Effective combination of DIC, AE, and UPV nondestructive techniques on a scaled model of the Belgian nuclear waste container

Sokratis N. Iliopoulos; Lou Areias; Lincy Pyl; John Vantomme; Philippe Van Marcke; Erik Coppens; Dimitrios G. Aggelis

doi:10.1117/12.2084189

27 March 2015 Effective combination of DIC, AE, and UPV nondestructive techniques on a scaled model of the Belgian nuclear waste container

Sokratis N. Iliopoulos, Lou Areias, Lincy Pyl, John Vantomme, Philippe Van Marcke, Erik Coppens, Dimitrios G. Aggelis

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 9436, Smart Sensor Phenomena, Technology, Networks, and Systems Integration 2015; 943606 (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2084189
Event: SPIE Smart Structures and Materials + Nondestructive Evaluation and Health Monitoring, 2015, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

Protecting the environment and future generations against the potential hazards arising from high-level and heat emitting radioactive waste is a worldwide concern. Following this direction, the Belgian Agency for Radioactive Waste and Enriched Fissile Materials has come up with the reference design which considers the geological disposal of the waste in purely indurated clay. In this design the wastes are first post-conditioned in massive concrete structures called Supercontainers before being transported to the underground repositories. The Supercontainers are cylindrical structures which consist of four engineering barriers that from the inner to the outer surface are namely: the overpack, the filler, the concrete buffer and possibly the envelope. The overpack, which is made of carbon steel, is the place where the vitrified wastes and spent fuel are stored. The buffer, which is made of concrete, creates a highly alkaline environment ensuring slow and uniform overpack corrosion as well as radiological shielding. In order to evaluate the feasibility to construct such Supercontainers two scaled models have so far been designed and tested. The first scaled model indicated crack formation on the surface of the concrete buffer but the absence of a crack detection and monitoring system precluded defining the exact time of crack initiation, as well as the origin, the penetration depth, the crack path and the propagation history. For this reason, the second scaled model test was performed to obtain further insight by answering to the aforementioned questions using the Digital Image Correlation, Acoustic Emission and Ultrasonic Pulse Velocity nondestructive testing techniques.

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Sokratis N. Iliopoulos, Lou Areias, Lincy Pyl, John Vantomme, Philippe Van Marcke, Erik Coppens, and Dimitrios G. Aggelis "Effective combination of DIC, AE, and UPV nondestructive techniques on a scaled model of the Belgian nuclear waste container", Proc. SPIE 9436, Smart Sensor Phenomena, Technology, Networks, and Systems Integration 2015, 943606 (27 March 2015); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2084189

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