The overpack that geologically stores the canisters containing vitrified high-level radioactive waste (HLW) for super-long term disposal is demanded of being able to hold the canisters securely for at least 1,000 years. For such a service, the greatest as well as essentially the sole factor that can mar the overpack’s working is corrosion by the groundwater. This paper discusses the notion and the methodology to prove for overpacks made of titanium (Ti) alloys that they are capable of stably maintaining the state of passivity indefmitely long time so as to be immune to the initiation of localized corrosion. It is shown that (1) the critical potential for corrosion-crevice initiation...
Keywords: crevice corrosion, stainless steel, titanium, sodium chloride solution, critical
potential, repassivation potential, high-level radioactive waste, disposal overpack