The behavior of HfB₂ at neutron irradiation: a simulation study

ABSTRACT

The behavior of Hafnium di-boride (HfB₂) under neutron irradiation has been simulated in a wide range of energy from 0.025 eV up to 14 MeV. The simulation and the analysis have been carried out using Geant4 and its related database. From the radiation shielding perspective, it was observed that, under thermal neutron irradiation, HfB₂ scatters neutrons with a marginally higher energy than the incident neutrons and also produces prompt gamma rays up to 11 MeV. These results would indicate that, for high-energy neutron 14 MeV, not only is HfB₂ unacceptable as a reasonable neutron absorber but also produces 20 MeV prompt gamma rays.

KEYWORDS:

• HfB₂
• Geant4
• shielding
• thermal neutron
• fast neutron
• prompt gamma

PACS:

• 61.82.Ms
• 28.20.Pr
• 25.40.Dn
• 28.20.Fc

Acknowledgement

The author would like to thank Dr Mohammad Mehdi Farhoudi for his useful comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

ORCID

Mohammad Mehdi Nasseri http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9450-8734