title: Gamma radiation induces hydrogen absorption by copper in water.
abstract: One of the most intricate issues of nuclear power is the long-term safety of repositories for radioactive waste. These repositories can have an impact on future generations for a period of time orders of magnitude longer than any known civilization. Several countries have considered copper as an outer corrosion barrier for canisters containing spent nuclear fuel. Among the many processes that must be considered in the safety assessments, radiation induced processes constitute a key-component. Here we show that copper metal immersed in water uptakes considerable amounts of hydrogen when exposed to γ-radiation. Additionally we show that the amount of hydrogen absorbed by copper depends on the total dose of radiation. At a dose of 69 kGy the uptake of hydrogen by metallic copper is 7 orders of magnitude higher than when the absorption is driven by H2(g) at a pressure of 1 atm in a non-irradiated dry system. Moreover, irradiation of copper in water causes corrosion of the metal and the formation of a variety of surface cavities, nanoparticle deposits, and islands of needle-shaped crystals. Hence, radiation enhanced uptake of hydrogen by spent nuclear fuel encapsulating materials should be taken into account in the safety assessments of nuclear waste repositories.
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Cláudio M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Lousada
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Applied Physical Chemistry, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Inna L
authors.initials: IL
authors.lastname: Soroka
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Yuriy
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yagodzinskyy
authors.affiliation: The NanoVision Centre, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End, London E1 4NS, United Kingdom.|Experimentelle Physik III, Physikalisches Institut and Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen - Research Centre for Complex Material Systems, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, D-97074 Würzburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadezda V
authors.initials: NV
authors.lastname: Tarakina
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Todoshchenko
authors.affiliation: School of Engineering, Aalto University, Puumiehenkuja 3, 02150 Espoo, Finland.
authors.forename: Hannu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hänninen
authors.affiliation: Division of Materials Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Pavel A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Korzhavyi
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Science and Engineering, Applied Physical Chemistry, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jonsson