Canada’s use of nuclear power has led to an inventory of used fuel, which requires a strategy for safe, permanent containment. The current long-term disposal plan uses both natural and engineered barriers in a deep geological repository. A key engineered barrier in this concept is the used fuel container (UFC), made of copper-coated carbon steel. The Cu coating will be applied by two additive manufacturing techniques, electrodeposition (ED) and cold spray (CS) deposition.

Bentonite is a naturally occurring clay containing montmorillonite, a smectic clay mineral that has a high cation exchange capacity and swells upon contact with water. The swelling capacity of bentonite limits movement of water which makes it an attractive candidate to be used as an engineered barrier system to protect used nuclear fuel containers that are stored in deep geological repositories. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization is responsible for Canada’s implementation of the plan for the long-term care of nuclear-spent fuel produced by Canadian nuclear reactors.

Sedimentary rock formations are currently under consideration for the placement and long-term storage of used nuclear fuel originating from nuclear power generation. A thorough understanding of the long-term geochemical stability in these rock formations is important to prove that future interactions of the waste material with aquifers as well as flora and fauna at the land surface can be ruled out for time periods exceeding 10,000 years.

The project will involve a partnership between the Western University, where the intern is enrolled in the Chemistry PhD program, and the Surface Science Western (SSW). The SSW is a commercial organization which does contract research and problem-solving for industrial companies and is contracted to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to support the development of corrosion models for copper waste containers.

The project will involve a partnership between the Western University, where the intern is enrolled in the Chemistry PhD program, and the Surface Science Western (SSW). The SSW is a commercial organization which does contract research and problem-solving for industrial companies and is contracted to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) to support the development of corrosion models for copper waste containers.

The project will involve a partnership between the University of Western Ontario, where Yannick is enrolled in the M.E.Sc chemical engineering program, and the Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO). The NWMO is the organization responsible for developing and implementing a plan for the disposal of nuclear waste in Canada. In 2010, the NWMO will begin a major safety assessment of a deep geological repository for used nuclear fuel, referred to as the Fourth Case Study (FCS).