A Monte Carlo study on the gamma-ray buildup factors for the linear sources embedded in a cylindrical shield

c 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd and Sissa MedialabWhile the studies on the photon buildup factors for point gamma sources have been widely made, studies for linear gamma sources, for which the spent nuclear fuel rods and/or brachytherapy seeds could be a relatively good approximation, have become extremely scarce. Buildup factors for linear gamma sources are computed here by means of the MCNPX Monte Carlo code. The exposure buildup factors were calculated for isotropic linear gamma sources with different lengths (1, 10, and 100 cm) and also for different energies (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5, and 10 MeV) in a cylindrical concrete shield up to depths of 10 mean free paths. A number of 45 simulations were done to reach the appropriate results for the linear gamma sources and 5 more simulations were performed for point gamma sources to be compared with the linear sources of photons at the same energies. For validation, we calculated the total mass attenuation coefficients, mass energy absorption coefficients, and uncollided photon flux for some photon energy in concrete and we showed that the simulation results have a good agreement with NIST-XCOM database and theory. Finally, comparisons are shown for the exposure buildup factors of the linear source in terms of the gamma-rays energy, of the length of the linear source and of the cylindrical shield, which can be useful in the design of a suitable shield.