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| 2. |
- Björkbacka, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Kinetics and mechanisms of reactions between H2O2 and copper and copper oxides
- 2015
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Ingår i: Dalton Transactions. - 1477-9226 .- 1477-9234. ; 44:36, s. 16045-16051
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One of the main challenges for the nuclear power industry today is the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. One of the most developed methods for its long term storage is the Swedish KBS-3 concept where the spent fuel is sealed inside copper canisters and placed 500 meters down in the bedrock. Gamma radiation will penetrate the canisters and be absorbed by groundwater thereby creating oxidative radiolysis products such as hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydroxyl radicals (HO[radical dot]). Both H2O2 and HO[radical dot] are able to initiate corrosion of the copper canisters. In this work the kinetics and mechanism of reactions between the stable radiolysis product, H2O2, and copper and copper oxides were studied. Also the dissolution of copper into solution after reaction with H2O2 was monitored by ICP-OES. The experiments show that both H2O2 and HO[radical dot] are present in the systems with copper and copper oxides. Nevertheless, these species do not appear to influence the dissolution of copper to the same extent as observed in recent studies in irradiated systems. This strongly suggests that aqueous radiolysis can only account for a very minor part of the observed radiation induced corrosion of copper.
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| 3. |
- Björkbacka, Åsa, 1983-
(författare)
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Radiation induced corrosion of copper
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The process of radiation induced corrosion of copper is not well understood. The most obvious situation where the knowledge of this process is crucial is in a deep repository for high level spent nuclear fuel where the fuel will be sealed inside copper canisters. The radiation will penetrate the canisters and be absorbed by the surrounding environment. In this study gamma irradiations of polished and pre-oxidized copper cubes in anoxic pure water, air of 60-100 % RH and in humid argon were performed. The copper surfaces were examined using IRAS, XPS, cathodic reduction, SEM, AFM, and Raman spectroscopy. The concentration of copper in the reaction solutions was measured using ICP-OES. Also the formation of oxidative species caused by radiation absorption of water was studied by numerical simulations using MAKSIMA software. The corrosion of copper during gamma irradiation vastly exceeds what is expected. The production of oxidative species caused by radiation absorption of water is hundreds of times too low to explain the amount of oxidized copper. A possible explanation for this mismatch is an enhanced radiation chemical yield of HO· on the copper surface. Another one is an increased surface area due to oxidation of copper. One speculation is that HO· interacting with the copper oxide can cause oxidation of the metal. If the thermodynamic driving force is large enough then electrons can be conducted from the metal through the oxide to the oxidant. A dramatic increase in surface area together with an increased interfacial yield of HO· might explain the radiation enhanced corrosion process.
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| 4. |
- Björkbacka, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Radiation induced corrosion of copper for spent nuclear fuel storage
- 2013
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Ingår i: Radiation Physics and Chemistry. - : Elsevier BV. - 0969-806X .- 1879-0895. ; 92, s. 80-86
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The long term safety of repositories for radioactive waste is one of the main concerns for countries utilizing nuclear power. The integrity of engineered and natural barriers in such repositories must be carefully evaluated in order to minimize the release of radionuclides to the biosphere. One of the most developed concepts of long term storage of spent nuclear fuel is the Swedish KBS-3 method. According to this method, the spent fuel will be sealed inside copper canisters surrounded by bentonite clay and placed 500 m down in stable bedrock. Despite the importance of the process of radiation induced corrosion of copper, relatively few studies have been reported. In this work the effect of the total gamma dose on radiation induced corrosion of copper in anoxic pure water has been studied experimentally. Copper samples submerged in water were exposed to a series of total doses using three different dose rates. Unirradiated samples were used as reference samples throughout. The copper surfaces were examined qualitatively using IRAS and XPS and quantitatively using cathodic reduction. The concentration of copper in solution after irradiation was measured using ICP-AES. The influence of aqueous radiation chemistry on the corrosion process was evaluated based on numerical simulations. The experiments show that the dissolution as well as the oxide layer thickness increase upon radiation. Interestingly, the evaluation using numerical simulations indicates that aqueous radiation chemistry is not the only process driving the corrosion of copper in these systems.
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| 5. |
- Björkbacka, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Radiation Induced Corrosion of Copper in Anoxic Aqueous Solution
- 2012
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Ingår i: Electrochemical and solid-state letters. - : ELECTROCHEMICAL SOC INC. - 1099-0062 .- 1944-8775. ; 15:5, s. C5-C7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The effect of gamma radiation on corrosion of copper under anoxic conditions in pure water has been studied experimentally. Copper samples submerged in water were exposed to dose rates of 0.37 or 0.77 kGy/h. Reference samples were used throughout. The copper surfaces have been examined using the techniques of SEM-EDS, IRAS, CR spectroscopy and AFM. Dissolution of copper was measured using ICP-OES. The results show that irradiated samples are more corroded than corresponding reference samples. This is also reflected by the increased concentration of copper in water after irradiation. Surface examination also reveals local corrosion features.
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Björkbacka, Åsa, et al.
(författare)
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Radiation Induced Corrosion of Copper in Humid Air and Argon Atmospheres
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of the Electrochemical Society. - : Electrochemical Society. - 0013-4651 .- 1945-7111. ; 164:4, s. C201-C206
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Corrosion of copper is a key-issue in the safety assessment of deep geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel utilizing copper coated canisters to isolate the spent nuclear fuel from the surrounding environment. Of particular interest is the radiation induced corrosion attributed to the inherent radioactivity of the spent nuclear fuel. In this work we have studied the radiation induced corrosion of copper in humid air and argon atmospheres. Polished copper cubes were gamma irradiated in the environments mentioned above at ambient temperature. Reference samples, not irradiated but otherwise treated under the exact same conditions as the irradiated samples, were used throughout the study. The oxide layers formed during radiation exposure were studied using cathodic reduction, infrared reflection/absorption spectroscopy, and the surfaces were examined using scanning electron microscopy. When possible, the concentration of copper in solution was measured using inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy. The experimental results clearly show that radiation induced corrosion of copper in humid air as well as in humid argon is significantly more extensive than the corresponding process in anaerobic water. This is well in line with the recently proposed mechanism for radiation-induced corrosion of copper in anaerobic water. The very similar behavior of copper irradiated in humid air and in humid argon implies that the radiolytically formed HNO3 in the case of humid air has negligible impact on the radiation-induced corrosion compared to the radiolytically formed hydroxyl radical.
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Norrfors, K. Karin, et al.
(författare)
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γ-radiation induced corrosion of copper in bentonite-water systems under anaerobic conditions
- 2018
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Ingår i: Radiation Physics and Chemistry. - : Elsevier Ltd. - 0969-806X .- 1879-0895. ; 144, s. 8-12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this work we have experimentally studied the impact of bentonite clay on the process of radiation-induced copper corrosion in anoxic water. The motivation for this is to further develop our understanding of radiation-driven processes occurring in deep geological repositories for spent nuclear fuel where copper canisters containing the spent nuclear fuel will be embedded in compacted bentonite. Experiments on radiation-induced corrosion in the presence and absence of bentonite were performed along with experiments elucidating the impact irradiation on the Cu2+ adsorption capacity of bentonite. The experiments presented in this work show that the presence of bentonite clay has no or very little effect on the magnitude of radiation-induced corrosion of copper in anoxic aqueous systems. The absence of a protective effect similar to that observed for radiation-induced dissolution of UO2 is attributed to differences in the corrosion mechanism. This provides further support for the previously proposed mechanism where the hydroxyl radical is the key radiolytic oxidant responsible for the corrosion of copper. The radiation effect on the bentonite sorption capacity of Cu2+ (reduced capacity) is in line with what has previously been reported for other cations. The reduced cation sorption capacity is partly attributed to a loss of Al-OH sites upon irradiation.
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