Masters Theses

Abstract

“DUPoly, developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory, is a composite comprised of a mixture of any depleted uranium oxide compound and polyethylene. This study used the computer codes MCNP and QAD to evaluate the radiation shielding effectiveness of DUPoly products relative to conventional materials. The radiation source approximated that expected from spent nuclear fuel with a cooling time of seven years.

Two separate geometries were considered: a simple point source surrounded by a spherical shield and a more complicated geometry with a distributed source approximating five assemblies surrounded by a cylindrical shield. The results from the simple, spherical case indicated that DUPoly is inappropriate for shielding against a neutron source. Therefore, the more realistic cylindrical case used the gamma source only.

DUPoly was shown to have promise for some applications, significantly outperforming concrete both absolutely and per unit density for gamma shielding. Specifically, DUPoly is very effective for gamma shielding but lacks the high density of lead and is inadequate for neutron shielding. Significant improvement for gamma attenuation could be made through the development of high-density versions of DUPoly“--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Tsoulfanidis, Nicholas

Committee Member(s)

Edwards, D. R.
Galecki, Greg

Department(s)

Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Science

Degree Name

M.S. in Nuclear Engineering

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

Summer 2001

Pagination

ix, 57 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 55-56).

Rights

© 2001 Scott Patrick Rutenkroger, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 7939

Print OCLC #

48101610

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