Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 February 2017
The Supercontainer is the reference concept for the post-conditioning ofvitrified high-level radioactive waste and spent fuel in Belgium. It consists ofa prefabricated concrete buffer that completely surrounds a carbon steeloverpack. In this highly alkaline environment (pH ∼ 13.6) and undernormal conditions (i.e. without the ingress of aggressive species), the carbonsteel overpack will be protected by a passive oxide film, which is believed toresult in very low uniform corrosion rates.
This paper gives an overview of the status of the uniform corrosion, pittingcorrosion and stress corrosion cracking behaviour of carbon steel expectedduring the waste disposal period.