Radiation Shielding Towards Commonly Available Objects

Abstract

Radiation exposure is an essential measure of social welfare. Every day the public was exposed to radiation, whether they were aware of it or not. Public people can only receive no more than 1mSv of radiation in a year based on Basic Safety Radiation Protection Regulations 2010 under Atomic Energy Licensing. If it exceeds the value, it may risk people’s health and well-being. People are constantly exposed to radiation sources that exist naturally in everyday life. Without any action taken, the radioactive sources might penetrate people’s bodies. A shield is needed to avoid these unnecessary radiations. However, radiation shield are not comfortable to use daily. Thus, the main objective of this experiment is to observe the effectiveness of a commonly available object as a radiation shield. These objects can be found easily daily and used as a radiation shield. Gamma sources that are used in this experiment is 241Am and 133Ba. Solid-state detectors are used to measure the counts. The experiment shows positive feedback from glass, dark glass, brick, clay, and battery. They can shield gamma rays effectively. The main element of these objects is observed to see how the elements affected the objects’ ability to shield gamma. Carbon, oxygen, sulphur, hydrogen, and zinc can be used as the main elements to produce radiation shielding. The supervisor continuously monitored the execution and the safety during the experiment.