Optimization and evaluation of structural and shielding concrete for IFMIF-DONES

• Published in: Nuclear materials and energy Vol. 38; p. 101597
• Main Authors: Piotrowski, Tomasz, Romero, María José Martínez-Echevarría, Prochoń, Piotr, Alonso, Mónica López, Michalczyk, Rafał, Arvizu-Montes, Armando, Ciupiński, Łukasz, Jarque, Santiago Becerril, Józefiak, Kazimierz, Qiu, Yuefeng, Ansorge, Martin, Chohan, Hari, Wojtkowska, Magdalena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.03.2024; Elsevier
• Subjects: Heavy concrete; IFMIF-DONES; Neutron; Ordinary concrete; Radiation; Shielding; Heavy concrete; Ordinary concrete; IFMIF-DONES; Shielding; Neutron; Radiation
• ISSN: 2352-1791; 2352-1791
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nme.2024.101597

•Ordinary Concrete (OC) and Heavy Concrete (HC) have been optimized and designed for IFMIF-DONES based on ITER reference.•Technical properties (density, compressive and flexural strength) are superior in comparison to ITER reference.•Neutron shielding efficiency of HC is higher – thermal neutron absorption for HC is more than 8 times higher than for OC.•Neutron shielding efficiency of optimized concrete is better than for ITER reference concrete – both in case of OC and HC.•Calculation methods of neutron shielding efficiency are effective for comparison – experimental verification ongoing. The aim of this study was to optimize and evaluate structural and shielding concrete for the IFMIF-DONES building. An ordinary concrete of lime-dolomite aggregate from local sources has been chosen for structural concrete and magnetite aggregate was chosen for heavy-weight radiation shielding. The reference for concrete materials design was the one used in the ITER project. After investigations of raw materials, a group of prebatches were prepared and technical properties – density of compressive strength, were measured. Finally, two compositions have been elaborated – one for structural concrete of density 2.5 g/cm3 and the second for radiation shielding concrete of density 3.9 g/cm3. Then a set of 50 × 50 × 5 cm3 slabs were prepared and sent to the Nuclear Physics Institute of the CAS in the Czech Republic for shielding mock-up experiments. Also the other technical properties like E-modulus, bending strength etc. have been determined. Additionally, radiation shielding efficiency has been calculated based on atomic composition.