Simulation of gamma radiation shielding parameters of Yb₂O₃ doped glasses using MCNP and calculation of FNRCS values

Uncontrolled exposure to radiation poses significant risks to human health. This study evaluates the effectiveness of radiation shielding materials by analyzing the gamma shielding parameters (LAC, MAC, MFP, HVL) of Yb₂O₃-doped glasses using the Monte Carlo N-Particle (MCNP) simulation program. Additionally, the fast neutron removal cross-section (FNRCS) was calculated for the same materials. Five glass samples with different Yb₂O₃ concentrations, produced by El-Shamy et al. (2024), were modeled at 9 different gamma energies and 10 varying thicknesses, resulting in a total of 451 simulations. The obtained results were validated against the XCOM database. Findings demonstrate that increasing Yb₂O₃ content significantly enhances both gamma and neutron shielding capacity. This study provides quantitative data for optimized material selection in nuclear medicine and radiation protection fields while highlighting MCNP's efficacy in modeling complex radiation interactions.