Gamma photon and neutron attenuation properties of MgO–BaO–B2O3–TeO2–Cr2O3 glasses: The role of TeO2

This study focused on investigation of gamma photon and neutron shielding features of MgO–BaO–B2O3–TeO2–Cr2O3 glass system. The mass attenuation coefficients (MAC) have been calculated at different photon energies between 0.015 MeV and 10 MeV using MCNPX general-purpose of Monte Carlo code. The obtained mass attenuation coefficients have been utilized to evaluate several attenuation parameters such as half value layer (HVL), tenth value layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP) and effective atomic number (Zeff) through these values. Additionally, exposure buildup factor (EBF) values have been calculated using the G-P fitting approach. Moreover, variation of the shielding quantities has compared with commercial shielding glasses and some concretes. Additionally, the values of the macroscopic effective removal cross-section for fast neutron (ΣR) have been determined. The results showed that sample encoded GS4 showed superior photon attenuation properties among the investigated samples while GS1 showed superior neutron attenuation. •The μ/ρ for MgO–BaO–B2O3–TeO2–Cr2O3 glass system was calculated by MCNPX.•The addition of TeO2 led to increase both μ/ρ and Zeff values.•GS4 sample which has the maximum amount of TeO2 has better photon attenuation.•GS1 sample which contains highest B2O3 showed superior neutron attenuation.