Computational investigation of the neutron shielding and activation characteristics of borated concrete with polyethylene aggregate

This paper presents the result of a computational study to investigate the neutron shielding and activation characteristics of concretes containing boron carbide and polyethylene. Various mixes were considered with changes in the contents of boron carbide and polyethylene aggregate. The Monte Carlo simulation code MCNP-5 was utilized to determine the transmission of neutron through concrete at different energies from 0.1 eV to 1 MeV, and ORIGEN-S code was then used to predict activation characteristics of the concretes. It was shown that the replacement of polyethylene in borated concrete greatly enhanced the shielding efficiency of the concrete, and total activity levels of the concrete were considerably decreased with this replacement. Furthermore, double-layered structures having the first layer of polyethylene aggregate-replaced concrete and the second layer of 2 wt% borated concrete are shown to improve shielding efficiency more significantly than monolithic structures.