Concrete corrosion in nuclear power plants and other nuclear installations and its mitigation techniques: a review

Abstract

Nuclear power plants (NPPs) have been affected by various failures through corrosion which causes economic losses, increased chance of the radiation exposure and environmental risk. One of the major durability issues in reinforced concrete is the corrosion of reinforcement which significantly reduces the life of reinforced concrete. Considering the increasing demand for longer service lives of NPPs, and the high cost involved in building and maintaining it, adequate preventive measures should be followed to minimize the corrosion. This review majorly discusses about the mechanism of corrosion of steel in NPP structures with emphasis on the mechanisms relevant to NPPs, possible reasons for the concrete corrosion as well as potential failure happening in NPPs. The majors reason for the concrete corrosion in nuclear power plants are mainly corrosive external and internal environment, thermal and mechanical stress, moisture content, microorganisms and stray electrical currents. The corrosion of NPPs may result in loss of structural integrity and leakage of radioactive material. The review also discusses about various corrosion prevention and protection techniques against concrete corrosion and concludes with an overview of present methods and possible future perspectives used to enhance the efficiency of concrete corrosion mitigation methods with focus of NPPs.