Properties of Concrete Required in Nuclear Power Plants

Radiation-shielding properties, irradiation resistance, durability, energy-absorption capability and high-temperature resistance are required of the cementitious composites to be used in nuclear power plants and radioactive-waste repositories. Hence, understanding, measuring and modelling concrete behavior is instrumental in making safety-related concrete structures safer and more efficient. To this end, the chemo-physical-mechanical properties of both traditional and innovative concretes are concisely introduced and commented, while the hot and residual properties associated with the exposure to high temperature, fire and thermal shock are treated more extensively. The mechanical properties of various cementitious composites (Normal-Strength Concrete-NSC; High-Performance/High-Strength Concrete-HPC/HSC; Ultra High-Performance/Very High-Strength Concrete-UHPC/VHSC; Self-Compacting/Consolidating Concrete-SCC; Light-Weight Concrete-LWC; and shotcrete) show that these materials can be “tailored” according to the most strict requirements and to a variety of functions, even if several aspects of their behavior (like the spalling in fire and the long-term mechanical properties under sustained high temperature) are still open to investigation.