Corrosion of spent nuclear fuel under waste disposal conditions (Review)

Bamba, Tsunetaka

In the case of the direct disposal of spent nuclear fuel in a deep geological formation, the release of radionuclides from the spent fuel matrix will be controlled by the rate at which uranium is released into the environment. In this paper the mechanism and kinetics of nuclear fuel corrosion under waste disposal conditions are reviewed, and the many published observations on fuel corrosion are discussed. The influence of a wide range of parameters on fuel corrosion are discussed: These include the pre-oxidation of the fuel, pH, O concentration, carbonate concentration, temperature, groundwater species, the effect of water radiolysis, and the formation of corrosion product deposits. The relevance of the data recorded on unirradiated UO to the interpretation of spent fuel behavior is included.