Effect of Neutron Irradiation on Concrete Aggregates

Abstract

Safe exploitation of nuclear power plants is one of the main concerns of the modern society. In Japan, close attention has been made to local nuclear infrastructure especially after the incident at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant. In such structures, concrete has found its application as a support structure for reactor and/or biological shielding wall against ionizing radiation emitted from reactor. Under the harsh radiation environment, the deterioration of concrete structures is subjected to elevated temperature, neutron and gamma radiation. When concrete aggregates are affected by neutron radiation the accumulation of defects in crystalline solids causes radiation-induced swelling. The swelling of aggregates, in general, is the main factor for degradation of strength and Young’s modulus of concrete, as a consequence of crack formation and degraded physical properties of minerals. This is exactly to what drawn special attention. In this thesis, the effect of Radiation-Induced Volumetric Expansion (RIVE) of selected rocks is described under the Japanese Concrete Aging Management Program (JCAMP) and presents the experimental results of the effects of neutron irradiation on selected rocks, or rather on minerals. The initiated research project under JCAMP was granted to Research Centre Řež.

Safe exploitation of nuclear power plants is one of the main concerns of the modern society. In Japan, close attention has been made to local nuclear infrastructure especially after the incident at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plant. In such structures, concrete has found its application as a support structure for reactor and/or biological shielding wall against ionizing radiation emitted from reactor. Under the harsh radiation environment, the deterioration of concrete structures is subjected to elevated temperature, neutron and gamma radiation. When concrete aggregates are affected by neutron radiation the accumulation of defects in crystalline solids causes radiation-induced swelling. The swelling of aggregates, in general, is the main factor for degradation of strength and Young’s modulus of concrete, as a consequence of crack formation and degraded physical properties of minerals. This is exactly to what drawn special attention. In this thesis, the effect of Radiation-Induced Volumetric Expansion (RIVE) of selected rocks is described under the Japanese Concrete Aging Management Program (JCAMP) and presents the experimental results of the effects of neutron irradiation on selected rocks, or rather on minerals. The initiated research project under JCAMP was granted to Research Centre Řež.