Corrosion of Nuclear Fuel Inside a Failed Waste Container

If nuclear waste containers in a deep geologic repository were to fail allowing groundwater to contact the spent fuel wasteform, the release of the great majority of radionuclides would be controlled by the corrosion rate of the UO 2 fuel matrix. This rate will be controlled by the redox conditions within the container established by the radiolytic decomposition of the ground water and the corrosion of the steel containment vessel. Extensive experimental research and model calculations, commonly employing electrochemical techniques and formulations, demonstrate that the fuel corrosion rate will be predominantly controlled by the reactivity of the fuel, the kinetics of oxidant (H 2 O 2 , O 2 ) reduction, and the scavenging of these oxidants by the products of steel corrosion (H 2 , Fe 2 + ).