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Anaerobic Corrosion of Steel in Bentonite

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Nicholas R. Smart ,
Andrew P. Rance  and
Lars O. Werme
Nicholas R. Smart
Affiliation:
Serco Assurance, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3ED, United Kingdom.
Andrew P. Rance
Affiliation:
Serco Assurance, Culham Science Centre, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, OX14 3ED, United Kingdom.
Lars O. Werme
Affiliation:
SKB, Box 5864, SE-10240, Stockholm, Sweden.
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Abstract

In Sweden, spent nuclear fuel will be encapsulated in sealed cylindrical canisters, consisting of a ferrous insert and a copper outer container, for disposal in a geologic repository. Ferrous support structures will also be used in the repository, which will be backfilled with bentonite clay. Once any residual oxygen has been consumed, any ferrous material exposed to anoxic groundwater will undergo anaerobic corrosion, liberating hydrogen, forming a magnetite film, and releasing iron ions into the surrounding matrix. In order to characterise these processes the rate of hydrogen generation of steel in bentonite was measured using a barometric gas cell technique. The initial corrosion rates were found to be higher than measured previously in comparable aqueous solutions, but the long-term corrosion rates were similar. Analysis of the bentonite matrix showed that iron produced by corrosion had penetrated into the bentonite matrix, suggesting that ferrous ion exchange had occurred.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 807: Symposium Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXVII , 2003 , 441
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2004

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References

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