Comparison of HfB2 and ZrB2 behaviors for using in nuclear industry

Owing to the importance of two HfB2 and ZrB2 materials in nuclear industry, the behavior of the two materials under neutron irradiation was examined. As Boron element plays an important role in these materials, it seems that these two substances are more likely to be similar to each other in more terms. However, the results indicated that there were differences. HfB2 is a better absorbent for neutron in all energies rather than ZrB2. However, ZrB2 may become damaged or burnt-out relatively soon. The prompt gamma rays produced in ZrB2 for low energy neutron are far less than those in HfB2, but for high energy neutron, high intensity gamma ray peaks arise in ZrB2. Therefore, if one wants to use these two materials as radiation shield, he should pay attention to that point. Alpha particle spectrum and gamma rays were obtained for different energies of neutron. Half Value Layer (HVL) values for both materials and different neutron energies were also obtained.