Evaluation of the Corrosivity of Dust Deposited on Waste Packages at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

Small amounts of dust will be deposited on the surfaces of waste packages in drifts at Yucca Mountain during the operational and the preclosure ventilation periods. Salts present in the dust will deliquesce as the waste packages cool and relative humidity in the drifts increases. In this paper, we evaluate the potential for brines formed by dust deliquescence to initiate and sustain localized corrosion that results in failure of the waste package outer barrier and early failure of the waste package. These arguments have been used to show that dust deliquescence-induced localized or crevice corrosion of the waste package outer barrier (Alloy 22) is of low consequence with respect to repository performance. Measured atmospheric and underground dust compositions are the basis of thermodynamic modeling and experimental studies to evaluate the likelihood of brine formation and persistence, the volume of brines that may form, and the relative corrosivity of the initial deliquescent brines and of brines modified by processes on the waste package surface. In addition, we evaluate several mechanisms that could inhibit or stifle localized corrosion should it initiate. The dust compositions considered include both tunnel dust samples from Yucca Mountain, National Airfall Deposition Program rainout data, and collected windblown dust samples. Also considered is sublimation of ammonium salts, a process that could affect dust composition prior to deliquescence. Ammonium chlorides, nitrates, and even sulfates sublimate readily into ammonia and acid gases, and will be lost from the surface of the waste package prior to deliquescence