Grant: Alliance Grants

Nuclear power is a key technology-ready, carbon-free energy source for combating climate change, and has been recognized by governments as critical to Canada achieving its commitment for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. An often cited drawback of nuclear is the remnant spent nuclear fuel; at end-of-life, Canadian plants will have produced ~5.8 million spent fuel bundles, which require safe storage for 1 million years. In 2007, The Government of Canada initiated Adaptive Phase Management (APM) as the method for safe and responsible disposal of spent nuclear fuel in Canada. APM is similar to other international programs, and involves storage of spent fuel in a deep geological repository (DGR); the DGR is a multi-barrier system where fuel bundles are placed in Cu-coated steel containers, embedded in clay, and surrounded by bedrock. The Nuclear Waste Management Organization (NWMO) is the organization mandated to design and commission the DGR. As part of their initiative, the NWMO has established a world-leading research program investigating the performance of DGR materials, and has made significant progress in understanding materials selection and corrosion behaviour. However, many knowledge gaps still exist and need to be addressed if Canada's plan is to succeed. Given the 1-million year lifetime required, understanding corrosion and materials degradation at the nanoscale will be especially important, and has not been comprehensively investigated at this scale. This Alliance program will address knowledge gaps, particularly evaluating the nanoscale mechanisms governing corrosion, mechanical behavior, clay-metal interactions, and metallurgical effects. Multiple researchers will collaborate to provide the necessary expertise to perform studies across the broad scope of scientific fields. Novel microscopy, experimental, and modelling methods and facilities will be used to study micro-to-atomic scale interactions, the resolution where degradation mechanisms operate. HQP will work in an inclusive environment with the exciting opportunity to learn from multiple university experts, interact with NWMO scientists, and receive training on state-of-the-art facilities.