Effect of neutron irradiation on response of reinforced concrete members for nuclear power plants

In this study, the effects of long-term irradiation on the behaviors of reinforced concrete (RC) members were investigated to obtain a better understanding of the behaviors of RC structures under an irradiation environment, which include the biological shield walls and reactor vessel support structures of nuclear power plants (NPPs). The behaviors of three RC members were examined (a beam, beam-column section, and column under cyclic loading) by considering the changes in the constituent material properties due to neutron irradiation. The load capacity generally increases for a tension failure member with an increase in neutron irradiation because neutron irradiation increases the yield stress of reinforcing steel. However, the load capacity of a compression failure member decreases with a decrease in the compressive strength of concrete when the fluence of neutron radiation increases. Additionally, RC member analysis results demonstrate that the energy dissipation capacity, which is a critical factor in seismic design, decreases significantly when the fluence of neutron radiation is greater than 1.0 × 1017 n/cm2. Therefore, the level of neutron irradiation could be critical for RC structures over the long-term operation of NPPs, and thus the effects of neutron irradiation on RC structures should be considered as age-related damage.