Precipitation-hardening stainless steels: Potential use radiation shielding materials

In this study, it was focused on the research of new materials with high attenuation efficiency that can be used as radiation shielding material due to the incapability of conventional materials. In accordance with this purpose, the radiation shielding capabilities of four different precipitation-hardening stainless steels (PH-SSs), which are symbolized 15-5PH, 15-7PH, 17-4PH and 17-7PH, were determined both experimentally and theoretically in a wide range of radiation energy. For experimental measurements, two different detectors (Si(Li) and Na(Tl)) and twenty-three different photon energies (from 22.1 to 1332.5 keV) emitted from seven different radionuclides were used in narrow-beam transmission geometry. Phy-X/PSD software were used for theoretical calculations. The theoretically calculated parameters were determined both in the photon energies emitted by the radionuclides used in the experiment and in the continuous energy range of 0.015–15 MeV. Furthermore, in order to make a remarkable assessment of the integration of PH-SSs to nuclear energy applications, the all results obtained have been compared with the corresponding values of Fe-based steel concretes (steel-scrap (SS) and steel-magnetite (SM)), which are widely used as conventional shield materials in nuclear power plants. Moreover, in order to choose the best material to be used in nuclear applications among the PH-SSs, the results were evaluated comparatively in terms of both the characteristics of the materials and the magnitude of the radiation shielding parameters. Consequently, it was concluded that the material with the best radiation shielding performance among the examined PH-SSs was 15-7PH and the radiation shielding performance ranking was generally in the form of 15-7PH ≥ 15-5PH > 17-4PH > 17-7PH > SM > SS. Due to both high attenuation efficiency and superior properties for radiation shielding, it was determined that the PH-SSs can be used as new shielding materials in nuclear applications.