Study on effect of detector type in estimating buildup factor of gamma-rays by monte carlo simulation based on variance reduction

This paper presents the study on the effect of detector type in estimating gamma rays buildup factor. In this regard, the flux buildup factors of gamma rays emitted by an isotropic point 60Co source in mean energy 1.253 MeV was evaluated after passing through the Pb, W, Zn, and Ti sample in thickness of 1-5 cm by MCNPX. Four common detector types in simulation of measurement was defined to estimate the gamma rays flux: an empty cylinder, Geiger-Muller counter, NaI(Tl) scintillator, and point detector. Due to the deep penetration condition, weight windows varience reduction technique is applied to achieve more accuracy and less computer run time simultaneously. The present work confirm the buildup factor dependence on atomic number of materials, and detector type. The results show that the value of buildup factors was varied from 1 to 4 in different states. However, the variation of buildup factors follow almost similar trend in different detector types. According to the results, applying point detector in simulation is suggested which lead to increased accuracy of simulation and decreased computer run time.