The Radiation Shielding Performance Of Tungsten Alloy Shielding

With the continuous development of the radioactive medicine, scientific research and the application of nuclear technology, a variety of radiation rays are widely used in agricultural, industrial, medical, food security and other fields. Radiation is a form of electromagnetic waves and particles (such as α particles, β particles, etc.) diverging from the radiation source to the all directions. According to its level of energy and the ionization ability, it can be classified into ionizing radiation and non-ionizing radiation. Ionizing radiation has sufficient energy to ionize atoms or molecules, while non ionizing radiation cannot. Ionizing radiation mainly includes α, β and γ-rays.

Radiation can cause harm to human body. In the situation of long-term exposure to radiation, the human cells will be destructed or killed on a large scale. Radiation is also one of the causes of childhood leukemia, and can induce the proliferation of human cancer cells, affecting the reproductive system, visual system and cardiovascular system, resulting in mentally challenged children. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to shield the radiation. The principle of radiation shielding is to set a shielding material between the radiation source and the human body, so that the shielding material interacts with radiation to reduce the number of particles and the energy emitted by the radiation. Generally, radiation shielding materials include non-metallic and organic material, metal and concrete categories, lead shielding and tungsten alloy shielding all belong to metal shielding.

Lead shielding is earliest used for shielding material, but some problems also appeared in the long-term use of lead shielding. Lead and its compounds are toxic to the tissues and organs, its vapor or dust can be inhaled through the respiratory tract or absorbed through the digestive tract into the blood circulation to cause poisoning. While tungsten alloy is nontoxic and does not release toxic substances, neither endanger human health, nor pollute the environment. And compared with lead, tungsten alloy shielding has a better radiation shielding properties that can effectively absorb and shield radiation. Setting a tungsten alloy shielding between the radiation source and the human body can effectively weaken the intensity of the radiation, so that to avoid the radiation damage on the human body.

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