Barite (barium sulfate) - rad shield qualities?

[Shane Connor <shanec@gvtc.com>]

Radsafers,

We've had some inquiries from visitors to our sites

that some here might help me to correctly respond to.



Another member here was also good enough to point

me to an interesting study on the radiation shielding

qualities of barite. This brief 2-page report that tested

and compared it to lead and lead glass is here...



http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/cdrom/01213.pdf



My question is: Does the quality of barite as a gamma

radiation shielding material extend beyond its simply

being a high density material?



More specifically, if 100 lb sacks of it were used in an

expedient fallout shelter, and the likely isotopes to be

encountered in fallout from nuke bombs, terrorist dirty

nuke bombs or nuke plant catastrophes, is barite any

better a shielding material than simply piling on more

100 lb sacks of dirt? (Ignoring cost differences here.)



Thanks in advance for any comments.



Best Regards,

Shane Connor

webmaster@ki4u.com

webmaster@radmeters4u.com 



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