Nuclear Engineering and Technology

Korean Nuclear Society (한국원자력학회)
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Monitoring in a reinforced concrete structure for storing low and intermediate level radioactive waste. Lessons learnt after 25 years

  • Nuria Rebolledo (Instituto de Ciencias de la Construccion "Eduardo Torroja" (IETcc-CSIC)) ;
  • Julio Torres (Instituto de Ciencias de la Construccion "Eduardo Torroja" (IETcc-CSIC)) ;
  • Servando Chinchon-Paya (Instituto de Ciencias de la Construccion "Eduardo Torroja" (IETcc-CSIC)) ;
  • Javier Sanchez (Instituto de Ciencias de la Construccion "Eduardo Torroja" (IETcc-CSIC)) ;
  • Sylvia de Gregorio (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A., S.M.E. (ENRESA)) ;
  • Manuel Ordonez (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A., S.M.E. (ENRESA)) ;
  • Inmaculada Lopez (Empresa Nacional de Residuos Radiactivos, S.A., S.M.E. (ENRESA))
  • Received : 2022.06.24
  • Accepted : 2022.12.05
  • Published : 2023.04.25
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Abstract

Where concrete structures are designed to have a service life of over 100 years, their performance must be monitored, for the prediction models available are fraught with uncertainties that need to be eliminated. The present study was conducted to meet that need by monitoring a pilot structure for low and intermediate radioactive waste storage. Long-term operation of the sensors was observed to be adequate to determine the value of the parameters that characterise structural durability, such as corrosion current density. The parameters analysed were correlated to calculate their reciprocal impact: where applied in conjunction with artificial intelligence tools, temperature, for instance, was found suitable for finding activation energy and expansion coefficients and detecting outliers. The results showed the pilot structure to perform satisfactorily.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The data and funding provided by ENRESA under agreement No. 079-ES-IN-2019-0004 are gratefully acknowledged.

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