Abstract
In Finland, the repositories for low and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LLW and ILW) will be situated at three different geographical locations in about 60 to 100 m deep granite bedrock where the waste and waste containers can be subjected to anoxic groundwater containing microbes. The composition of groundwater varies in terms of chemistry and microbial activity in different locations. In this study, groundwater from the three repository areas was analyzed in respect to chemistry and microbial community. Corrosion tendency of three steel grades, carbon steel AISI/SAE 1005 and stainless steels AISI 304 and 316L, was studied in these groundwater environments using electrochemical methods. As a reference, measurements were also performed in simulated groundwater without microbes. The measurements show that corrosivity of the water and thus the steels’ performance differs depending on water origin. In addition, the groundwater differed remarkably in their chemical composition as well as abundance and diversity of microbial community between the sites. Consequently, the local environment has to be considered when evaluating the long-term evolution of disposal concepts.
Highlights
In Finland, the repositories for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LLW and ILW) are or are planned to be situated in deep bedrock in the vicinity of the nuclear power plants
The three natural groundwaters collected from three individual repository sites from three locations in Finland were used in this study
Differences in groundwater chemistry appear as differences in the corrosion behavior of steels
Summary
In Finland, the repositories for low- and intermediate-level radioactive waste (LLW and ILW) are or are planned to be situated in deep bedrock in the vicinity of the nuclear power plants. The low- and intermediate-level waste will be packed into carbon steel containers in some of the concepts and especially the decommissioning waste itself contains both carbon steel and stainless steel. The repository time will be hundreds of years, and both the steel containers and the waste will be exposed to anoxic groundwater that contains naturally occurring microorganisms. These microorganisms are known to induce corrosion of steel materials [1,2]. The most well-known group of microorganisms inducing steel corrosion under anoxic conditions are sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) [3]
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