KBS-TR-90 Twenty-five Years On - Progress in the Understanding of the Long-term Corrosion Behaviour of Copper Canisters

Abstract

ABSTRACTIn 1978, the Swedish Corrosion Institute published a report describing an assessment of the long-term corrosion behaviour of copper canisters for nuclear waste disposal. They concluded that the canisters would remain intact for a period exceeding 100,000 years in a deep underground repository in the Fennoscandian bedrock. In the intervening 25 years a great deal has been learnt about the corrosion of copper in the expected repository environment. In 2001, SKB and Posiva reviewed this new information and re-assessed the predicted canister lifetime [1]. It was concluded that the original prediction made in 1978 of canister lifetimes exceeding 100,000 years remains valid.