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Assessment Of Neutron Irradiation Damage In Aggregates

The required electrical power in the United States has led the utilities and the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to evaluate second license renewals for operating light-water reactors, and some extensions have already been reviewed for extended operation to 80 years. As these plants were licensed to operate for 40 years with options for additional 20 year extensions, the extended operation raised questions in terms of materials performance under extreme conditions and extended time. The effects of prolonged irradiation must be understood and evaluated to predict and ensure the reliability of plant components. 

Product Number: ED22-17265-SG
Author: Elena Tajuelo Rodriguez, Lawrence M. Anovitz, Michael Cheshire, Yann Le Pape, Jan Ilavsky, Thomas M. Rosseel
Publication Date: 2022
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Understanding the effects of neutron radiation on typical structures of a nuclear power plant is crucial to supporting the second license renewal of the US fleet of light-water reactors. The biological shields surrounding the reactor pressure vessels are constituted by concrete, which is about 70% aggregate in volume. Aggregates are sourced locally and are unique to each concrete formulation. The minerals present in aggregates sustain radiation-induced volumetric expansion. The swelling amplitude depends on the minerals’ composition and structure and is larger for framework silicates, followed by single chain silicates and carbonates. Differential expansion on different minerals that conform an aggregate is expected to result in stresses, pores, and cracks. The evolution of porosity from the nano- to the microscale was investigated via ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering in six different aggregates—one altered tuff, four sandstones, and one limestone—from the pristine state to the irradiated state with neutron doses of 1.28 × 1019, 4.12 × 1019, and 8.25 × 1019 n/cm2. An increase in the total pore volume fraction at the highest neutron dose was observed for the altered tuff and the sandstones, whereas the limestone showed minimal differences in total pore volume fraction across the explored doses. For pore sizes ≤100 nm and ≤1 μm, the cumulative porosity change was linearly correlated with the aggregate experimental and estimated expansions.

Understanding the effects of neutron radiation on typical structures of a nuclear power plant is crucial to supporting the second license renewal of the US fleet of light-water reactors. The biological shields surrounding the reactor pressure vessels are constituted by concrete, which is about 70% aggregate in volume. Aggregates are sourced locally and are unique to each concrete formulation. The minerals present in aggregates sustain radiation-induced volumetric expansion. The swelling amplitude depends on the minerals’ composition and structure and is larger for framework silicates, followed by single chain silicates and carbonates. Differential expansion on different minerals that conform an aggregate is expected to result in stresses, pores, and cracks. The evolution of porosity from the nano- to the microscale was investigated via ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering in six different aggregates—one altered tuff, four sandstones, and one limestone—from the pristine state to the irradiated state with neutron doses of 1.28 × 1019, 4.12 × 1019, and 8.25 × 1019 n/cm2. An increase in the total pore volume fraction at the highest neutron dose was observed for the altered tuff and the sandstones, whereas the limestone showed minimal differences in total pore volume fraction across the explored doses. For pore sizes ≤100 nm and ≤1 μm, the cumulative porosity change was linearly correlated with the aggregate experimental and estimated expansions.