Origin of the hydrogen involved in iron corrosion under irradiation

Abstract In the perspective of long term geological storage, high level nuclear wastes will be overpacked in low carbon steel containers. In that context, we have studied the influence of oxygen dissolved in water on iron corrosion. Therefore, leaching experiments were performed in deaerated D 2 O and in aerated H 2 O and a kinetic study of iron corrosion under proton irradiation was lead in aqueous media with two different dissolved oxygen concentrations. The leaching experiments underline the major role of dissolved oxygen in oxydoreduction reactions which take place as far as iron is in contact with water. But the kinetic study of iron corrosion under irradiation put in evidence the balance between the oxydoreduction reactions and the corrosion rate induced by radical species generated by water radiolysis. In addition, to check if, in the atomic % concentration range, hydrogen diffuse from the air/Fe interface through the foil, an irradiation experiment was performed in argon. It proved that no hydrogen permeation occurs at a concentration level of the atomic percent.