New source models to represent the irradiation process in panoramic gamma irradiator

• Published in: Applied radiation and isotopes Vol. 128; pp. 175 - 182
• Main Authors: Gual, Maritza R., Milian, Felix. M., Mesquita, Amir Z., Pereira, Claubia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2017
• Subjects: Dose rate; Gamma beam – 127; Gamma irradiation facility; MCNPX; Panoramic irradiator; Gamma irradiation facility; Gamma beam – 127; MCNPX; Dose rate; Panoramic irradiator
• ISSN: 0969-8043; 1872-9800
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apradiso.2017.06.046

The use of gamma irradiation technologies generates a number of complex scientific and technical problems; for example, the target is manually loaded onto turntables and is rotated during the entire irradiation process and the MCNPX three-dimensional geometry simulation is kept static. For this, it is necessary to introduce additional approaches. In this paper, two new methodologies are proposed for the simulation of irradiation process in panoramic gamma irradiator. The study was performed at the gamma irradiation facility at the Nuclear Technology Development Center of the National Nuclear Energy Commission, Brazil. The source can be reproduced with a homogenized geometry. Validation of MCNPX calculations of gamma doses were performed by thorough comparison with the experimental measurements. The contribution of this proposed source models has opened new lines of research. The results of this study showed that the proposed source models effectively represent the irradiation process. •Gamma radiation generates a number of technical problems.•New methodologies have been proposed for irradiation simulation in a panoramic irradiator.•Validation was performed by MCNPX calculations and experimental measurements.•Results showed that the proposed methodologies well represent the irradiation process.