Estimation of natural radioactivity content, lithium and trace elements in different types of rock aggregates with a pot
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Estimation of natural radioactivity content, lithium and trace elements in different types of rock aggregates with a potential to generate long‑lived gamma‑ray activity during operation of accelerators A. A. Shanbhag1,2 · Sabyasachi Paul1 · Prabhath K. Ravi3 · S. K. Sahoo1 · D. S. Joshi1 · B. N. Jagatap4,5 · M. S. Kulkarni1 Received: 21 May 2020 © Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2020
Abstract Rock aggregates are major ingredient of concrete used for shielding against ionising radiation generated during the operation of nuclear particle accelerators. Their analysis for trace elements which may lead to neutron activation products during prolonged operation becomes important. Proper selection of ingredients helps in minimizing the radioactive concrete waste requiring disposal at the time of decommissioning.This work involves the collection of 42 samples of seven broad types of rock aggregates and their assessment for natural radioactivity (226Ra, 232Th and 40K), lithium and other trace elements that may lead to the formation of gamma emitting, long lived neutron activation products. Keywords Neutron activation of rock aggregates · Decommissioning · Accelerators · Natural radioactivity · Concrete shield · Trace elements
Introduction The growing trend of utilizing proton and ion accelerators for producing radioisotopes for application in medical procedures and high energy, high beam current proton/heavy ion accelerators for research purpose, necessitates planned approach towards the radiological safety practices and environmental safety aspects associated with the future decommissioning of these facilities at a later stage. This requires Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-020-07356-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * A. A. Shanbhag [email protected] 1
Health Physics Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
2
University of Mumbai, M.G. Road, Fort, Mumbai 400032, India
3
Radiation Safety Systems Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
4
Ex‑Chemistry Group, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai 400085, India
5
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay), Mumbai 400076, India
preparing appropriate plans for decommissioning of such facilities at the construction stage itself. Concrete is the most popular choice as a bulk material for radiation shielding because apart from being widely used in construction, it is also effective in shielding gamma rays and neutrons. Rock aggregate is the basic and major constituent of concrete used in the shield construction of accelerators. Previous studies have shown that neutron activation of concrete can be greatly reduced by choosing the rock aggregates and cement in a judicious manner [1, 2]. It is important to carry out the trace element analysis of the rock aggregates to look for and quantify such trace elements that have the potential to undergo neutron activation during the operation o
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