WP2 steels

The main objectives for WP2 Steels were:

• to develop analytical techniques for identification and quantification of ¹⁴C species formed during corrosion of irradiated steels under conditions relevant to cement-based repositories;
• to validate existing activation models by measuring ¹⁴C inventories in irradiated steel;
• to carry out experiments and modelling to further our understanding of the speciation and rate of ¹²C/¹³C and ¹⁴C release from corrosion of irradiated and unirradiated steels under conditions relevant to deep geological repositories;
• to incorporate information from existing and on-going projects elsewhere on steel corrosion into this work package, to make the current understanding available.

Published reports are:

1. State of the art of steel corrosion and C14 release
2. Annual Progress Report - Year 1
3. Report on selected analytical procedures at PSI
4. Report on selected analytical procedures at Armines
5. WP2 Annual progress report - year 2
6. WP2 Annual progress report - year 3
7. Report on C14 release speciation from carbon steel under alkaline reducing conditions
8. Report on C14 release speciation from stainless steel under alkaline reducing conditions
9. Report on C14 release speciation from stainless steel under nildly and highly alkaline conditions
10. Report on C14 release speciation from stainless steel under mildly acidic reducing conditions
11. Report on C14 release speciation from Inconel under acidic reducing conditions
12. Report on C14 release speciation from stainless steel
13. Report on C14 release from stainless steel under aerobic conditions
14. Report on C14 release speciation from steels under aerobic conditions
15. Final report on measurement of C14 release from steel and Inconel under alkaline conditions
16. Final report on C14 release from steel and Inconel under low pH and acidic conditions
17. Final report on C14 release from steels under aerobic conditions
18. Final synthesis report on results from WP2
19. Corrosion of irradiated steel in alkaline conditions : First measurements of the carbon-14 speciation

The last Genenal Assembly Meeting has been held in France (Lyon) in January 2018 as the CAST Final Symposium. Presentations from this work package at this symposium were:

Overview of Main WP2 outcomes, summary and conclusions - Jens Mibus (NAGRA)

Formation and status of ¹⁴C in activated steel - Michel Herm (KIT)

Analytical techniques and their application - Benjamin Cvetkovic (PSI)

Leaching tests and speciation measurements - Eva de Visser-Týnová (NRG)

¹⁴C release from steels : state of the art from pre- to post-CAST - Steve Swanton (Wood)

Possible fate of inorganic 14C released from activated steel under conditions of a geological repository - Laurent Charlet (University of Grenoble) 

Poster that were presented and are relevant for this work package were:

Corrosion tests of non-irradiated stainless steel by hydrogen measurement system

Identification of chemical form of carbon released from type 304L and 316L stainless steel powders in alkaline and acidic solutions under low-oxygen conditions

Analytical strategy for the measurement of carbon-14 in alkaline solution

¹⁴C release from steels under aerobic conditions

Carbon-14 release and speciation from carbon steel in highly alkaline conditions

Chemical stability of low molecular weight organic compounds in the cementitious near field of a repository for radioactive waste 

Contact: Jens Mibus