In recent years, people are exposed to radiation depending on the technology developed which may cause serious incurable health problems. To protect from radiation exposure, various radiation shielding materials are used in different areas. In this study, zinc extraction residue (ZER), which is released during zinc production containing various heavy metals, was evaluated in clay-based brick manufacturing. The fired bricks were characterized in terms of radiation shielding, bulk density and compressive strength. Clay brick with 50% ZER was fired at 1000 °C. Bulk density and compressive strength of fired brick were found as 2.16 g/cm³ and 12.6 MPa, respectively. The addition of ZER increased the density while reducing the compressive strength. Radiation shielding potential for the samples were evaluated both experimentally (using an Am–Be neutron source and a Cs-137 gamma source) and simulation-wise using the Monte Carlo technique. For this purpose, mass attenuation coefficients of gammas and total absorption cross-section of neutrons were determined through measurements. Additionally, Monte Carlo simulations were carried out under similar irradiation conditions. The MCNP simulation results were checked against those produced from XCOM database for photons and Phy-X/PSD for neutrons. Inclusion of ZER was found to elevate shielding capabilities especially at low photon energies because of the lead content of ZER. In addition, neutron attenuation characteristics of ZER bricks were observed to be relatively lower than that of fired clay brick because of the heavier ingredients existing in ZER extracts.

近年来，人们受到辐射的影响取决于所开发的技术，这可能会导致严重的无法治愈的健康问题。为了防止辐射暴露，不同的领域使用了各种辐射屏蔽材料。在这项研究中，在粘土基砖制造中评估了锌生产过程中释放的含有各种重金属的锌提取残留物 (ZER)。烧制砖的特征在于辐射屏蔽、堆积密度和抗压强度。含 50% ZER 的粘土砖在 1000 °C 下烧制。烧结砖的堆积密度和抗压强度为 2.16 g/cm ³和 12.6 兆帕，分别。ZER 的加入增加了密度，同时降低了抗压强度。样品的辐射屏蔽潜力通过实验（使用 Am-Be 中子源和 Cs-137 伽马源）和使用蒙特卡罗技术的模拟进行评估。为此，通过测量确定了伽马的质量衰减系数和中子的总吸收截面。此外，蒙特卡罗模拟是在类似的辐照条件下进行的。MCNP 模拟结果与 XCOM 数据库中产生的光子和 Phy-X/PSD 中子的结果进行了核对。发现包含 ZER 可提高屏蔽能力，尤其是在低光子能量下，因为 ZER 的铅含量。此外，