The MERCURAD software, with its powerful user interface that can display 3D scenes, offers a practical solution to meet the complex dose calculation requirements of health physics specialists, shielding calculation engineers, and staff involved with nuclear facility maintenance and nuclear installation dismantling projects.

The new MERCURAD software is built using the computation engines of the well known and tested MERCURE calculation code(1). It makes extensive use of a new graphical user interface, thus allowing very complex items to be easily defined and presented.

USER FRIENDLY INTERFACE

Geometrical, chemical and nuclear properties are entered through templates and computer aided sequences to build the view to be measured. In these sequences the operator enters the dimensions of 3Dshapes, their chemical compositions, their densities, the types of radioactive sources, and the locations of the sources.

Reoccurring objects in the scene (e.g., the drum in Figure 4) can also be saved independently as a compound volume and reused within the same scene or saved to be used in future scenes. An operator can create his own views at any time or operate from previously stored acquisition data using stored composite volumes, and typical chemical compositions (concrete, stainless steel, alloys, etc.).

CALCULATION OF BUILD-UP FACTORS

The latest version of the MERCURE V6, used as a computing engine for dose rate, integrates a powerful function for build-up factor calculation. The software enables the build-up factor calculation for composed shields by using new algorithms developed by the CEA and ensuring more accurate calculations. Extensive testing has shown that the automatic mode (avoiding any user guesswork) to be highly accurate, even in thick and complex multi-layer shields, up to 50 mfp.

The new algorithm developed using neural networks to accurately calculate the build-up factor of multiple shields quickly. The method allows the user to have
no practical limit on the amount of shields in the scene, and still having high accuracy results and short calculation time.

ENERGY GROUPS

MERCURAD computes the dose rate values either from the radioisotopes specified by the user or from the list of gamma-rays and associated photon intensities. The dose rate calculation can also be made from energy groups.

The determination of the energy groups is automatically performed if the calculation is made from the isotopic list. The software can now manage up to 195 energy groups between 15 keV and 10 MeV.

CALCULATION START

The calculations are performed automatically and sequentially; a separate window is displayed during the calculation process, allowing the user to see the progress of the series of steps in the calculation. This gives the operator the opportunity to see, for example, the convergence factor.

WHAT IF...

MERCURAD allows the user to define some minimum and maximum dimensions to certain objects in the scene. This allows the user to see the effect of a minimum or maximum configuration of certain dimension in the scene and to observe the effect on the dose calculation. The software has the ability to calculate three dose values for each scene, Nominal, Minimum and Maximum.

For example, the effect of a wall thickness of Nominal X cm, but with a tolerance of X cm - Y cm (Minimum configuration) and a (different) tolerance of X cm + Z cm (Maximum configuration).

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