The results of the experiments and analyses throughout this work lead to several
different options for future work, which will be discussed below.
• Facility improvements – More radioactive sources could be used to conduct the
measurements to test this shielding structure in a wider range of energies. Future
work on neutron shielding may include fast neutron sources.
• Application specifications – For this stage no specific type of nuclear radiation
shielding application was targeted. This work only aimed at very general application
as the first step for developing this novel structure. Potential applications could be
spent nuclear fuel cask, radiation protection garment, transportation and space
application.
• Material developments – The Doucel open-cell foam samples use in this work were
made from 6101 Al alloy. But aluminum is not the only choice, and foams made from
other material could be taken into account to deal with different applications, such as
lead or steel foam.
Along with a certain application objective, comes design and improved experimental
methods or simulation. This kind of shielding system have shown potentials in applications
owing to the benefits of increased shielding ability and reduced weight. Some additional advantages might be increased heat rejection capability, improved mechanical load resistance
and energy damping capability.