Journal focus: Corrosion Engineering, Science and Technology

• Published in: Materials world Vol. 20; no. 4; p. 26
• Main Author: Kursten, Bruno
• Format: Magazine Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Taylor & Francis Ltd 01-04-2012
• Subjects: Carbon steels; Concretes; Corrosion; Corrosion potential; Damage; Dissolution; Geology; Mathematical analysis; Radioactive wastes; Strategy; Workshops; Belgium
• ISSN: 0967-8638; 2058-6914

The concrete surrounding the carbon steel overpack wilt provide a highly alkaline chemical environment, in which the external surface of the overpack wtil be passivateti, resulting in very low uniform corrosion rates (through the mechanism of passive dissolution). Because of the long timescales involved in geological disposal, a lot of effort has been devoted to understanding the chemical and electrochemical evolution of the near field environment surrounding the overpack (temperature, pH and chemical composition of the concrete pore solution, and corrosion potential of the overpack), in order to demonstrate that reliable predictions of the service fife of the overpack can be calculated. In this context, a series of international workshops, Long Term Prediction of Corrosion Damage in Nuclear Waste Systems, has been organised every three years to provide the opportunity to compare the approaches that are being developed worldwide for predicting iong term corrosion phenomena, including corrosion strategies for interim storage and geological disposal.