Why Nuclear Storage Materials May Have Corrosion Issues

The steel containers that high-level nuclear waste is stored in are vulnerable to corrosion. In studies, scientists found that if water gets inside the steel containers, it can trigger reactions that result in corrosion of the protective steel. 

Most countries, including America, plan to store high-level nuclear waste in steel canisters known as storage casks. While these casks have been studied, they haven’t been fully tested in accordance with exposure to different materials in the surrounding environment of nuclear waste storage sites. This included exposure to water that can accelerate corrosion of the steel.

Storage of nuclear waste from nuclear generators begins with a cooling pond but the waste is then transferred to a dry cask storage system. These systems have been tested separately to withstand water, wind, and cold conditions, but have they been sufficiently tested all together? No.

Xiaolei Guo, a materials scientist and corrosion researcher at Ohio State University, found that when water gets into one of the steel casks, between the metal wall and the glass, the materials corrode, leading to likely radioactive leaks. 

Researchers were surprised that this type of corrosion could occur because before, it was thought that only concrete found in nuclear storage sites could influence corrosion. 

Credit: Nat. Mater.