Using Copper Coatings for Corrosion Protection of a Used Fuel Container during Geological Storage

摘要

Within ongoing work, NWMO is demonstrating that copper remains a viable corrosion barrier for used fuel nuclear containers, emplaced in a deep geological repository. Coated samples, manufactured via cold spray and electrodeposition have been produced. Corrosion testing for coated samples and wrought samples reveals that cold spray samples behave similar to wrought samples in 3 mol/L NaCl solution at room temperature. When oxygen is absent, corrosion has not been observed. When higher salinity and temperatures are used, wrought copper samples produce a small amount of hydrogen, consistent with corrosion on the order of a few nm/y during the first few months of exposure testing in bulk solutions.