Experimental Study Investigating the Effects of Concrete Conditions on the Penetration Behaviors of Cs and Sr at Low Concentration Ranges

• Published in: Journal of Advanced Concrete Technology 2021/06/26, Vol.19(6), pp.756-770
• Main Authors: Yamada, Kazuo, Igarashi, Go, Osawa, Norihisa, Kiran, Rohith, Haga, Kazuko, Tomita, Sayuri, Maruyama, Ippei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1346-8014; 1347-3913
• DOI: 10.3151/jact.19.756

To decommission of the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant after the reactor accident, it is important to estimate the distribution of radionuclide contamination in the concrete for key elements such as Cs and Sr. A reaction transport model will be developed for these calculations. However, for a realistic model, the behaviors of Cs and Sr penetration in concrete must be experimentally investigated. A part of the results of a MEXT project called “The Analysis of Radionuclide Contamination Mechanisms of Concrete and the Estimation of Contamination Distribution at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station” are presented in this technical report. From our penetration analyses, the behaviors of neither Cs nor Sr were affected by each other. Additionally, the apparent diffusion coefficients of Cs and Sr were not significantly affected by the concentration or the presence of clay in the mortars. The penetration depth of Sr was smaller than that of Cs, and fly ash blended cement increased the resistance to penetration compared with ordinary Portland cement. Carbonation in the mortar samples increased the adsorption of Cs especially. Sr interacted with cement hydrates more than with clays. In oven-dried mortars, under the condition of water suction, the presence of clay retarded Cs penetration but had no effect on Sr. When the mortars were carbonated and oven-dried, the interactions between the solid phase and Cs or Sr took hours at least to complete.