Glasses with the configuration 72.5B2O3-7.5MoO3-( \(20 - x\) ) Li2O- \(x\) CdO: \(x\) ( \(0 \le x \ge 16\) ) mol.% were synthesized using the melt-quenching technique. The density increased from 2.61 g cm−3 to 3.79 g cm−3, whereas the molar volume decreased from 27.79 to 21.9. The optical spectra of the BMLC glasses were measured. The optical bandgap increased from 2.12 eV to 2.89 eV. On the other hand, the Urbach energy decreased from 0.847 eV to 0.49 eV. It was found that the \( (Z_{{{\text{eff}}}} )\) values increased as the CdO content increased. Therefore, the \({\text{BMLC}}_{16} \) sample demonstrated the highest effectiveness for γ shielding. The fast neutron removal cross section (FNRCS) value increased from 0.105 to 0.137, which confirmed that the BMLC glasses with high CdO exhibit excellent neutron and γ shielding. From the results obtained, our proposed glass showed good prospects for use in radiation-shielding applications.
