The behavior of HfB2 at neutron irradiation: a simulation study

The behavior of Hafnium di-boride (HfB2) under neutron irradiation has been simulated in a wide range of energy from 0.025 eV up to 14 MeV. The simulation and the analysis have been carried out using Geant4 and its related database. From the radiation shielding perspective, it was observed that, under thermal neutron irradiation, HfB2 scatters neutrons with a marginally higher energy than the incident neutrons and also produces prompt gamma rays up to 11 MeV. These results would indicate that, for high-energy neutron 14 MeV, not only is HfB2 unacceptable as a reasonable neutron absorber but also produces 20 MeV prompt gamma rays.