Radioactive waste is stored in underground storage tanks at the Department of Energy (DOE) Savannah River Site (SRS). The waste tanks store supernatant liquid salts, consisting primarily of sodium nitrate, sodium nitrite, sodium hydroxide, and sludge. An assessment of the potential degradation mechanisms of the high level waste (HLW) tanks determined that nitrate-induced pitting corrosion and stress corrosion cracking were the two most significant degradation mechanisms. Controls on the solution chemistry (minimum nitrite and hydroxide concentrations) are in place to prevent the initiation and propagation of pitting and stress corrosion cracking in the tanks. These controls are based upon a series of experiments performed using simulated solutions on materials used for construction of the tanks. The technical bases and evolution of these controls is presented.

Subject
Corrosion prevention, Crack growth, Materials, Hydroxides, Nitrites, Nitrates, Chemical inhibition, Steel, Corrosion data, Pitting, Corrosion protection, Wastes, Stress corrosion cracking
Keywords:
high level waste tank, corrosion control
Government work published by the Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP) with permission of the author(s). Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2004
GOV
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