(GRS-624) Project KORSO - Anaerobic Corrosion of Stainless Steel 309S at High Temperatures and Pressures in Geological Relevant Brines

The selection of a host rock for a deep repository of high-level radioactive waste is a subject of ongoing debate in Germany. In 2017 the German Government passed the law for the search and selection of a site for a final storage facility for high-level radioactive waste /STA 2017/. This law establishes the framework for the location of an appropriate final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. As host rocks, salt rock, claystone and crystalline are considered. Recently, the German institutions GRS, BGR and BGE-TEC reported a compilation of technical fundamentals (RESUS-project) to evaluate the feasibility of candidate sites as final disposal /MOE 2020/.

Salt rock, which is present beneath the entire north of Germany offers an advantageous hydraulic impermeability, which, if the repository is constructed and managed properly, renders a very low probability of direct contact between waste containments and aqueous solution /BER 2016/. However, it cannot be excluded altogether that the repository undergoes an unforeseen evolution, where the steel containment of high-level radioactive waste undergoes a contact with geological waters. This will be in any case a near saturated brine.