Radioactivity of blast furnace slag

Overview

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AUTHORS

Pierre Gaujé: ARCELOR MITTAL, Global Research and Development, Maizières Process, - Maizières-lès-Metz, France
François HANROT: ArcelorMittal, European Procurement Organisation – By-Products Sales, Luxembourg
Marcel BANDOMBELE MOKILI: SUBATECH Laboratory, UMR 6457, Institut Mines-Télécom Atlantique, IN2P3/CNRS, University of Nantes, France
Mickaël BAILLY: SUBATECH Laboratory, UMR 6457, Institut Mines-Télécom Atlantique, IN2P3/CNRS, University of Nantes, France
Isabelle DENIAU: SUBATECH Laboratory, UMR 6457, Institut Mines-Télécom Atlantique, IN2P3/CNRS, University of Nantes, France

INTRODUCTION

Key points

Sector: Metallurgy

Degree of technology diffusion: Growth

Technologies involved: Gamma spectrometry

Areas of application: Construction

Main French players :

Competitive clusters: SUBATECH laboratory, Centre Technique et de Promotion des Laitiers, IRSN.
Manufacturers: ArcelorMittal.

Radiation protection regulations have been modified in the European Union. Problems related to natural radioactivity are to be taken into account more rigorously. In particular, building materials will be subject to specific regulations designed to limit the doses received by building occupants.

Blast furnace slag contains natural radioactivity, and can be described as a raw material whose radionuclide concentration has been increased by an industrial process (TENORM: Technologically Enhanced Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials).

Thus, their use as building materials could be limited by new regulations. However, slag activity is low and therefore difficult to measure. The values available do not allow reliable decisions to be made about their employability as building materials.

The study presented in this article was carried out by ArcelorMittal in collaboration with SUBATECH to better define the problem, improve measurement quality and, above all, accumulate sufficient reliable measurements to establish the employability of blast furnace slag as a building material.

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KEYWORDS

building | radioactivity | gamma spectrometry | slag

Ongoing reading
Radioactivity of blast furnace slag

Regulatory context: the new 2013/59/Euratom directive