Abstract For transport and storage of neutron sources, shielding materials like polymers and multi layer shields are used. A compact shielding design for 740 GBq portable 241Am-Be neutron source transport container using Monte Carlo technique is presented. In the design, a polymer host material with lead and natural boron (NB) as fillers is chosen as the shielding medium. Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) is performed for optimizing the quantity of fillers in the polymer. The total dose rate (TDR) on the surface of the container due to neutrons and gamma rays emanating from source as well as polymer shield, is considered as the optimization criterion. MCS studies indicate that a polymer material with 5% of lead and 1% of NB as fillers is observed to give optimized composition of polymer (OCP). Statistical factorial design analysis (FDA) technique is employed for the first time in the shielding design to investigate the impact of fillers in the polymer. FDA studies reveal that the quantity of lead has more significant impact compared to NB in the polymer. MCS results are validated by carrying out shielding experiments with high density polyethylene (HDPE) and composite polymer (CP) based containers. The computed and experimental dose rates are observed to be within ±12%. A shielding container made of OCP for the transport of 740 GBq 241Am-Be source provides 25% reduction in the volume as compared to HDPE and CP. The mass of the OCP container is lower by 18% and 26% compared to the containers made of HDPE and CP respectively. The surface dose rate of the OCP container adheres to the IAEA transport regulations.

中文翻译：

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740 GBq 241Am-Be 中子源运输容器的紧凑屏蔽设计

摘要 在中子源的运输和储存中，使用了聚合物和多层屏蔽等屏蔽材料。介绍了使用蒙特卡罗技术的 740 GBq 便携式 241Am-Be 中子源运输容器的紧凑屏蔽设计。在设计中，选择以铅和天然硼（NB）为填料的聚合物主体材料作为屏蔽介质。进行蒙特卡罗模拟 (MCS) 以优化聚合物中填料的数量。由于从源和聚合物屏蔽层发出的中子和伽马射线，容器表面的总剂量率 (TDR) 被视为优化标准。MCS 研究表明，观察到含有 5% 铅和 1% NB 作为填料的聚合物材料可提供优化的聚合物 (OCP) 组成。在屏蔽设计中首次采用统计因子设计分析 (FDA) 技术来研究填料对聚合物的影响。FDA 研究表明，与聚合物中的 NB 相比，铅的含量具有更显着的影响。MCS 结果通过使用基于高密度聚乙烯 (HDPE) 和复合聚合物 (CP) 的容器进行屏蔽实验得到验证。观察到计算的和实验的剂量率在 ±12% 以内。与 HDPE 和 CP 相比，由 OCP 制成的用于运输 740 GBq 241Am-Be 源的屏蔽容器的体积减少了 25%。与由 HDPE 和 CP 制成的容器相比，OCP 容器的质量分别降低了 18% 和 26%。OCP 容器的表面剂量率符合 IAEA 运输规定。