Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-b6zl4 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-10T12:16:28.049Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Case Studies of Corrosion of Mixed Waste and Transuranic Waste Drums

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2011

Stanley T. Kosiewicz
Stanley T. Kosiewicz*
Affiliation:
Los Alamos National Laboratory, PO Box 1663, MS K570Los Alamos, New Mexico 87545
Get access

Abstract

This paper presents three case studies of corrosion of waste drums at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Corrosion was not anticipated by the waste generators, but occurred because of subtle chemical or physical mechanisms. In one case, drums of a cemented transuranic (TRU) sludge experienced general and pitting corrosion. In the second instance, a chemical from a commercial paint stripper migrated from its primary containment drums to chemically attack overpack drums made of mild carbon steel. In the third case, drums of mixed low level waste (MLLW) soil corroded drum packaging even though the waste appeared to be dry when it was placed in the drums.

These case studies are jointly discussed as “lessons learned” to enhance awareness of subtle mechanisms that can contribute to the corrosion of radioactive waste drums during interim storage.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 333: Symposium V – Scientific Basis for Nuclear Waste Management XVII , 1993 , 687
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1994

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

1 Munger, C.G., Corrosion Prevention by Protective Coatings, National Association of Corrosion Engineers, Houston, TX (1984).Google Scholar
2 Hobbs, D.T., “Corrosion Protection for the In-tank Processing of High-Level Nuclear Waste at the Savannah River,” Proceedings of Waste Management ’91, Tucson, AZ (March 1991).Google Scholar
3 Kosiewicz, S.T., Pannell, M.A., “Chemical Exposures Associated with the Storage and Handling of Mixed Waste Drums,” Presentation at the 205th American Chemical Society Meeting, Denver, CO (March 1993).Google Scholar
4 Kosiewicz, S.T. Los Alamos National Laboratory internal memorandum EM-7D-92-580, “Potential Hazard from Drum of Mixed Waste (Paint Stripper),” (Sept. 1992).Google Scholar
5 Little, B., Wagner, P., and Mansfeld, F., “Microbiologically influenced corrosion of metals and alloys,” International Materials Reviews, V.36, No. 6, pp. 253–272 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
6 Farmer, J., Gdowski, G., McCright, R., Ahluwania, H., “Corrosion models for performance assessment of high-level radioactive waste containers,” Nuclear Engineering and Design 129, pp. 57–88 (1991).CrossRefGoogle Scholar