The major concern in the deep geological disposal of spent nuclear fuels include sulfide-induced corrosion and stress corrosion cracking of copper canisters. Sulfur diffusion into copper canisters may induce copper embrittlement by causing Cu2S particle formation along grain boundaries; these sulfide particles can act as crack initiation sites and eventually cause embrittlement. To prevent the formation of Cu2S along grain boundaries and sulfur-induced copper embrittlement, copper alloys are designed in this study. Alloying elements that can act as chemical anchors to suppress sulfur diffusion and the formation of Cu2S along grain boundaries are investigated based on the understanding of the microscopic mechanism of sulfur diffusion and Cu2S precipitation along grain boundaries. Copper alloy ingots are experimentally manufactured to validate the alloying elements. Microstructural analysis using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive spectroscopy demonstrates that Cu2S particles are not formed at grain boundaries but randomly distributed within grains in all the vacuum arc-melted Cu alloys (Cu-Si, Cu-Ag, and Cu-Zr). Further studies will be conducted to evaluate the mechanical and corrosion properties of the developed Cu alloys.

To prepare very stable acrylic type emulsion having a visible ray absorption property, in-situ preparation technique of CuxS nanoparticle was adopted. Firstly, the acylic emulsions of methyl methacrylate(MMA), butyl acrylate(BA), and acrylonitrile(AN) were synthesized by pre-emulsion polymerization at 60℃ in the presence of anionic surfactant. Secondly, CuxS nanocomposited emulsions were directly prepared in the prepolymerized acrylic emulsion with CuSO4 at 50℃. The presnce of CuxS nanoparticle in emulsion was confirmed by SEM and EDS. The final CuxS nanocomposited emulsion showed an olive-green colour and good emulsion stability up to 1 month. In addition the PET films coated with our CuxS nanocomposited emulsion absorbed effectively the visible ray.