Numerical investigations of concrete attenuation effectiveness in various PWR shield configurations

Abstract The choise of a suitable concrete composition for a biological reactor shield often seems difficult because of the variety of available aggregates. To estimate the influence of these aggregates on concrete attenuation effectiveness, test calculations were made for power reactor shields, with extreme variations of concrete components. Concretes have been analysed with single natural (mineral) aggregates such as basalt, barite, magnetite, and serpentine; and with mixed natural aggregates such as basalt-magnetite, serpentine-magnetite, barite-magnetite, and serpentine-barite in varying proportions. The relative attenuation effectivenesses of different concretes in various shield configurations of a PWR-type reactor have been examined.