Tungsten Heavy Alloy Nuclear Radiation Shielding

Usually, the more body accept radiation energy, the more serious the radiation sickness symptoms and the greater the risk that the cancer and birth defects. It can be distortion, hereditary disease incidence, affect the health of several generations.

Nuclear radiation can damage cells and the DNA inside them through its ionizing effect. This effect happens when a high-energy carrying particle or photon removes an electron within an atom’s nucleus from its orbit, thereby changing the properties of the atom. Radiation shielding protects our body from nuclear radiation. Wolfram heavy alloy is the material to produce radiation shielding which is widely used in hospitals and industries.

Nuclear radiation can be classified into three categories. They are labeled with the first three letters of the Greek alphabet: ά (alpha), β (beta) and γ (gamma). Alpha radiation consists of a stream of fast-moving helium nuclei (two protons and two neutrons). As such, an alpha particle is relatively heavy and carries two positive electrical charges. Beta radiation consists of fast-moving electrons or positron (an antimatter electron). A beta particle is much lighter than an alpha, and carries one unit of charge. Gamma radiation consists of photons, which are without mass and carry no charge. X-rays are also photons, but carry less energy than gammas. Industrial radiography uses gamma radiation to detect structural faults in materials such as metal and concrete. As a pipe-line inspection, the equipment uses wolfram shielding, coupled with a wolfram collimator. Some materials absorb beta rays. You can measure this absorption by fixing beta source and a radiation monitor so their positions do not change.

Why choose wolfram heavy alloy as the nuclear radiation shielding?
Tungsten heavy alloy shielding is a suitable raw material for radiation protection, as its combination of radiographic density (more than 60% denser than lead), machinability, good corrosion resistance, high radiation absorption (superior to lead), simplified life cycle, non-toxic and high strength. It can provide the same degree of protection as lead whilst significantly reducing the overall volume and thickness of shields and containers. Besides, compared with lead or depleted uranium in the past, wolfram alloy is more acceptable in this case, for they are non-toxic.