European Joint Programme on Radioactive Waste Management - ConCord

The main aim is to look into the influence of irradiation on the compacted Ca-Mg bentonite – carbon steel system under anaerobic conditions, thermally affected up to 150°C and a focus on accelerated corrosion rates in comparison with non-irradiated system under anaerobic conditions in anaerobic box. Complementary system heated up to 90 °C will also be available. Moreover, the proposed experimental programme will enable us to study survivability of microorganisms in extreme transient conditions. The second goal is therefore to prove the assumption of limited microbially induced corrosion (MIC) under the high stress load and to assess the survivability of bacteria (regenerated from spores) that can be involved in MIC after transients are over. We propose a hypothesis that heat and radiation will have a more deleterious effect on survivability in water saturated (and dispersed) samples than in desiccated ones.