An electrochemical approach to predicting corrosion performance of container materials

Conference · Mon Apr 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:138120

McCright, R D; Farmer, J C; Fleming, D L

As part of the effort in determining the suitability of the Yucca Mountain site in Southern Nevada for emplacement of high-level nuclear waste in a repository, possible failure modes of candidate waste package container metallic materials are being investigated. Localized forms of corrosion such as pitting attack on the metal surface or attack in creviced areas are particularly pernicious failure modes that may shorten the container lifetime. The pitting potential of nickel-rich Alloy 825 are measured in chloride-containing solutions at different temperatures and adjusted to different pH values. The pitting potentials were determined by potentiodynamic polarization of Alloy 825 test specimens from the corrosion potential until a sharp increase in the electrochemical current indicated a breakdown of the protective passive film on the metal surface. Results show that Alloy 825 is susceptible to pitting attack in aggressive electrolytes containing more than 10,000 ppm chloride at 90{degree}C and acicified to a pH value less than 2.5. 5 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 138120
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC--104949; CONF-910435--87; ON: DE91013490
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
40 CHEMISTRY
CHROMIUM ALLOYS
CONTAINERS
COPPER ALLOYS
CORROSION RESISTANCE
ELECTROCHEMICAL CORROSION
ELECTRODES
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
IRON ALLOYS
MOLYBDENUM ALLOYS
NICKEL ALLOYS
PH VALUE
POTENTIOSTATS
SITE CHARACTERIZATION
SODIUM CHLORIDES
SODIUM SULFATES
UNDERGROUND DISPOSAL
YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Yucca Mountain Project