The author is grateful to Prof. Raymond A. Cook of the University of New Hampshire for performing the mercury intrusion porosimetry measurements. The author would like to acknowledge the partial support of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for this work.
The author is also greatly indebted to Prof. Jacques Marchand of Université Laval for his guidance, discussions, and suggestions, and to Dr. James Beaudoin of the National Research Council (CANADA) for stimulating discussions.