The Canadian Container Development Program For Fuel Isolation

Progress in the Canadian program to develop durable containment systems for the direct disposal of irradiated fuel in a deep geologic vault is described. Possible containment lifetimes, and the factors that influence container design and materials selection, are discussed. Most effort is currently directed toward developing containers with a design lifetime of about 500 years, using a corrosion-resistant metal shell to provide the primary barrier to radionuclide release. The design details for various containers are described, together with the fabrication and testing programs that are in progress or planned. The container materials programs consist of both generic research, to enable predictions of container performance to be made, and engineering development, to evaluate methods of container fabrication and inspection.