Description

The conjoint action of stress and a corrosive environment which leads to the formation of a crack in the waste packaging that would not have developed by the action of the stress or environment alone.

Category

Categorisation as a Feature, Event and/or Process.

  • Features are physical components of the disposal system and environment being assessed. Examples include waste packaging, backfill, surface soils. Features typically interact with one another via processes and in some cases events.
  • Events are dynamic interactions among features that occur over time periods that are short compared to the safety assessment timeframe such as a gas explosion or meteorite impact.
  • "Processes" are issues or dynamic interactions among features that generally occur over a significant proportion of the safety assessment timeframe and may occur over the whole of this timeframe. Events and processes may be coupled to one another (i.e. may influence one another).

The classification of a FEP as an event or process depends upon the assessment context, because the classification is undertaken with reference to an assessment timeframe. In this generic IFEP List, many IFEPs are classified as both Events and Processes; users will need to decide which of these classifications is relevant to their context and its timeframes.

  • Process

Relevance to Performance and Safety

The “Relevance to Performance and Safety” field contains an explanation of how the IFEP might influence the performance and safety of the disposal system under consideration through its impact on the evolution of the repository system and on the release, migration and/or uptake of repository-derived contaminants.

Stress corrosion cracking may mechanically weaken metal components within a waste package. This process may result in failure of the waste package component and, potentially, could produce one or more pathways via which water could enter the waste package and/or radionuclides or other contaminants could leave the package.

2000 List

A reference to the related FEP(s) within the 2000 NEA IFEP List.

2.1.07

Related References