An online software to simulate the shielding properties of materials for neutrons and photons: NGCal

NGCal, a free online computation software (http://ngcal.com), has been developed for narrow beam transmission properties of photons (for energies of X rays and gamma rays between 0.002 MeV and 20 MeV), thermal (25.4 meV) and fast neutrons (4 MeV), in this regard it theoretically calculates the mass and linear attenuation coefficient/factor, mean free path, half- and tenth-value layers of materials formed by elements, compounds and composites. Its calculation assumptions, user guide as well as a comparative example of its results to those of other online computation platforms (XCOM, NCNR, WinXCOM, MCNPX, and Phy-X/PSD) are presented in this study. The developed software allows for more data input consisting of elements/oxides/compound and their fractions, and presents a number of shielding results required by researchers and scientists working on radiation shielding properties of multi-component materials.