Gas and water permeability tests of 25 year old concrete from the NPD Nuclear Generating Station

Permeability tests on cores recovered from concrete which had been in service for 25 years in the Nuclear Power Demonstration (NPD) reactor showed rates of mass transfer of gas and water which were greater than young fresh concrete of the same proportions and that reported in previous AECB reports. This transparency of the concrete was also 2 orders of magnitude greater than that of comparable concrete which had been stored in the laboratory atmosphere for 19 years. Analysis of the effluent in water permeability tests revealed the presence of unusual amounts of soluble materials, mainly Na and K but little Ca, in the reactor concrete. This suggested service-related deterioration of the concrete rather than the release of soluble Ca by continuing hydration of cement