Mechanical properties of concrete for radioactive waste repositories

Abstract

Concrete casing for radioactive repositories have to meet many strict requirements. One of the most important is a radiation protection and a radionuclide inhabitation. Bentonite, with a great sorption capacity, seems to be a suitable material for this purpose. Therefore, the main aim of this study was to assess an impact of the bentonite utilization as a component in concrete mixtures. For this reason, basic physical properties and mechanical parameters of concretes containing different amount of bentonite were determined. Bentonite applications led to the open porosity growth, while the matrix densities were not influenced. Regarding the mechanical parameters, the compressive strengths as well as the flexural strengths were significantly deteriorated by the bentonite application. Despite the presented negative effect, the obtained results seems to prove a possible applicability of a lower percentage of bentonite in concrete structures not as a cement replacement, but just as a component.