Evening talk by Mohamed Koronfel, Senior Corrosion Consultant, Waste Management and Disposal, Amentum
Synopsis: As nations worldwide transition from interim storage toward permanent deep Geological Disposal Facilities (GDF), the ultimate safety case relies on a multi-barrier engineering solution. At the heart of this system sits the disposal container: a metallic barrier tasked with isolating high-level waste and spent fuel for thousands to millions of years.
This lecture explores the forefront of the corrosion research within the global nuclear decommissioning sector. It steps inside the engineered barrier systems (EBS) utilised by international waste management organisations (e.g. SKB (Sweden), Nagra (Switzerland), and ONDRAF/NIRAS (Belgium)) to examine how the metallic containers interact with bentonite and cement buffers. Moving past raw academic theory, the presentation outlines the methodologies used to prove container durability: from 20-year laboratory experiments to multi-year in-situ test programmes carried-out directly within active Underground Research Laboratories (URLs) at the potential geological disposal sites.
When: Thursday 10 September 2026, 17:30 for 18:00 start
Where: Ridgeway House, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus, Didcot, OX11 0QX
Registration deadline: Thursday 10 September 2026
Refreshments: Light refreshments are provided.
