CORROSION RELIABILITY PREDICTION: LONG TERM NUCLEAR WASTE STORAGE IN YUCCA MOUNTAIN

The US. Department of Energy has proposed the disposal of high level nuclear waste from commercial and defense reactors in a mined geologic repository under Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The waste will be stored in metallic canisters. The barrier against corrosion will be an Alloy 22 canister and a Ti Grade 7 drip shield. Both of these materials are extremely corrosion resistant. The environment inside Yucca Mountain is relatively benign, but the long time period over which these materials must resist penetration makes corrosion a concern. This paper presents a background of the corrosion issues and shows some recent results regarding measurements of localized corrosion under thin aqueous layers and layers that simulate wet dust deposits.