Technetium is a long-lived beta emitter produced in high yields from uranium as a waste product in
spent nuclear fuel and has a high degree of environmental mobility as pertechnetate. It has been
proposed that Tc be immobilized into various metallic waste forms to prevent Tc mobility while
producing a material that can withstand corrosion exposed to various aqueous medias to prevent the
leachability of Tc to the environment over long periods of time. This study investigates the corrosion
behavior of Tc and Tc alloyed with 316 stainless steel and Zr exposed to a variety of aqueous media.
To date, there is little investigative work related to Tc corrosion behavior and less related to potential Tc
containing waste forms. Results indicate that immobilizing Tc into stainless steel-zirconium alloys can
be a promising technique to store Tc for long periods of time while reducing the need to separately
store used nuclear fuel cladding. Initial results indicate that metallic Tc and its alloys actively corrode in
all media. We present preliminary corrosion rates of 100% Tc, 10% Tc – 90% SS85%Zr15%, and 2% Tc –
98% SS85%Zr15% in varying concentrations of nitric acid and pH 10 NaOH using the resistance polarization method while observing the trend that higher concentrations of Tc alloyed to the sample
tested lowers the corrosion rate of the proposed waste package.
Keywords: Technetium, Waste Form, Anodic Polarization, Corrosion Rate