Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2013) 128: 77
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2013-13077-1

Regular Article

Concrete shielding of neutron radiations of plasma focus and dose examination by FLUKA

Nuclear Engineering and Physics Department, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran

^* e-mail: arash_nemati@aut.ac.ir

Received: 30 January 2013
Revised: 26 May 2013
Accepted: 16 June 2013
Published online: 22 July 2013

Abstract

Plasma Focus (PF) is among those devices which are used in plasma investigations, but this device produces some dangerous radiations after each shot, which generate a hazardous area for the operators of this device; therefore, it is better for the operators to stay away as much as possible from the area, where plasma focus has been placed. In this paper FLUKA Monte Carlo simulation has been used to calculate radiations produced by a 4 kJ Amirkabir plasma focus device through different concrete shielding concepts with various thicknesses (square, labyrinth and cave concepts). The neutron yield of Amirkabir plasma focus at varying deuterium pressure (3–9 torr) and two charging voltages (11.5 and 13.5 kV) is (2.25 ± 0.2) × 10⁸ neutrons/shot and (2.88 ± 0.29) × 10⁸ neutrons/shot of 2.45 MeV, respectively. The most influential shield for the plasma focus device among these geometries is the labyrinth concept on four sides and the top with 20 cm concrete.