Feasibility of gadolinium oxide paint as neutron shielding

A robust Gd2O3 based thermal neutron shielding paint has been produced to act as the neutron attenuation medium to augment radiation shielding and to produce simple low resolution neutron imaging resolution standards. The neutron attenuation of this paint has been studied using a neutron radiographical imaging beamline at the McMaster Nuclear Reactor, and the McMaster Alignment Diffractometer neutron beam instrument. The data indicates a thermal neutron transmission factor of 0 . 457 ± 0 . 002 and a mass attenuation coefficient of 89 ± 2 g cm 2 for a single coat of paint.