Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-21T05:27:43.035Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Evaluation of the Corrosivity of Dust Deposited on Waste Packages at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

Charles Bryan ,
Russell Jarek ,
Thomas Wolery ,
David Shields ,
Mark Sutton ,
Ernest Hardin  and
Deborah Barr
Charles Bryan
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Russell Jarek
Affiliation:
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, NM, USA
Thomas Wolery
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
David Shields
Affiliation:
Bechtel-SAIC Co., Las Vegas, NV, USA
Mark Sutton
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, CA, USA
Ernest Hardin
Affiliation:
Bechtel-SAIC Co., Las Vegas, NV, USA
Deborah Barr
Affiliation:
U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Repository Development, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Get access

Abstract

Potentially corrosive brines can form during post-closure by deliquescence of salt minerals in dust deposited on the surface of waste packages at Yucca Mountain during operations and the pre-closure ventilation period. Although thermodynamic modeling and experimental studies of brine deliquescence indicates that brines are likely to form, they will be nitrate-rich and noncorrosive. Processes that modify the brines following deliquescence are beneficial with respect to inhibition of corrosion. For example, acid degassing (HCl, HNO3) could dry out brines, but kinetic limitations are likely to limit the effect to increasing their passivity by raising the pH and increasing the NO3/Cl ratio.

Predicted dust quantities and maximum brine volumes on the waste package surface are small, and physical isolation of salt minerals in the dust may inhibit formation of eutectic brines and decrease brine volumes. If brines do contact the WP surface, small droplet volumes and layer thicknesses do not support development of diffusive gradients necessary for formation on separate anodic-cathodic zones required for localized corrosion. Finally, should localized corrosion initiate, corrosion product buildup will stifle corrosion, by limiting oxygen access to the metal surface, by capillary retention of brine in corrosion product porosity, or by consumption of brine components (Cl−).

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 932: Symposium – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XXIX , 2006 , 106.1
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFRERENCES

1. Apted, M., King, F., Langmuir, D., Arthur, R., and Kessler, J., J. 2005. J. Metals, 57(1), 43 (2005).Google Scholar
2. Rard, J.A., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Report No. UCRL-TR-207054, (2004).Google Scholar
3. Carroll, S., Craig, L., and Wolery, T., Geochem. Trans.,6(2), 19–30 (2005).Google Scholar
4. Sehmel, G., Atmos. Env., 14, 983–1011 (1980).Google Scholar
5. Reheis, M.C. and Kihl, R., J. Geophy. Res, 100(D5), 8893–8918 (1995).Google Scholar
6. Seinfeld, J.H., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics of Air Pollution. (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1986).Google Scholar
7. Vyazovkin, S., Clawson, J.S., and Wight, C.A., Chem. Mat., 13 (3), 960–966 (2001).Google Scholar
8. Bechtel SAIC Company, Report No. ANL-EBS-MD-000001 REV01 (2004).Google Scholar
9. Bechtel SAIC Company, Report No. ANL-EBS-MD-000003 REV 02 (2004).Google Scholar
10. Fuchs, N.A., The Mechanics of Aerosols. Pergamon Press, New York (1964).Google Scholar
11. NADP/NTN, Annual Data for Site NV00, Red Rock Canyon, WWW Document, (http://nadp.sws.uiuc.edu/nadpdata/annualReq.asp?site=NV00).Google Scholar
12. Fontana, M.G., Corrosion Engineering, 3rd Ed. (McGraw-Hill, New York, 1986).Google Scholar
13. Hunkeler, F. and Boehni, H., “Pit Growth Measurements on Stainless Steels,” Passivity of Metals and Semiconductors, Proceedings of the Fifth International Symposium on Passivity, Froment, M., ed., pp. 655–660, Elsevier, New York (1983).Google Scholar
14. Frankel, G.S., J.Electrochem. Soc., 145(6), 2186–2198 (1998).Google Scholar
15. Newman, R.C., and Franz, E.M., Corrosion, 40(7), 325–330 (1984).Google Scholar