Assessment of candidate waste package materials for nuclear waste disposal requires determination of any microbiological contribution to overall corrosion. Two systems employing characterized bacterial isolates from the Yucca Mountain site were designed to assess the rates of MIC on carbon steel C1020 and Alloy 400 in simulated groundwater.
Microbial activities increased rates of carbon steel corrosion by a factor of 5-6-fold compared to abiotic corrosion rates on the same material. Rates of biocorrosion of Alloy 400 was 7-8-fold lower than that of C1020. Cathodic reactions were equivalent between biotic and abiotic systems on C1020, while the anodic reaction was activated on inoculated C1020
coupons. Further, while passivity was observed on sterile carbon steel, no such effect was demonstrated on inoculated samples. Novel corrosion cell designs were successful in obtaining rates of MIC on more corrosion-resistant candidate alloys. Keywords: MIC, biocorrosion, polarization resistance, nuclear waste containment, Yucca Mountain