Effect of current intensity on radiological properties of joined 304L stainless steels for photon interaction

Radiological properties, such as the linear attenuation coefficient (μ), mass attenuation coefficient (μ/ρ), half-value layer (HVL), tenth-value layer (TVL), mean free path (MFP), and effective atomic number (Z eff), of 304L stainless steels have been investigated with respect to photon interactions to determine the influence of current intensity at different gamma-ray energies. 137Cs and 60Co radioactive point sources were used to irradiate 304L stainless steels joined at 45–70-A weld currents for the transmission of the gamma rays at photon energies of 661.0, 1173.2, and 1332.5 keV. The μ, μ/ρ, HVL, TVL, MFP, and Z eff of the steels were measured at the mentioned energies, and theoretical values for pure 304L stainless steel were calculated for comparison. The minimum differences (%) in Z eff between pure steel and steel joined at a weld current of 60 A were observed for relevant photon energies; the minimum difference between the theoretical value for pure 304L and the experimental value for joined steel was 4.76%, and that between the experimental value for pure 304L and the experimental value for joined steel was 2.60% at 1332.5 keV. Moreover, the MFPs of the joined steels were compared with that of pure 304L, and steel joined at 60 A, which had the minimum MFP, was compared with some radiation-shielding concretes in terms of MFP at the same gamma-ray energies.