Tungsten alloys as radiation protection materials

The radiation shielding effects of some tungsten alloys were evaluated using 133Ba(356 keV) and 137Cs(660 keV)γ-ray sources. Tungsten carbide had about the same effect as the commonly used lead, while tungsten-copper alloy gave as good a performance as tungsten. The results of transmittance measurements for these materials, as well as of their Monte-Carlo simulation, are reported.