Effect of microbial action on the corrosion potential of austenitic alloy containers for high-level nuclear waste

Conference · Thu Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1996

OSTI ID:264459

Angell, P; Dunn, D S; Cragnolino, G A ^[1]

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1. Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States). Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory Analyses

The safe disposal of high-level nuclear waste (HLW) entails the ability to ensure the integrity of waste containers for prolonged time periods. It is generally accepted that under certain conditions, microbial action may change local benign environments to those in which localized corrosion can be actively promoted. The use of repassivation potential (E{sub rp}) in relation to the value of the corrosion potential (E{sub corr}) has been proposed as a means of assessing the propensity of a metallic material to localized corrosion. Microbial activity is known to influence E{sub corr} however, the precise mechanism is unresolved. Shewanella putrefaciens, a bacteria with many of the characteristics of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB), are being grown under controlled conditions on 316L stainless steel (SS) surfaces to understand the relationship between E{sub corr} and metabolic activity. It has been observed that the growth of the bacteria under aerobic conditions, without the production of metabolic sulfide, leads to only minor variation in E{sub corr}. These changes possibly correlate to the periods of active bacterial growth.

• OSTI ID: 264459
• Report Number(s): CONF-951155--; ISBN 1-55899-315-0
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

05 NUCLEAR FUELS
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
55 BIOLOGY AND MEDICINE
BASIC STUDIES
AEROBIC CONDITIONS
BIOLOGICAL FOULING
CONTAINERS
CORROSION
CULTURE MEDIA
HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTES
NITRATES
POPULATION DYNAMICS
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE FACILITIES
STAINLESS STEEL-316L
SULFATE-REDUCING BACTERIA
THIOSULFATES
YUCCA MOUNTAIN