The use of wood to protect biological objects from ionizing radiation

Abstract

Currently, the issue of creating protective materials that prevent the effects of ionizing radiation on biological objects – neutron fluxes, is relevant, since the supply of well-known foreign neutron-protective materials to the Russian Federation has been discontinued due to the imposition of sanctions. Wood is a hydrogen-containing material, and the hydrogen content in a unit of its volume is not less than in a unit of volume of traditionally used protective materials. It is important from a scientific point of view to consider the nature of changes in ionizing radiation, in particular, neutron fluxes, when meeting with wood protection. The paper provides a theoretical justification of the possibility of using wood as a neutron-protective material. The process of elastic neutron scattering on atomic nuclei of matter is considered, since the dominant part of the energy transferred to biological objects and, in particular, wood, is due to the elastic scattering of fast neutrons on the nuclei of H, C and O. When determining the energy that a neutron loses as a result of elastic scattering in wood, the classical laws of conservation of energy and momentum are applied. The research methodology is based on the analysis of the neutron energy reduction process when interacting with nuclei of hydrogen–containing substances, including wood, both natural and modified by compaction. It is proved that wood is a neutron moderator material. The use of modifying wood processing or its compaction is effective, while the protective properties are not inferior to such well-known and widely used materials as water, polyethylene, polystyrene. The field of application of wood as a protective material is much wider than the known protections due to its high structural properties, accessibility and cheapness.