Advanced nuclear radiation shielding studies of some mafic and ultramafic complexes with lithological mapping

Rocks are comparatively high-density materials, which can be developed as a protecting wall to reduce the radiation contact at buildings where gamma radiation is utilized. The Visible Near Infrared (VNIR) and Shortwave near Infrared (SWIR) bands of Landsat 8 remote sensing data are utilized to discriminate the mafic and ultramafic rocks’ lithology. The different Band combinations, band ratioed composites, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Minimum Noise fraction (MNF) have been done and interpreted. The PCA 415, MNF 253, and bandratios 3/6, 7/4, 5/2 have been used to discriminate the mafic-ultramafic complexes in a good manner. The significant oxides values were retrieved through the X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) method, and density is calculated. In order to assess the three investigated rocks' radiation shielding features, the linear attenuation coefficient (LAC) and mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ) were simulated using Monte Carlo simulation. Simultaneously, the μ/ρ and the effective atomic number (Zeff) were estimated using Phy-X software between 0.015 and 15 MeV. The results revealed that the μ/ρ and Zeff follow the order of Gabbro > Peridotite > Pyroxenite. At low energies, the maximum μ/ρ is reported for all investigated rocks. A steep decrease in μ/ρ values is found, which demonstrates that the rocks have much better attenuation at low energies while being the least effective at high energies. The μ/ρ of Peridotite decreases from 11.540 cm2/g at 0.015 MeV to 5.122 cm2/g at 0.02 MeV, 1.681 at 0.03 cm2/g MeV, and 0.814 cm2/g at 0.04 MeV. At 0.015 MeV, Peridotite has a Zeff of 17.34, Pyroxenite has a Zeff of 17.27, and Gabbro has a Zeff of 18.12. The half-value layer (HVL) for Peridotite decreases from 0.02 cm at 0.015 MeV, to 0.31 cm at 0.04 MeV, 1.95 cm at 0.20 MeV, 3.94 cm at 1.00 MeV, and 11.28 cm at 15.00 MeV. At all energies, however, Gabbro has the least HVL, followed by Pyroxenite and Peridotite. •Advanced nuclear radiation shielding studies of some mafic and ultramafic complexes.•The Visible-NIR and Shortwave Infrared bands of Landsat 8 remote sensing data are utilized.•The significant oxides values were retrieved through the X-Ray Fluorescence method.•The results revealed that the μ/ρ and Zeff follow the order of Gabbro > Peridotite > Pyroxenite.•At all energies, Gabbro has the least half value layer, followed by Pyroxenite and Peridotite.