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Waste Package Environment for the Yucca Mountain Site Characterization Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 March 2011

G.E. Gdowski,
T.J. Wolery and
N.D. Rosenberg
G.E. Gdowski
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA 94550, U.S.A.
T.J. Wolery
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA 94550, U.S.A.
N.D. Rosenberg
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory Livermore, CA 94550, U.S.A.
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Abstract

Environmental parameters that would affect the degradation of engineered materials, including waste packages and drip shields, in the potential high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada are being characterized as part of the Yucca Mountain Project. These parameters include: temperature, relative humidity, range of water chemistry, deliquescence of salts, pH, and electrochemical potential (Eh). The likelihood of various brine compositions forming on the engineered components under repository conditions, and the implications, is discussed. Relative humidity controls the ionic strength and composition of the aqueous solutions, and hence strongly influences the corrosion processes that could occur. Studies are underway to more fully characterize the redox state of aqueous solutions in contact with engineered system components.

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