Effect of temperature on corrosion parameters and apparent activation energy measured by embedded sensors in pilot container in El Cabril repository

AbstractIn order to study the real on-site aging of concrete and the potential corrosion risk for the reinforcements, Enresa has undertaken a monitoring programme in collaboration with Institute of Construction Science ‘Eduardo Torroja’ (IETcc) by permanently monitoring a pilot nuclear waste container through the installation of sensors. The pilot container of medium and low radioactive waste is buried near the real large concrete cells and has been monitored from 1994. The evolution from 1995 of corrosion parameters (corrosion rate, corrosion potential, electrical resistivity, concrete strains, oxygen availability) obtained is commented in the paper. The results indicate that the parameters evolve with time and the temperature is a very relevant variable influencing the measurements. An attempt to model the effect of temperature has been made by calculating the ‘apparent activation energies’ for the case of the electrical resistivity. Two clear regimes or slopes were found, one below and the other above ...