Investigation of corrosion processes affecting copper barriers on used nuclear fuel containers for deep geological repositories

加拿大核安全委员会(CNSC)是负责管理使用过的核燃料(UNF)的联邦监管机构。在未来几年，国家核安全委员会预计核废物管理组织(NWMO)将提交一份关于建造和运营用于长期储存联合国燃料的深层地质库(DGR)的许可证的提案。该项目的目标是与国家科学委员会合作，提供关键的科学信息，使国家科学委员会能够有效地评估国家气象组织的建议。特别是，这项研究将调查铜在DGR环境中的腐蚀情况，并评估在UNF存储容器上涂上3 mm铜涂层是否可以有效地缓解腐蚀过程，并在100万年的寿命内保持UNF存储容器的完整性。该项目将包括四项主要任务：1)对铜腐蚀研究进行全面的文献综述，以找出知识差距和不确定性；2)进行详细的柱实验，以进一步完善对铜腐蚀过程的理解和速率；3)开发数值模型来模拟DGR环境中的铜腐蚀过程，并根据现有数据校准模型；以及4)使用数值模型来提供铜长期腐蚀的预测。这项研究将有助于国家核安全委员会的决策过程，并为国际核废料管理界提供有关铜腐蚀的关键信息。

The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) is the federal regulator responsible regulating the management of used nuclear fuel (UNF). In the coming years, the CNSC expects the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to submit a proposal for a licence to build and operate a deep geological repository (DGR) for the long-term storage of UNF. The goal of this project, in partnership with the CNSC, is to provide critical scientific information to allow the CNSC to effectively evaluate the NWMO proposal. In particular, this research will investigate the corrosion of copper in the DGR environment and evaluate whether a 3 mm copper coating on UNF storage containers can effectively mitigate corrosion processes and maintain the integrity of the UNF storage container over a lifespan of one million years. This project will include four main tasks; 1) a thorough literature review of copper corrosion studies to identify knowledge gaps and uncertainties, 2) conduct detailed column experiments to further refine the understanding and rates of copper corrosion processes, 3) develop numerical models to simulate copper corrosion processes in the DGR environment and calibrate models to available data, and 4) use numerical models to provide forecasts of long-term copper corrosion. This research will aide in the CNSC's decision making process and provide critical information on copper corrosion for the international nuclear waste management community.