The report describes a study of the corrosion of carbon steel nuclear waste containers in deep ocean sediments, which had the objective of estimating the metal allowance needed to ensure that the containers were not breached by corrosion for 1000 years. It was concluded that, under such disposal conditions, carbon steel would not be subject to localized corrosion, and therefore the study concentrated on evaluating the rate of general attack. This was done by developing a mechanistically based mathematical model that was formulated on the conservative assumption that the corrosion would be under activation control, and would not be impeded by the formation of corrosion product layers. This model predicted that an allowance of 33 mm would be required for a 1000-year life.

Subject
Water, Corrosion rate, Predicted corrosion rate, Containment, Radiolysis, Sediments, Corrosion reactions, Seawater, Corrosion products, Corrosion attacks, Anodic reactions, Mathematical models, Carbon steel
National Association of Corrosion Engineers
1989
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