Research Overview

Spent Fuel Disposal: Redox Chemistry of UO2 Under Repository Relevant Conditions in the Presence of Zircaloy and Waste Canister Material

   Within this DOE NEUP funded research project, we are studying the corrosion of UO2 in the presence of Zircaloy and 316 Stainless Steel. This project consists of high pressure, high temperature hydrothermal corrosion experiments which will shed new light on the redox chemistry of UO2 in a deep geological repository, and therefore help to close knowledge gaps about the behavior of spent nuclear fuel in the case of technical barrier failure and groundwater penetration into the deep geological repository.