Carbon-14 release and speciation from carbon steel in highly alkaline conditions

The release and the speciation of carbon species from irradiated JRQ carbon steel samples, representative of the reactor pressure vessel of Belgian nuclear power plants, were studied in a saturated portlandite aqueous solution, relevant for the Belgian Supercontainer design, as perceived for the geo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Radiocarbon 2018-12, Vol.60 (6), p.1683-1690
Main Authors: Druyts, Frank, Caes, Sébastien, Thomas, Peter
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aqueous solutions
Carbon 14
Carbon dioxide
Carbon steel
Carbon steels
Computer simulation
Corrosion potential
Corrosion rate
Corrosion tests
Electrodes
Electrolytes
Ethane
Ethene
Experiments
Gas chromatography
Gases
Geology
Hypotheses
Immersion tests (corrosion)
Irradiated Steels
Nitrogen
Nuclear power plants
Nuclear reactor components
Nuclear reactors
Pressure vessels
Radioactive wastes
Scientific imaging
Speciation
Waste disposal
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The release and the speciation of carbon species from irradiated JRQ carbon steel samples, representative of the reactor pressure vessel of Belgian nuclear power plants, were studied in a saturated portlandite aqueous solution, relevant for the Belgian Supercontainer design, as perceived for the geological disposal of high-level nuclear waste. To achieve this, we performed simple immersion and potentiostatic corrosion tests. In addition, the corrosion rate (which determines the 14C release) was estimated by measuring the release of 60Co. Gas chromatography showed that during the static corrosion test, the carbonaceous species methane, carbon dioxide, ethene, and ethane were produced. Under the hypothesis that all the carbon released from the JRQ steel was transformed into carbon-base gaseous compounds, this corresponds to a corrosion rate of approximately 100 nm/yr, which is in good agreement with literature data.
ISSN:0033-8222
1945-5755
DOI:10.1017/RDC.2018.92