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While defective concrete is in the news with schools and hospitals liable to collapse at any moment lets take a peek at Sellafield - the biggest concrete mass in the North West which no doubt includes every grade of concrete. The multi-national company supplying Sellafield with a "dedicated onsite plant" supplies the Sellafield "nuclear project excusively."
The same company in the US has been sued with the West Virginia Record reporting in 2018 that "Hanson Ready Mix sued for alleged defective ready-mix concrete. Fossil fuelled concrete is a BIG thing for Sellafield and the nuclear industry with concrete shielding and repacking again and again being absolutely necessary to isolate radioactive wastes from planet earth. "Currently in the U.K., higher activity nuclear waste is kept in engineered interim above ground product stores. The long term solution (sic) for this waste is disposal in a Geological Disposal Facility (GDF), which is a highly engineered below ground facility. Current timelines for the readiness of a GDF mean that interim storage will be needed for longer than originally planned; this could take place in the pre-existing stores or require new interim stores to be built. Concrete is used extensively throughout the interim nuclear waste stores. So, understanding any changes in the microstructure of the concrete from ageing and/ or gamma radiation will be invaluable in aiding decision making when comparing the feasibility of extended use of the existing store to building a new one." The Assessment of Gamma Radiation on the Properties of Structural Concrete A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Science and Engineering 2021 Alexander J Potts School of Natural Sciences Department of Chemistry