Corrosion Test Plan to Guide Canister Material Selection and Design for a Tuff Repository.

Abstract

Corrosion rates and the mode of corrosion attack form a most important basis for selection of canister materials and design of a nuclear waste package. Type 304L stainless steel was selected as the reference material for canister fabrication because of its generally excellent corrosion resistance in water, steam and air. However, 304L may be susceptible to localized and stress-assisted forms of corrosion under certain conditions. Alternative alloys are also investigated; these alloys were chosen because of their improved resistance to these forms of corrosion. The fabrication and welding processes, as well as the glass pouring operation for defense and commercial high-level wastes, may influence the susceptibility of the canister to localized and stress forms of corrosion.

Methods of calculating the post-closure performance of high-level waste repositories

“…For non-brine environments the data are less conclusive. Some studies show slight increases in general corrosion, or initiation of stress corrosion cracking or hydrogen embrittlement in the presence of gamma radiation (see Furuya et al 1982, Molecke et al, 1981, McCright et al, 1984and Lewis and Reed, 1987.…”

Overview of low temperature sensitization

“…These materials are also being considered for nuclear waste containers in a tuff repository. Recent papers (1,2) detail the selection of reference and alternative container materials in the conceptual design stage of the nuclear waste package. These papers give an outline of all the corros!…”