04/04/2023
By Mark Tries

The Radiological Sciences Program invites you to attend a thesis defense by Hyesoo Lee on “A Study of Gamma Radiation Attenuation and Buildup for Tungsten Carbide using the EGSnrc Code.”

M.S. Candidate: Hyesoo Lee
Date: April 6, 2023
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.
Location: This will be a virtual defense via Zoom. Those interested in attending should contact Hyesoo Lee (Hyesoo_Lee@student.uml.edu) and committee member Mark Tries (Mark_Tries@uml.edu) at least 24 hours prior to the thesis defense to request access to the meeting.

Committee Chair: Mark Tries, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Physics and Applied Physics

Committee Members:

  • Andrew Rogers, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Physics and Applied Physics
  • Steven Snay, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Director of Radiation Safety

Abstract:
Radiation shielding is an important control measure to protect people from external exposure to ionizing radiation. Lead has been used widely as a shielding material due to its high atomic number and high density which provide good attenuation characteristics. The toxicity and other undesirable properties of lead, however, have encouraged researchers to investigate other materials for radiation shielding. In this study, the shielding properties of tungsten carbide were investigated as a substitute for lead. This study made use of the simulation code EGSnrc to determine the attenuation characteristics for tungsten carbide using a narrow beam geometry in the energy range of 0.015 to 10 MeV, and to determine the buildup characteristics of tungsten carbide using a broad beam geometry with a finite material thickness. It was determined that the tungsten carbide and lead have similar attenuation and buildup characteristics over the specified energy range and number of mean free paths evaluated.

All interested persons are welcome to attend.