The cathodic hydrogen evolution rate on some trans-uranium waste materials and a candidate material for the high-level radioactive waste overpack have been estimated with electrochemical approach. The passive current density of Type 304 stainless steel have decreased with elapsed time according to constant-rate law in the trans-uranium waste repository environment. The time dependency of the passive current density agrees with that of some published data of corrosion rate. The decreasing tendency of the passive current density of carbon steel has been classified into two types, depending on the potential. However, the decreasing tendency near the free corrosion potential agrees with the published data of corrosion rate. The amounts of hydrogen evolution computed from the time dependency of the passive current density have become larger with the order of Zircaloy-4, Type 304 stainless steel, and carbon steel. On the other hand, the passive current density for the titanium alloys have reached steady-state values in a relatively short time, and the steady values have shown a fairy excellent relationship with the temperature. The amount of hydrogen evolution on titanium alloys in the high-level radioactive waste repository environment have been estimated from the steady values of the passive current density.
Keywords: high-level radioactive waste, trans-uranium waste, geological disposal, overpack, carbon steel, stainless steel, zirconium alloy, titanium alloy, hydrogen evolution, passive current density, concrete, corrosion rate