A CORROSION MONITORING PROGRAMME FOR RESEARCH REACTOR SPENT FUEL BASINS L.RAMANATHAN1, R.A.HADDAD2 AND P.ADELFANG3

A corrosion monitoring programme (CMP) at a spent fuel wet-storage facility helps evaluate the effect of the prevailing water parameters on the corrosion of spent fuel cladding and/or of other structural materials. Hence, a CMP usually involves the exposure of test coupons to the basin water for a pre-determined period followed by corrosion evaluation of the coupons and the determination of water parameters at periodic intervals. A programme of this nature provides insight into the extent of corrosion of the metallic materials. A CMP at a spent fuel storage facility consists mainly of three stages: Planning; Execution; Evaluation. This paper presents the main aspects to be considered and guidelines to conduct a CMP with examples from three IAEA supported projects on the corrosion of aluminium alloys exposed to spent fuel basins in over 15 sites worldwide for periods of up to 6 years