A Novel Method of Utilization of Hot Dip Galvanizing Slag Using the Heat Waste from Itself for Protection from Radiation.

•Novel method of utilization of hot dip galvanizing slag using the heat waste from itself for protection from radiation.•Good agreement is observed between experiment and WinXCOM results.•Shielding properties of the prepared samples are better than some concretes, glasses and alloys.•Shielding mechanism for complex shielding materials is proposed for the first time.•EBF and EABF of materials have been analyzed for their applications in gamma ray shielding.