Radiation Shielding Properties Of Gadolinium-Doped Water

The utilization of water-filled radiation protection garments and walls has recently taken into consideration especially in space technologies, due to the fact that water is a material which is light, cheap, and easy-to-obtain. Furthermore, radiation shielding properties of water can be improved by adding soluble materials. In this study, a simulation-based study is presented to investigate the effects of the gadolinium additive in water for improvement on radiation shielding properties. GdCl3 salt is selected as an additive substance. The obtained results using the Geant4 simulation toolkit indicate that the usage of gadolinium addition in water improves gamma-ray and neutron radiation properties significantly. While the linear attenuation coefficient values of water for gamma radiation increase about 60% with 20% of GdCl3 addition, the increment of neutron macroscopic cross-section is about 40%.