The Savannah River Site (SRS) will disperse or dissolve precipitated metal oxides as part of radioactive waste tank closure operations. Previously SRS used oxalic acid to accomplish this task. To better understand the conditions of oxalic acid cleaning of the carbon steel waste tanks, laboratory simulations of the process were conducted to determine the corrosion rate of carbon steel and the generation of gases such as hydrogen and carbon dioxide. Open circuit potential measurements, linear polarization measurements, and coupon immersion tests were performed in-situ to determine the corrosion behavior of carbon steel during the demonstration. Vapor samples were analyzed continuously to determine the constituents of the phase. The combined results from these measurements indicated that in aerated environments, such as the tank, that the corrosion rates are manageable for short contact times and will facilitate prediction and control of the hydrogen generation rate during operations
