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Free AutoCAD radiation protection layout blocks (DWG): shielding walls, hot cells, glove boxes, monitors, nuclear medicine, radiation signs

Radiation protection and nuclear facility layout: 119 ready-made AutoCAD blocks (DWG), free to download and use in your own projects, as a ZIP or one symbol at a time.

119 radiation protection and nuclear facility layout symbols for AutoCAD at real size in millimetres, in eight groups: radiation marks and signs (the trefoil, sign plates for radiation, high radiation, controlled, supervised, contamination and airborne areas, warning light, door interlock, emergency stop, search and secure button, exposure panel); area classification and access (controlled and supervised area boundaries, zone marks, access point, chain barrier, floor stripe, assembly point, step-off line, survey and smear points); shielding walls and doors (concrete from 300 to 1200, barite concrete, lead lining, lead partition, steel plate, borated polyethylene, lead bricks, water tank, shield blocks, swing and sliding shield doors, labyrinth, lead glass window, penetrations, pass-through hatch, floor plug); hot cells, glove boxes and handling (concrete and steel hot cells, manipulators, transfer port, transport cask, lead castle, glove boxes, bag-out port, radiochemistry hood); monitoring and dosimetry; contamination control and waste; nuclear medicine and radiotherapy; and generic research reactor and irradiation facility footprints. They are plan symbols for laboratories, hospitals, research facilities and irradiation rooms.

Version 1.0 · updated October 28, 2026 · Check out what's changed

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Using AutoCAD 2017 or an earlier version? Download the 2010 format

Copyright CADXChange. Use and modify the symbols freely in your own drawings and projects, including commercial ones; credit and a link are needed only when you publish them. Please do not redistribute or resell the library. Each ZIP holds one plain DWG file in AutoCAD 2018 format and a README; no add-in needed. Provided as is, without warranty. Library terms (CXL-1.0)

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Attributes for parts lists

Every block has a visible DESIGNATION. The data for a schedule are invisible attributes: SIZE and REMARKS on all blocks; SHIELD_MATERIAL, SHIELD_THICKNESS_MM, LEAD_EQUIVALENT_MM and DENSITY_KG_M3 on shielding; AREA_CLASS and DOSE_RATE_USV_H on area marks and signs; RADIONUCLIDE and ACTIVITY_MBQ on sources, hot cells and waste; MANUFACTURER, MODEL and QTY on equipment. Markers such as the zone mark, survey point and assembly point show their own label (ZONE, POINT) instead.

Thicknesses, dose rates and nuclides are left for you to fill in, because they come from the radiation protection assessment of your project. Export the blocks of all drawings to Excel with BlockSync to build a shielding and equipment schedule, check it and write the changes back to the drawings.

How to use the library

  1. Unzip the file and open the DWG. Copy the symbols you need into your plan, or drag the blocks in from DesignCenter (ADCENTER).
  2. Insert the blocks at scale 1 in model space; they are drawn at real size in millimetres, and the catalog shows them at 1:100. Shielding walls are 1000 long segments on their centre line (insert at the wall end and rotate; stack or array them for longer walls, or draw a polyline and use the segment as a section sample). Equipment has its origin in the centre with the operator side at the bottom (negative Y). Sizes are typical footprints, not a product: change them to the unit you specify.
  3. The trefoil follows the proportions of the basic ionizing radiation symbol: a disc, three blades from 1.5 to 5 times the disc radius, each 60 degrees wide. Sign plates carry the common English wording; copy the plate and change the text for your language or national wording. Area boundaries, step-off lines and floor stripes are samples that you stretch or copy along your plan. Doors show the swing or the sliding pocket as a dashed leaf.
  4. The research reactor and irradiation items (pool, spent fuel pool, beam port, irradiator cell, source rack, crane, HEPA housing, stack, airlock, cask pit, neutron station) are generic footprints for a layout study. They do not show reactor internals or a specific plant, and they are not a design. Use the electrical, instrumentation and P&ID libraries of this site for the systems drawings.

About standards and requirements

Only the trefoil has a standard behind it: its shape and proportions follow ISO 361, the basic ionizing radiation symbol. For the rest, no standard defines layout symbols for radiation protection, so the library follows common practice in laboratories, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy and research facilities. Area classes, dose limits, shielding thickness and signage are set by national regulation and by the qualified radiation protection expert of your project, and they differ from country to country.

These symbols are our own drawings after common practice, and the library is not certified against any standard or regulation. They show layout and construction, not a shielding calculation or a safety assessment; the shield thicknesses in the block names are placeholders to be replaced by your design values.

What changed in each version

Version 1.0 · October 28, 2026

New symbols (119)

Ionizing radiation symbol · Sign, radiation area · Sign, high radiation area · Sign, controlled area · Sign, supervised area · Sign, radioactive material · Sign, radioactive waste · Sign, contamination area · Sign, airborne radioactivity · Radiation warning light · Door interlock switch · Emergency stop, radiation room · Search and secure button · Exposure indicator panel · Controlled area boundary · Supervised area boundary · Area zone mark · Access control point · Chain barrier on stanchions · Floor boundary stripe · Emergency assembly point · Step-off line, clean and active side · Dose rate survey point · Smear sample location · Shield wall, concrete 300 · Shield wall, concrete 500 · Shield wall, concrete 800 · Shield wall, concrete 1200 · Shield wall, barite concrete 800 · Shield wall, concrete with lead lining · Partition with lead sheet, 100 · Shield plate, steel 50 · Neutron shield, borated polyethylene 200 · Shield wall, lead bricks 100 · Shield wall, water tank 500 · Shield blocks, stacked 1200 x 800 · Shield door, swing 1200 · Shield door, sliding 1200 · Labyrinth entrance, 2 legs · Lead glass window in wall, 1000 · 79 more

Frequently asked questions

Is this a nuclear power plant library?
No. It covers radiation protection and layout for laboratories, nuclear medicine, radiotherapy, irradiation rooms and research facilities. There is no public standard for nuclear power plant drawing symbols, and the library does not invent one: for plant systems drawings use the P&ID, instrumentation and electrical libraries and the legend of the plant.
Do the warning signs follow a standard?
The trefoil follows the proportions of ISO 361. The wording and layout of the sign plates are common practice and differ between countries. If you need the standardized safety sign of ISO 7010, it is in the safety signs library of this site.
Can I use the symbols in commercial projects?
Yes. They are free to use and modify in your own projects, including commercial ones. They are provided as is, without warranty. Please do not redistribute or resell the library; see the library terms.
How do I set the shield thickness?
Choose the wall block closest to your design and fill in the invisible attributes: material, thickness, lead equivalent and density from the radiation protection assessment. The drawn thickness is in the block name; stretch the block or draw your own if you need another value.
Can I change a symbol or add attributes?
Yes. Open the DWG, edit a block with BEDIT to change it or add attributes, and save. To update drawings that already contain the block, run ATTSYNC or replace the block. Make a backup first: attribute values can be lost if ATTSYNC is used carelessly.
Are the floor, wallpaper and material patterns hatches?
No, they are blocks made of thin lines. Insert one, scale it to the area you want to show and copy it to cover more (ARRAY), or use it as a legend sample next to your finish schedule. For large areas the hatch patterns of your CAD program are the better choice.
Should I download this library or one of the smaller topic libraries (furniture, doors and windows, bathroom and kitchen, stairs, walls and roofs)?
This one has everything in a single file. If you need only one topic, the topic library holds the same blocks in a smaller file, and the furniture library adds front elevations of the furniture.
Where do I find a ready-made set of these symbols for AutoCAD?
AutoCAD itself ships only a small set of sample blocks, so a full symbol set has to come from a library. Download the ZIP on this page and open the DWG: every symbol is a block. Insert one with INSERT (Blocks palette, Libraries tab, then pick the DWG) or drag it from DesignCenter (ADCENTER). You can also download a single symbol on its own.

Count the symbols and build a parts list

Because ratings and part numbers are attributes, the symbols of a whole project can be counted and listed without opening the drawings. Export the blocks to Excel, total them with a pivot table and write corrections back in one run, with preview and backup.

See how to count blocks with BlockSync