SSAT (Sector Shielding Analysis Tool)

The Sector Shielding Analysis Tool (SSAT) performs ray-tracing from a user-defined point within a given Geant4 geometry to determine shielding profiles (i.e. the fraction of solid angle for which the shielding is within a defined interval) and shielding distribution (the mean shielding level as a function of look direction). If a dose-depth curve is provided, SSAT can also compute the total dose.

To achieve this the tool utilises the fictitious geantino particle, which undergoes no physical interactions, but flags boundary crossings along its straight trajectory. Knowledge of the positions of these boundary crossings together with the density of the material through which the particle has passed can be used to profile the shielding (in g/cm2) for a given point within the geometry.