Computational benchmarking of tellurite glasses for photon and fast-neutron radiation shielding

This work presents a theoretical assessment of photon attenuation and preliminary fast-neutron shielding indicators for six tellurite-based glass compositions containing Bi₂O₃, WO₃, Nb₂O₅, Gd₂O₃, and As₂O₃. The selected literature-based compositions span densities from 4.596 to 6.996 g/cm³ and were evaluated over the photon energy range of 15 keV to 15 MeV using the Phy-X/PSD platform. The calculated shielding parameters include the mass attenuation coefficient (MAC), linear attenuation coefficient (μ), half-value layer (HVL), mean free path (MFP), radiation protection efficiency (RPE%), effective atomic number (Z_eff), and fast neutron removal cross section (FNRCS). The present work provides a comparative theoretical benchmark for evaluating the influence of composition, density, high-Z absorption-edge behavior, photon attenuation characteristics, and fast-neutron removal indicators across different tellurite glass networks under consistent computational conditions. The results indicate that WO₃ and Bi₂O₃-rich glasses, particularly TWA1 and TNB2, exhibit comparatively favorable attenuation performance among the investigated samples. At 0.04 MeV, TWA1 showed μ = 106.2 cm^-1, HVL = 0.007 cm, and MFP = 0.009 cm, compared with μ = 14.8 cm^-1 and HVL = 0.047 cm for ordinary concrete, suggesting comparatively improved theoretical thickness efficiency in the low-energy region. At 0.511 MeV, TWA1 exhibited the lowest HVL among the present glasses (0.937 cm), with RPE ≈ 52.2% at 1 cm thickness. The calculated FNRCS values ranged from 0.08 to 0.095 cm^-1, with TNB2 showing the highest value. Within the limitations of the present theoretical framework, these findings provide comparative guidance for future experimental and Monte Carlo transport evaluation of lead-free tellurite glasses for radiation shielding applications.