REDUCING CONCRETE WASTE THROUGH

NOVEL HYDROXYAPATITE-BASED
DECONTAMINATION METHOD
Alexandru Golgojan, Joanna Renshaw, Rebecca Lunn
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Background – Concrete Contamination at Nuclear Facilities

 Concrete structures can be exposed to radionuclides which contaminate the surface of the
concrete.
 This surface contamination needs to be removed from the bulk concrete, contained and
disposed of once a nuclear facility reaches its end of life.1-3
 Currently, the process of removing this layer of irradiated concrete produces 2,750,000
tonnes of waste per Nuclear Power Plant decommissioning.3
 By using abrasive-blasting, dry methods produce dust and airborne particulates while wet
methods produce a combination of dust and water droplets which is difficult to contain.4
Figure 1: On site dry abrasive-blasting 4

The Concept – Removable Mineral Layers for Decommissioning

Contaminated
dust
 The apatite mineral Hydroxyapatite (HAP), Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2, is
Contaminated investigated for the mineral layer
concrete dust
 Apatite minerals are a group of calcium phosphate minerals which
- can incorporate radionuclides into their structure
- are stable over long time periods
- are resistant to self radiation5
 HAP, the major inorganic material of bones (65%), has a high
Contaminated
HAP waste adsorption capacity and low permeability, making it a suitable mineral
for trapping radionuclides.6
 Physical properties depend on the morphology and the conditions
during synthesis.
Figure 2: Decontamination products with and without HAP layering on concrete
Intact,
Demolition or
decontaminated
Concrete element repurposing
HAp adsorbs HAP layer is concrete
coated in radionuclides removed at the
thin HAp layer onto its surface end of it’s lifecycle Small volume of
Containment
contaminated
and disposal
Figure 3: Schematic of HAP-based decontamination process HAp

Current work – HAP layer optimisation and removal

 Research on the generation of HAP layers is extensive in the field biomedical engineering
for bone repair.6
 The precipitation method is based on the medical literature and involves a sol-gel method
with results of ~30 µm thick on rough cement surfaces. In biomedical engineering HAP has
been shown to mineralise on Titanium for bone implants.
 We are currently investigating metal meshes as an intermediate scaffold between concrete
and HAP as an integrated removing medium.
 Figure 6 shows the progress of the cement coupons and Ti mesh being exposed in
repeated cycles to Ringer’s and PO4 solution.
 After embedding and precipitation, the mesh will be forced to expand through thermal
expansion and break the weak concrete interface, releasing the HAP layer intact
Figure 4: Conceptual 3D diagram of a concrete wall (a) with
Accentuated Uniform HAP metal mesh (b), weak concrete interface (c) and HAP (d)
Cement layer around
HAP
coupon
formation the titanium References
mesh 1 Babilas, E., Brendebach, B., 2015. Selection and evaluation of decontamination and
dismantling techniques for decommissioning of large NPPs components;
Titanium 2 Gossard, et al., 2022b. Gels, coatings and foams for radioactive surface
mesh decontamination: State of the art and challenges for the nuclear industry;
3 Han, S. et al., 2020b.Decontamination of concrete waste from nuclear power plant
Localised decommissioning in South Korea;
Localised HAP HAP 4 OECD/NEA, 2011. Decontamination and Dismantling of Radioactive Concrete
formation formation Structures A Report of the NEA Co-operative Programme on Decommissioning (CPD)
Decontamination and Dismantling of Radioactive Concrete Structures;
5 Turner, R.J., et al. 2017. Biogenic Hydroxyapatite: A New Material for the Preservation
and Restoration of the Built Environment;
Figure 5: Hap precipitation process stages. From top: day 2, day 3 and day 4 (final) 6 DileepKumar, V.G.et al., 2022. A review on the synthesis and properties of
hydroxyapatite for biomedical applications.