAEA,
2014).
Radiation may take the form of
particles (including alpha, beta and
neutron particles) or of electromagnetic
waves (gamma rays and X-rays) have
different penetrating power and so have
different effects on living material. Since
alpha particles are made up of two
positively charged protons and two
neutrons, they carry the most charge of all
radiation type and rapidly reduces the
energy of the particle and therefore
reduces the penetrating power. Beta
particles, made up of negatively-charged
electrons, carry less charge and are
therefore more penetrating than alpha
particles. Beta particles can go through a
centimeter or two of living tissue. Gamma
rays and X-rays are extremely penetrating
and will go through anything less dense
than a thick slab of steel. Artificially
produced neutrons are emitted from an
unstable nucleus as a result of atomic
fission or nuclear fusion. Because neutrons
are electrically neutral particels, they have
a very high penetrating power when
interacting with material or tissue (UNEP,
2016).
The effective dose limit for
Nuclear Energy Workers, as prescribed by
the CNSC, is 100 mSv (10.000 m rem) for
5 years ( with a maximum of 50 mSv in
any gives or an average of 20 mSv/ yr for
5 years) for whole-body exposure (EPA,
2015).
Method
The method used is literature study
and simulation with MCNPX program.
Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT)
is an effective method for treating
cancerous tumors. Radioactive materials
are used in numerous areas such as
medicine, research, industry, and nuclear
power production. Radiation shielding is
based particles of attenuation, which is the
ability to reduce a wave’s or ray’s effect by
blocking or bouncing particles through a
barrier material. The purpose of radiation
shielding is to limit radiation exposure in
controlled and uncontrolled areas. A
controlled are is limited access area, in
which the occupational exposure of
personnel to radiation is under the
supervision of an individual in charge of
radiation protection. Uncontrolled areas
are those accupied by individuas such as
patients, visitors and employess who do
not rountinely work near the radiation
source (Pouryavi, 2015). Any material
provides some shielding. Shielding ability
of material is determined by the thickness
of the material required to absorb half of
the radiation. Materials such as depleted
uranium, tungsten have high Z numbers,
and are therefore very effective in
shielding radiation. Concrete is not as
effective in shielding radiation but it is a
very common building material and so it is
commonly used in the construction of
radiation vaults.
The effectiveness of any biological
shielding material is related only to its
mass and concrete has an obvious
advantage in this highly specialized field
of construction because of its
exceptionally low cost per pound because
not so well known is the excellent
economy which can result from the use of
normal site cast concretes with locally
available aggregates when space and other
factors do not absolutely demand that the
desired protection be achieved within
minimum dimensional limits (NDT, 2012).
Lead shielding helps protect from radiation
because of its high molecular density.
Effective at stopping gamma rays and x-
rays, lead is used as radiation protection in
applications ranging from x-ray imaging
and PET rooms to nuclear reactors but it is
far more expensive and has poorer
structural properties than does concrete.
The increased density is generally
achieved by the use heavy natural
aggregates such as barites or magnetite.
The density achieved will depend on the
type of aggregate used. Typically using
barites the density will be in the region of
3,500kg/m3, which is 45% greater than
that of normal concrete, while with
magnetite the density will be 3,900kg/m3,
or 60% greater than normal concrete
(Concrete Construction Staff, 1959).
Cement is a generic term that can
be apply to all binders. Cement contents
and water/cement ratios are similar to
those for normal concretes, but the
aggregate/cement ratios will be
significantly higher, because of the higher
density of the aggregates. In concrete
construction, most concrete used Portland
cement as a binding material (NDT, 2012).
Heavyweight concrete can be batched,
transported and placed using conventional
equipment, though there are obviously
certain aspects, such as the amount that
can be carried by a ready-mixed truck or
handled in a skip, that will be limited by
the density. Because of the higher density,
formwork pressures will be increased. The
rate of wear of mixers and pumps will also
be increased. Compaction will require
more energy than normal concrete and
poker vibrators will have to be inserted at
closer centres. There may be a greater
tendency for the mix to bleed (Concrete
Construction Staff, 1959).
The chemical composition of
Portland cement consists of 50%
tricalcium silicate (C3S), 25% dicalcium
silicate (C2S), 12% tricalcium aluminate
(C3A), 8% tetracalcium aluminoferrite
(C4AF) and 3.5% calcium sulfate
dihydrate (CSH2) or called as gypsum
(Mindness, 1981). Cement paste setting
time is affected by a number of items
including: cement fineness, water-cement
ratio, chemical content (especially gypsum
content) and admixtures. Setting tests are
used to characterize how a particular
cement paste sets. For construction
purposes, the initial set must not be too
soon and the final set must not be too late.
Additionally, setting times can give some
indication of whether or not a cement is
undergoing normal hydration (PCA,
1988). Normally, two setting times are
initial set and final set. Initial set, occurs
when the paste begins to stiffen
considerably and final set occurs when the
cement has hardened to the point at which
it can sustain some load. These particular
times are just arbitrary points used to
characterize cement, they do not have any
fundamental chemical significance
(Mindess and Young, 1981).
Portland concrete consists of bound
water in its calcium silicate hydrate phase
and in its pore volume. In total, the water
content can be as high as 30-40 wt%. This
water makes portland concrete in excellent
neutron absorber. For nuclear shielding
application, portland concrete is designed
by selecting suitable aggregeates to
enhance its shielding performance. By
adding boron-containing minerals, the Fig 1. Treatment room with 3 dimension
neutron shielding performance is
increased. Colmanite [CaB3O4(OH)3H2O]
and calcium borate [Ca(BO2)2] are
examples of such minerals. Using high-
density aggregates neutron-shielding
performance is enhanced (Wagh, 2016).

Result and Discussion

The thicknesses of Portland
concrete necessary to protect radiation Fig 2. 2 dimension view on x and y axis
personnel located outside the treatment
room. The experimental values of
treatment room as a function of the
thickness of portland concrete shielding
can be see in Fig 1. In this figure, as well
as in the corresponding Monte Carlo
calculations, it can be observed a behavior
that is not purely exponential. Door,
windows, mazes and ducts are not
included in the model so the treatment
room geometry is relatively simple. The
room is 3.00 m high with 7.00 m x 3.50 m Fig 3.1. Dose function on x negative
floor dimensions and the thickness is 10
cm. These dimensions different with based
on those of a previous shielding study of a
diagnostic X-ray room. The water
phantom used as replaced humans. The
water phantom is cubic form with 30 cm
length, 30 cm wide and 30 cm high.

Fig 3.2. Dose function on x positive

 Fig 3.3. Dose function on y negative Fig 4.1. Flux neutron on x negative

Fig 3.4. Dose function on y positive Fig 4.2. Flux neutron on x positive

Fig 3.5. Dose function on z positive Fig 4.3. Flux neutron on y negative
The results to dose rate calculations
in x axis, y axis and z axis for the designed
treatment room show that its characteristic
(dimensions and materials) are different to
those of common treatment room in other
hospital, which are dedicated for electron
or photon therapy. The geometry of this
room has been illustrated in Fig 3.1 until
Fig 3.5 show the dose rate on x axis, y axis
and z axis this treatment room. The
highest dose rate (for any wall thickness) Fig 4.4. Flux neutron on y positive
to radiation is alpha in all axis with fifteen
million neutron was plotted. The result of
plot tracked is flux neutron in all axis can
be seen at Fig 4.1 until Fig 4.5.
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