Abstract
Elemental composition, mass attenuation coefficients (MACs), effective atomic numbers (EANs), and effective electron densities (EEDs) give information about the nuclear applications of materials (dosimetry, shielding, etc.). In this work, MAC of some commercial building glasses were determined using the WinXCom computer program and GATE Monte Carlo code; additionally,EAN and EED of these glasses were also determined using related formulas, after the elemental compositions of the samples were determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) technique. These properties were determined at 59.5 keV (Am-241), 380 keV (Ir-192), 662 keV (Cs-237), 1173 keV (Co-60), and 1332 keV (Co-60). These energies are of interest for any potential nuclear accident. The elemental compositions show the presence of C, O, Na, Mg, Si, and Ca in various percentages; MAC values ranged from about 0.05 to 0.225 cm(2)/g; EAN also ranged from about 9 to 11and EED is almost constant at all energies considered except at 59.5 keV where higher values were shown. The radiation interaction properties of the investigated glasses showed that they could be used as a dosimeters during emergency radiation exposure situations.