Re: Barite (barium sulfate) - rad shield qualities?

["Franz Schoenhofer" <franz.schoenhofer@CHELLO.AT>]

Private:

Franz Schoenhofer

Habicherg. 31/7

A-1160 Vienna, AUSTRIA

Phone: -43 699 11681319

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@chello.at



Office:

MR Dr. Franz Schoenhofer

Federal Ministry for Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management

Dep. I/8U, Radiation Protection

Radetzkystr. 2

A-1031 Vienna, AUSTRIA

phone: +43-1-71100-4458

fax: +43-1-7122331

e-mail: franz.schoenhofer@bmu.gv.at







-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----

Von: Shane Connor <shanec@gvtc.com>

An: radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

Datum: Montag, 17. Dezember 2001 18:24

Betreff: Barite (barium sulfate) - rad shield qualities?





>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?

>





Yes, it does. Barium has a high Z (number of protons in the nucleus) and

therefore shields the gamma rays much more efficient than for instance

calcium. This is the same reason, why lead shields better than iron and

uranium better than lead. You may know, that a slurry of barium sulphate is

used as x-ray examination of the gastro-intestine, because barium sulphate

absorbs x-rays well and gives a good contrast.



Franz









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