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Zircaloy Corrosion in a Repository Environment

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 February 2011

Jerry D. Christian
Jerry D. Christian*
Affiliation:
National Spent Fuel Program Lockheed Martin Idaho Technologies Company P. O. Box 1625 Idaho Falls, Idaho 83415
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Abstract

Assessments are made of the corrosion characteristics of spent nuclear fuel Zircaloy cladding in a Yucca mountain repository environment and the potential for the cladding to provide protection against radionuclide release following waste package failure. Considerations and assumptions includes a waste package life near 10,000 years and air-saturated water contacted with waste package corrosion product goethite, based on the near-field geochemical environment evaluated in the Yucca Mountain Viability Assessment [3]. Literature corrosion data (general, pitting, and localized crevice attack) are evaluated on the basis of these conditions and the expected chemical environments that can result on the surface of the fuel. General corrosion of Zircaloy is expected to be negligible and result in a lifetime of the SNF cladding of several hundred thousand years, approaching a million years. General surface pitting is not expected. Effects of crevice localized corrosion for periods beyond 10,000 years are uncertain and require modeling development and experimental characterization. Details of the evaluations that provide the basis for the conclusions are presented.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 556: Symposium QQ – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXII , 1999 , 935
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1999

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References

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