Transfer of tritium in concrete coated with hydrophobic paints

Fukada, Satoshi*; Edao, Yuki*; Sato, Koichi*; Takeishi, Toshiharu*; Katayama, Kazunari*; Kobayashi, Kazuhiro; Hayashi, Takumi; Yamanishi, Toshihiko; Hatano, Yuji*; Taguchi, Akira*; et al.

Fusion Engineering and Design, 87(1), p.54 - 60, 2012/01

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fusengdes.2011.09.001

An experimental study on tritium (T) transfer in porous concrete for the tertiary T safety containment is performed to investigate (1) how fast HTO penetrates through concrete walls, (2) how well concrete walls contaminated with water-soluble T are decontaminated by a solution-in-water technique, and (3) how well hydrophobic paint coating works as a protecting film against HTO migrating through concrete walls. The epoxy paint coating can work as a HTO diffusion barrier and the PRF value is around 1/10. The silicon paint coating cannot work as the anti-T permeation barrier, because water deteriorates contact between the paint and cement or mortar.